Balluff's new SmartLight Rigid is a signal light just 20 mm wide

What is it?

Balluff put out product news on the SmartLight Rigid, dated 30 September, and there's a two-page product brief to go with it. It's a compact signal light for machines and workstations, and their tagline for it is Compact. Bright. Versatile.

The pitch is that it's for the spots where a traditional signal tower falls short. It's a cost-effective way to show what a machine is doing when space is tight but people still need to see it.

Balluff also says it does lighting as well as signalling. There's a dedicated white light channel, and the output is high enough that they suggest it for lighting small systems, sorting machines being their example. They make a point of how it looks too: a sleek metal body with what they call "invisible" LED dots.

The details

Here's what Balluff's news page and brief say:

• Size: 20 mm diameter, in three lengths: 250, 550 or 950 mm (not counting the connection).
• Light: 100 percent diffuse and glare-free, with 180° visibility.
• Control: 24 V inputs, or IO-Link if you want dimming, flashing and strobe. The non-IO-Link versions can be dimmed flicker-free with PWM or an external dimmer.
• Colours: seven predefined ones: red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white. Only the IO-Link versions have configurable colours.
• Build: aluminium housing, which Balluff says gives good durability and heat dissipation. IP54, and CE and UL certified.
• BNI00LN in detail: this is the version the news page gives full data for: M12×1 male connector (5-pin) with separate inputs, one segment, clamp mounting, −20 to 50 °C.

The six versions

Page two of the brief lays out the whole range: six part numbers, which works out as three lengths, each in a 24 V version and an IO-Link version.

250 mm

BNI00LNBNI00LT

550 mm

BNI00LPBNI00LU

950 mm

BNI00LRBNI00LW

Table: Balluff's product brief. Lengths are without the connection. All six have an aluminium housing, IP54 and the same seven predefined colours.

An easy way to remember it: LN, LP and LR are the 24 V ones, and LT, LU and LW are the IO-Link ones, shortest to longest in each group.

Mounting clamps

Balluff lists two clamps for it. The brief says both are for a 20 mm machine light, and it lists them for a 20 mm line laser as well.

BAM0327

15 × 30 × 40 mm

Anodised aluminium, screws and clamps

BAM0377

15 × 29 × 35 mm

Anodised aluminium, screws and clamps

Mounting clamps BAM0327 and BAM0377. Images and data: Balluff.

Where Balluff says to use it

That's Balluff's own picture of one at work, the slim green tube by the gate. The news page gives four use cases:

• Intralogistics: signal devices for milk runs, busy lights and presence detection.
• Mechanical engineering: status shown directly on the machine.
• Special machine construction: coloured lighting for machine cabins, and status along the line.
• Manual workstations: compact, bright signalling for ergonomic work areas.

The brief adds a couple of things. It can be extra signalling on remote parts of a system or a stand-alone indicator, it's pitched for machine control panels too, and the white channel is there for lighting small systems like sorting machines.

What I think

I reckon the interesting use isn't swapping out signal towers, it's the places that never got one. A far corner of a machine, a milk-run trolley, a manual station: somewhere a full tower would be overkill but a status light is still worth having.

The lighting side is the bit I'd want to know more about. Balluff talks up the white channel and small systems like sorting machines, but there isn't a single brightness figure in the brief, so I can't tell you whether it's a status light that happens to be bright or something you could count on as proper work lighting.

Before you order, I'd check:

• Which version. Choose the length first (250, 550 or 950 mm), then 24 V or IO-Link. Only the IO-Link versions list configurable colours and the flashing and blinking function indicators.
• How colour is chosen on the 24 V versions. The brief lists seven predefined colours for all six, but says only the IO-Link ones are configurable. I'd read the datasheet to see how you pick one before wiring anything.
• Whether you need IO-Link. Dimming, flashing and strobe come from IO-Link, and that means a free master port. The plain-input versions dim with PWM or an external dimmer.
• One segment. The BNI00LN lists a maximum of one segment, so think of it as a single status indicator, not a stacked tower.
• Brightness. There are no lumen or lux figures in the brief, so ask Balluff if you want it as lighting too.
• The environment. All six are IP54. That's fine for cabins and workstations, but check it if you've got washdown.
• Price and lead time. Neither is on the news page or in the brief.