Sonair unveils world’s first safety-certified 3D ultrasonic sensor for human-robot collaboration

Norway-based ultrasonic sensor company Sonair announced that its 3D ultrasonic sensor, ADAR (Acoustic Detection and Ranging), has achieved safety certification.

The company said that its ADAR One was assessed as a human protection sensor according to the IEC 61496 standard for electrosensitive protection devices. Additionally, Sonair said that the product meets two foundational standards: IEC 61508, the functional safety standard for electronic safety systems in high-risk industrial environments, and ISO 13849, the universal standard for safety-related parts of control systems.

As a result, ADAR is rated SIL 2 (Safety Integrity Level 2), and PL d (Performance Level d) with a probability of dangerous failure (PFH) below 1.5 x 10⁻7 per hour.

ADAR achieves safety certification

Sonair said that ADAR has received an EC type-examination certificate from exida, a notified body under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. In addition to the above-mentioned standards, exida has assessed ADAR’s conformity to the essential health and safety requirements from the European machine directive.

Furthermore, the company said that ADAR is the first safety-certified embedded system to be built in Rust, a programming language especially designed for performance, safety and reliability.

"The bottleneck to safe human-robot coexistence isn't intelligence or speed,” said Knut Sandven, CEO of Sonair. “It's safe perception; knowing reliably under any condition, that a human is nearby. This milestone certification is the first time a 3D sensor has been independently verified to meet that bar using sound instead of light - a new sensing modality that complements cameras where they fall short.”

Sonair provided the following details about what ADAR’s safety certification means for robot manufacturers, systems integrators and end users:

• Industrial autonomous robot OEMs: 2D lidar systems dominate the safety function, but at high cost and complexity. With ADAR One, robot manufacturers can bring certified safety to 3D and move quickly to market with a more effective, lower-cost offering.
• Systems integrators: Can now deploy the plug-and-play ADAR One in AMRs, AGVs and collaborative robot architectures without seeking special exemptions.
• Humanoid OEMs: ADAR One's compact form factor means it can be embedded directly into a humanoid's body shell without significant redesign of the underlying structure. It provides the certified perception backstop that no camera-and-AI stack currently offers, in full 3D.
• End users: Warehouse and logistics providers can deploy robots in certified safety architectures that are recognized by insurance and liability frameworks. ADAR One means improved productivity, more uptime, fewer incidents and greater trust.

“This is precisely the role ADAR One is designed to play as a drop-in, pre-certified safety layer,” Sandven said. “What used to be an engineering burden is now transformed into a commercial differentiator for all stakeholders.”

ADAR details and integrations

While the AI boom has made robots significantly more capable, Sonair said that the accompanying safety infrastructure has struggled to keep pace. Traditional 2D laser scanners, which are widely used to define safety perimeters for most mobile robotic systems, are unable to detect people and obstacles above or below a single plane.

Designed for AMRs and industrial automation, the company said that ADAR One delivers 180°×180° 3D spatial awareness, detecting people and obstacles at all heights, eliminating the limitations and blind spots that define today's 2D safety systems. Sonair said that easy integration with a tiny footprint enables ADAR technology to be embedded flush into virtually any robot form factor, including humanoids.

“ADAR One does not merely replace a sensor. It introduces a new safety layer for robotics, a certified 3D perceptual foundation that sits beneath any camera, AI stack, or motion system, independently verifying that the space around a robot is safe,” Sandven said.

ADAR One is already in series production and shipping on deployed industrial robots. Since the introduction of the beta version of ADAR one year ago, Sonair said that more than 80 global robotics companies have evaluated ADAR through Sonair's test program.

beRobox, a provider of plug-and-play palletizing and depalletizing technologies, has entered into an agreement with Sonair to deploy the safety-certified ADAR One sensor in future offerings. Sonair said that the agreement marks certified 3D safety arriving in one of industrial automation's highest throughput use cases, where machines and people share the tightest spaces.

"At beRobox, innovation is not just about developing new products,” said David Demers, CEO of beRobox. “It's about continuously integrating the best technologies available to simplify automation for our customers. Partnering with Sonair is another step in our mission to stay ahead through innovation and deliver the most advanced, user-friendly palletizing and depalletizing solutions on the market.”