BTO individuality meets explosion protection
Visual navigation in extreme marine industry environments
Project planning
Experience, state-of-the-art technology and commitment to safety and sustainability were the focus of our project. Industrial image processing is used in a wide variety of applications - from quality assurance to automation, access control and monitoring of extreme environments.
Built-to-Order (BTO) cameras are now an integral part of the SAMCON product range - but why is there actually a need for an individual camera and not an “off the shelf” one? BTO cameras are always used when the customer has requirements for a camera system that go beyond normal surveillance, but the camera is to be used in an ATEX zone. In order to make a camera explosion-proof, the camera specifically selected by the customer must be installed in a protective housing for explosion-proof cameras and tested and certified accordingly. Our high-performance explosion-proof empty enclosures have a so-called component certification and have the corresponding ATEX/IECEx/EAC-Ex certification. The moment an electrical consumer, such as a camera, is installed, an appropriate device certification must also be obtained so that the camera can be operated in hazardous areas. It is then certified and approved under both the European (ATEX) and international directives (IECEx).
The camera installed in our explosion-proof housing for this application is used for underwater structure tracking in an industrial robot. This tracks target identification in ATEX environments for optical quality assurance, for example to detect cracks, unevenness and processing errors or leaks in pipelines.
Since the high-performance evaluation unit is installed in the housing in addition to the camera, the heat generated in the housing is significantly higher than is the case with “normal” cameras. In order to overcome this challenge and reduce the heat generated in the housing to such an extent that the functionality of the camera can still be used at ambient temperatures of up to 40° C, our cool.Jacket was also installed. By the way, this is indeed a challenge that does not concern ATEX safety, but has a purely functional component. By the way, the cool.Jacket is normally used to ensure the functionality of the camera even in a temperature range of up to +130°C. For this purpose, the cooling medium flows through the cool.Jacket, i.e. the heat sink, and the heat exchange principle keeps the interior temperature below the maximum value and expands the functional temperature range. The flow of the cooling medium can be regulated automatically or, if necessary, controlled manually and the functional temperature range can be extended up to +130°C depending on the camera.
https://www.samcon.eu/fileadmin/documents/en/22-Ex-Network-Cameras/IPQ16xx-cool.Jacket-Datasheet.pdf
Testimonial:
SAMCON responds to our individual wishes and special requirements to a high degree, finding solutions in addition to the standard portfolio without jeopardizing explosion safety.
