Sonair ADAR One Gains Safety Certification

The ADAR One sensor just earned SIL2 and PL d safety certification.

Sonair announced that its ADAR One 3D ultrasonic sensor is now suitable for SIL2 and PL d applications and is certified to meet the European Machinery Directive as an acoustic detection and ranging sensor for the safe detection of humans and objects. The device was assessed as a human protection sensor under IEC 61496, and it also meets 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. Knut Sandven, CEO of Sonair, stressed that achieving this level of certification was a decisive, exhaustively rigorous process, noting that the company paused other development to complete the work and relied on exida in Germany as the assessing body. Deployment data shows the company’s claim that this is not a cosmetic upgrade; it is a fundamental safety upgrade with practical implications for robot design and operation.

The certification comes with a practical hardware advantage. ADAR One is designed with a small footprint that can be embedded flush into virtually any robot form factor, a feature Sonair positions as a way to reduce the safety perimeter without compromising sensing reach. In the era of AI-enabled perception and increasingly autonomous machines, the sensor promises to close a long-standing gap in safety infrastructure. The Robot Report notes that traditional 2D safety scanners are limited because they define safety perimeters on a single plane and cannot reliably detect people or objects above or below that plane. In contrast, a 3D ultrasonic solution can provide more robust protection in complex robot environments, especially where robots move in three dimensions or near undulating human activity.

For plant managers and safety engineers, the implications are tangible but not magical. The ADAR One’s safety certification signals that you can deploy 3D ultrasonic sensing as part of a formal safety architecture without bypassing the established standards. That means you still need a safety-related control system design that aligns with IEC 61508 and ISO 13849, and you must incorporate it into the broader safety lifecycle that governs high-risk automation. An exida-backed assessment adds weight to the case that the device can be relied upon to deliver human protection in demanding industrial settings, which can simplify the security and compliance narrative when audits come around. However, while the device reduces reliance on bulky external safety peripherals, it does not remove the need for a comprehensive safety plan or for careful system integration.

From a return-on-investment perspective, leaders will want to see how ADAR One impacts cycle times and throughput, metrics the release did not publish. No cycle time or throughput figures were disclosed with the certification, and deployment data remains limited to safety compliance and integration capabilities. What is clear is that the sensor’s 3D perspective makes it easier to protect workers while allowing more fluid robot motion, potentially reducing hesitations around human-robot collaboration in tight lines or busy warehousing floors. In practice, that could translate into fewer stoppages for blind-spot rescues and faster task handoffs between people and machines.

Two or three practitioner insights emerge for operations teams. First, hardware-level safety certification can accelerate the deployment of advanced sensing in risky environments, but the system still requires a robust safety-case and a compatible control architecture. Second, flushing the sensor into the robot form factor reduces packaging and wiring complexity, yet integration teams should plan for new safety interlocks and diagnostics that partner with the robot’s existing safety PLC or controller. Third, the adoption of 3D ultrasonic sensing is a reminder that skilled trades staff will continue to adapt rather than be displaced: technicians and engineers will need to validate, calibrate, and maintain the new sensing perimeter within the overall safety strategy. And finally, the upgrade underscores a broader industry shift toward 3D perception as a standard component of safe automation rather than a boutique feature.

As ADAR One moves from certification to broader deployment, the industry will watch how this 3D approach to human protection reshapes both the cost and the reliability calculus of safe automation.