SICK

SICK is a German sensor group and one of the most important suppliers of laser scanners for automation and mobile robots. It builds no robots, but its safety scanners and LiDARs end up in trucks, AMRs and cobot cells. In the Robolupa catalogue it is listed beside Hokuyo and Ouster.

The datasheets point to four families. The nanoScan3 safety scanner (Pro I/O variant) has a 275° scanning angle, a 3 m protective field, a 10 m warning field and a 40 m measuring range. It can store 128 fields and 128 monitoring cases, reacts in 70 ms, and its safety ratings are Type 3 (IEC 61496), SIL 2, PL d and category 3. Such figures are the basis for any conversation about “Robot Safety Standards”. The two-dimensional TiM310 LiDAR scans 270° to 4 m (2 m on a 10% target), 15 times per second, weighs 150 g and is rated IP65. The larger picoScan150 covers 276°, measures to 25 m (12 m on a 10% target) at 15 or 25 Hz and weighs 220 g. The three-dimensional multiScan136 sees 360° horizontally and 65° vertically, scans at 20 Hz over 0.05-30 m, evaluates up to three echoes and works outdoors with ratings up to IP69 and IPX9K.

In which robots? The prototype mobile manipulator Franka Mobile FR3 Duo from Franka Robotics has, according to the Robolupa catalogue, two SICK nanoScan3 LiDARs, four Intel RealSense D455 cameras and an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin computer. The service robot PAL Robotics TIAGo from PAL Robotics navigates with a Hokuyo or SICK laser scanner. Other mobile robots platforms use scanners of this class, but we have no sources confirming specific models, so we assign them to no one.

For a robot's cost and capability SICK's role is twofold. First, a safety scanner is an element with declared safety ratings (SIL 2, PL d): it usually costs more than an ordinary LiDAR, yet it is what monitors the zone around a robot and stops the machine when a person enters. Second, a cheaper 2D scanner is enough for navigating a flat floor, while 3D is needed where terrain and obstacles vary. That calculation decides the price of the platforms described in “AMR Robots in the Warehouse” and where they pay off in warehouses or factories settings.

In Poland SICK has its own subsidiary: according to the maker's website the office is in Warsaw at Al. Jerozolimskie 160 as of 1 June 2026. This is a rare case where a component supplier is directly available on the domestic market. Anyone evaluating a purchase for integration with cobots should read “How to Buy a Cobot Step by Step”. Prices depend on the variant and are not given in the datasheets.