Inxpect engineers smart radar sensors, reinventing an old technology to make it applicable to industrial automation, robotics and other markets. With 3D sensing and extreme robustness to environmental disturbances, Inxpect radars are redefining the interface between humans and machinery, finally ending the war between productivity and safety. With an outstanding, fast growing team and offices in Italy, Israel and Spain, Inxpect aspires to become a global leader in the smart radar sensor market.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
INXPECT: Inxpect designed and manufactured the first safety radar in the world, the LBK System, creating a product that is suitable for the majority of today’s industrial applications. The LBK safety systems have great flexibility, and can be used to both prevent access to dangerous areas and to prevent unwanted restart of machineries by monitoring the presence of the operator in such areas. The LBK System is made by a controller, which is used as the interface to the machinery’s control system, and up to six sensors, whose detection fields can be arranged in different shapes to allow the monitoring of the dangerous areas.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
INXPECT: In 2021 we are launching our new sensor, the SBV-01. The new sensor works at 60 GHz and introduces new and enhanced functionality to address the most challenging industrial safety applications. With an improved safety level, and a great measurement precision, the SBV-01 will be a game changer in the way safety will be implemented in industrial applications.
E.E: What are the ranges of traded products?
INXPECT: Inxpect portfolio is made of 3 systems:
- LBK System: made by the LBK-S01 sensor working at 24 GHz and the LBK-C22 controller. The system has been on the market since July 2018 and is now installed in hundreds of applications all around the world. In September it was also UL listed.
- LBK System Bus: made by the LBK-S01 sensor working at 24 GHz and the ISC-B01 controller. The solution was launched in September 2020 and the feedback was extremely good because of the flexibility introduced by the safety fieldbus communication channel.
- SBV System Bus: made by the SBV-01 sensor working at 60 GHz and the ISC-B01 controller. The system will be launched early next year and represents a revolutionary solution for industrial safety application.
The LBK-S01 sensor is a smart FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar device based on proprietary Inxpect detection algorithms. The sensor sends 24 GHz radio waves and recovers motion information, analysing the returned signals reflected by both static and moving objects in the operative range.
The SBV-01 sensor is a smart FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar device based on proprietary Inxpect detection algorithms. Operating in the ISM 60 GHz frequency band, it can detect complex scenes by analysing the returned signals reflected by both static and moving objects in the operative range. With dynamically selectable horizontal field of view and up to four alarm areas, it is ideal for complex application scenarios, including mobile use cases.
The Inxpect LBK-C22 can connect up to six LBK-S01 smart sensors. Intervention of any single sensor results in the deactivation of the safety output of the controller. It can be configured with the Inxpect Safety PC application through USB cable connection, which allows the configuration of sensitivity levels, safety functions, size of warning and dangerous areas, and the functionality of the I/O ports of the controller.
ISC-B01 is the new control unit for the Inxpect radar detection system, which improves the performance of the system providing advanced functionality through the ethernet and fieldbus connection. System’s detection zones can be dynamically modified in real-time using safety fieldbus protocols (e.g. ProfiSafe, CIP Safety) providing a very flexible solution. ISC-B01 can be remotely configured using the Inxpect Safety Application: the security is guaranteed by the adoption of the highest security standards.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
INXPECT: The market of industrial automation and robotics is obviously a very mature market, but it is continuously evolving. Manufacturers are introducing automated operations where in the past it was not possible, because of technological limitations or too high costs.
If we look at the safety sensing devices market, the optical technology is today the most adopted solution: optical devices have been on the market for decades, but they are affected by limitations, especially when they are applied in harsh environments.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
INXPECT: Manufacturers are trying to optimize processes, introducing machineries to make repetitive operations. Those machineries, by the way, need appropriate equipment to guarantee the safety of operators interacting with them: Inxpect’s system provide an answer to this need.
Robotics applications market is growing extremely fast, but there are still a lot of work to do to make robot-human collaboration possible and, most important, safe. The goal of Inxpect’s solutions is to allow operators to work with robots in full safety, expanding the range of robotics applications.
Looking at the safety sensing devices market, limitations of optical systems can now be override by the radar technology, intrinsically more robust and less affected by environment disturbances. The radar technology can optimize the productivity without decreasing the level of safety.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
INXPECT: The LBK System represented a “world first”, and was for sure a great innovation for the industrial safety: several companies operating in the safety sector were looking for new solutions that might have overcome the limitations of the current sensing devices.
The SBV-01 represents another huge innovation, introducing the first safety MIMO radar, capable of detecting the position of the operators with an extremely high accuracy.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
INXPECT: Inxpect is now present in the world’s most industrialized countries, and more than 500 industrial sites are protected by Inxpect’s safety systems. In the 2021 the new controller will allow a better integration with industrial systems, thanks to the safety fieldbus that allows a dynamic and real-time exchange of data between the radar sensor and the machinery: this new feature will expand the use of the radar safety system and will make installation and maintenance even simpler.
Next year we will expect a great response from the market to the new sensor, the SBV-01. The introduction of the SBV-01 will make radar technology suitable for the most challenging application, and will expand the number of applications that will be safeguarded by Inxpect’s technology.
We also expect an expansion of the products portfolio, to match the needs of a larger number of customers.
We are very confident that the 2021 will be extremely successful and we will make a significant step ahead thru our goal of making human-robot collaboration come true.