PLC-Integrated Vehicle Barriers Offer Facility Defense

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. For Joey Blair, who was working on a military base as the events of September 11, 2001, unfolded, the need for enhanced facility security gave birth to the idea for RSSI Barriers. The goal: design an all-electric, crash-rated barrier for improved facility security that offers better reliability, lower life-cycle costs and faster speeds than hydraulic or pneumatic options. The company now is the only all-electric vehicle barrier company in the industry.

RSSI Barriers, a Rockwell Automation Gold OEM Partner, worked with the Rockwell Automation Global OEM Technical Consultants team to develop a product line of barriers to protect buildings from automobiles, trucks and other vehicles. The goals were to streamline design time, reduce programming efforts, minimize wiring, increase flexibility for future changes and ease new equipment testing and start-up.

Now 20 years later, the company Blair founded, headquartered in Panama City, Florida, serves customers in more than 70 countries at locations including military bases, government agencies, petroleum companies, data centers and other commercial entities.

The OEM has developed the most advanced electric barrier systems in the industry. The company’s most deployed system, the RSS-2000 Electric Finger Wedge Barrier, is crash-tested and proven to stop a 15,000-lb. vehicle going 50 miles per hour (see video in the sidebar). This wedge barrier consists of a series of posts, or “fingers,” that raise from the pavement when activated. When in the “up” position, it forms a wedge to block traffic.

Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems

“When RSSI entered the market, there were mostly hydraulic barriers and a few pneumatic systems,” says John Kreutzer, president, RSSI Barriers. “End users became concerned about the reliability and life-cycle costs of those systems.”

Specifically, the hydraulic systems include multiple components such as oil, hoses, fittings and accumulators that are prone to recurring and high maintenance costs.

“Particularly with a hydraulic system, if a hose or valve fails, the barrier will either go up or down without any command,” Kreutzer explains. “Obviously, that’s problematic in a security system.”

Maintenance of hydraulic systems tends to be expensive. For instance, one government location recorded $60,000 in annual maintenance costs for its hydraulic wedge system.

“In fact, our customer who spent $60,000 each year to maintain its hydraulic system now has a budget of $8,000 annually to maintain the RSS-2000, and they are not exceeding that number,” he notes. "Annual maintenance costs at this location are 87% less than they were for hydraulic systems. The RSSI all-electric system delivers value throughout our barrier’s life cycle.”

The system also eliminates environmental concerns about potential hydraulic fluid spills or leaks.

All-Electric Systems

To improve overall performance, the OEM took an all-electric approach to system design. The system uses Allen-Bradley^® CompactLogix™ controllers, Kinetix^® servo drives, MP-Series™ heavy-duty electric cylinders, and PanelView™ graphic terminals, and runs on an EtherNet/IP™ network.

“At the outset, we decided we didn’t need something structurally as heavy as the giant steel plates used in hydraulic systems to get the job done,” says Chris Brehm, vice president of sales, RSSI Barriers.

Instead, the company applied a “finger wedge” design that proved tough enough to meet or exceed every category of the DOS K12 and ASTM M50 crash standards — but light enough to take advantage of the enhanced speed and higher duty cycles provided by an electric servo motor.

“This design allowed us to reduce maintenance and improve reliability for our customers with electric servo motors and drives,” Brehm notes. “It also opened up the door for more speed.”

“For example, typical hydraulic wedge systems require about 5 seconds to lift or lower the barriers,” he contiues. “The RSS-2000 system completes these operations in 3 seconds under normal circumstances or in 1.5 seconds during emergency fast operation (EFO).”

Integration for Facility Access Control

At any location, a vehicle barrier system is just one component of facility access control. Most “access control points” involve traffic-calming techniques to slow approaching vehicles, such as speed tables and serpentine roads — plus warning signs, signals, traffic arms, gates, or “wrong way” or “overspeed” detection.