Pilz has developed the PSSuniversal decentralised I/O system so that it can now be connected to Profinet and Profinet safe fieldbus networks.
Profinet users can therefore take advantage of the system's benefits, with PSSuniversal offering a high level of safety plus integrated standard automation in equal measure.
The system can have a mixed physical structure and can be individually adapted to suit the respective application.
The absence of feedback between safety and standard creates clear areas of responsibility. Users also benefit from the fact that the I/O system is easy to manage during commissioning and engineering.
With PSSuniversal, Pilz considered the needs of safety technology right from the start. Users need not concern themselves with any additional application measures such as disconnection modules, specially shielded cable or special EMC filters for the widest range of interfaces.
Not only does this reduce costs, it also makes the system easier for users to manage and operate. Separate backplane buses for safety and standard enable high data rates to be achieved and allow signals to be processed in parallel.
The integrated safety principle of the PSSuniversal is said to represent a key distinguishing feature in comparison with alternatives. As the head module represents the safety-related subscriber exclusively, the safety settings for each device are only made at a central point. There is no need to deal with sub-addresses. Optimum utilisation of all the failsafe (FS) addresses on Profinet is another factor, which means that the administrative work in assigning FS address ranges is also reduced.
The modular design of the PSSuniversal is an advantage when it comes to exchanging devices. Now even safety-related I/O modules can be hot-swapped. Plug-in electronic modules reduce the work involved and prevent errors and downtime. Even the tools available for the PSSuniversal - PSSuniversal Assistant and PSSuniversal Startup Tool - have been adapted to the new interface.
For safety functions the decentralised I/O platform is designed in accordance with Category 4 of EN 954-1 and SIL 3 of IEC 61508, as well as other international standards.
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