KEB America (USA) – KEB America, Inc. announces the release of their latest safety automation products for the North American market. Safety PLC, Safe I/O modules, and Safety PLC programming software are now available as part of a full system solution designed by KEB. All of the new safety products are TÜV Rheinland certified to IEC 61508 SIL3 and EN/ISO 13849-1 PL e.

Safety PLC, FSoE Master:
KEB’s Safety PLC is a Fail Safe over EtherCAT (FSoE) master that is used in tandem with the machine PLC to execute and monitor the safety functions of the machinery. FSoE uses a black-channel approach and can be used with other bus systems. KEB’s Safety PLC connects with other FSoE slave modules like Safe I/O and Servo Drives with Safe Motion functionality.

Safety I/O, scalable digital safety I/O module:
For monitoring safety devices with the Safety PLC, KEB now offers dedicated Safe I/O modules. Each FSoE slave device has four safe inputs, two safe outputs, and four OSSD outputs. Because the modules use EtherCAT for fast, real-time communication, they are also ideal for existing systems or installations that require a scalable solution. One FSoE master can control up to 65,535 slave devices.

COMBIVIS Studio 6, Safety PLC programming:
KEB’s COMBIVIS Studio 6 now includes a Safety Editor that can be used together with KEB’s FSoE Safety PLC and I/O. This single programming environment allows a programmer to develop the entire machine, including motion control and safety, with one software program. KEB’s Safety Editor uses a certified plug-in from CoDeSys and programs with function blocks. COMBIVIS Studio is also used to configure KEB’s Safe Motion drives which also support FSoE and Safe Motion functions according to IEC 61800-5-2.

Why do we use FSoE?
All of our high-performance drives come with EtherCAT standard. EtherCAT offers scalable, real-time performance that’s flexible enough to work in nearly any application. Fail Safe over allows the STO and other statuses to be safely communicated over the network. This opens up possibilities to replace discrete safety wiring with a network cable.

The Safety PLC, Safe I/O Modules, and Safe PLC programming software are available immediately.