Industrial Automation branch INA 
Project background
In industrial production, there is a growing need for flexible and adaptable production systems such as matrix production or driverless transport systems and autonomous industrial trucks (AGVs). One reason for this is the growing demand for customized products with greater variety and variable quantities. To ensure that manufacturing remains economical even with small batch sizes and short product life cycles, the principle of “assembly line and cycle time” is increasingly being replaced by modular production systems whose configuration or spatial arrangement must be changed more frequently. Changing parameters by reverting optimizations also constitutes a change. This alters the functional safety requirements for handling machines and controlling hazardous situations. For example, efficient, time- and cost-saving reconfiguration is required when conditions change, as well as robust classification of persons and objects to be protected, and of moving and non-moving objects. Today's protective devices such as safety fences, light barriers, or safety laser scanners are unsuitable for this purpose.
Research content
The SafeInLoc technology development project aims to implement a software-based system for defining dynamic safety zones. The system is designed to enable the effective (functionally safe) and efficient (time- and cost-saving) reconfiguration of safety zones in dynamically changing production environments. The SafeInLoc system uses image-based person and object detection and a UWB-based real-time indoor localization method (RTLS) as its technological basis. The goal is to reliably and precisely merge both sources of information in the omlox hub, a manufacturer-independent, standardized platform for location data in industry. In a next project step, the plan is to derive functionally safe findings such as “person without tag,” “concealed person,” or simply “stationary object” vs. “moving object.” Even before the research project began, a number of affected companies and institutions had already expressed interest in such a system.
Project outcome
Within two years, a demonstrator (TRL 5-6) was developed for novel software-defined dynamic safety zones (smart safety zones) and functionally safe person detection for use in flexible and adaptable production environments. The demonstrator is permanently installed at SmartFactoryOWL and can be viewed during an on-site tour. It comprises ten UWB satellites and several UWB tags for UWB-based localization, two RGB cameras including an edge PC for image-based localization and tracking, and a web application for defining and adjusting the protective fields. The entire system is omlox-compliant, enabling seamless integration into corresponding omlox environments.
Customer benefits and scaling
The software-based definition of protective fields enables rapid reconfiguration of safety zones, allowing them to be easily adapted to changing layouts, processes, or production scenarios—without costly hardware modifications. This reduces downtime and supports cost-effective scaling to highly flexible production environments. At the same time, machine costs are reduced because less safety-related onboard equipment is required and central infrastructure can be used multiple times. The resulting improvement in human-robot interaction increases both productivity and acceptance of automated systems.
Beyond the immediate safety benefits, the infrastructure opens up potential for further data-based applications:
- Route optimization: Position data enables dynamic route planning and ETA calculations. Heat maps help identify hotspots and bottlenecks. This leads to less congestion and empty runs, as well as greater delivery reliability.
- Workplace design: Spaghetti diagrams for reaching and walking distances support data-based optimization of material and tool positioning. This reduces search times and increases efficiency in the workplace.
- Energy management/presence control: Lighting, extraction, and HVAC can be controlled based on presence, and automatic standby modes are possible when no one is present. This results in measurable energy and CO₂ savings while increasing ease of use.