Enabling switch

How it is used

Also called an enabling device, deadman switch or enable button. Trainers repeat it often: 'hold the enabling switch, then jog'. The third (panic) position exists because people tend to squeeze their hand when they are frightened.

Example sentences

1. The robot won't jog unless you hold the enabling switch in the middle position.

2. He squeezed the enabling switch all the way when the arm moved toward him, and it stopped at once.

Common collocations

• hold the enabling switch
• three-position enabling device
• release the switch
• deadman switch

Related terms

• teach pendantThe handheld control unit, with a screen, keys and an emergency stop button, that is connected to the robot controller and used to move, program and monitor the robot.
• jogTo move a robot or machine axis by hand in small steps or at low speed, usually by holding keys on the teach pendant, to position it or check a movement.
• emergency stopA red mushroom-shaped button on a yellow background, or the function behind it, that stops a machine as quickly and safely as possible in a dangerous situation.
• protective stopA stop triggered automatically by a safeguard, such as an opened guard door, a light curtain or a cobot sensing contact. Unlike an emergency stop, it is part of normal safeguarding and usually allows a quick restart.

More terms: Machine and Robot Safety

• risk assessment
• guarding
• lockout/tagout
• hazard
• light curtain
• interlock
• collision detection