KEB America releases Safety PLC, Safe I/O modules, and Safety PLC programming software

February 20, 2018 – KEB America announced 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.

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. 

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.

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.

All drives come with EtherCAT standard. Fail Safe over allows the STO and other statuses to be safely communicated over the network.