The safety of humans and machines is playing an increasingly vital role in automation, as machines and systems are becoming more complex while functional safety requirements are on the rise. During Hannover Fair 2012, the Sercos user organizations announced development of a Safe Motion Profile for CIP Safety on Sercos.
Sercos relies on CIP Safety as the functional safety protocol for Sercos networks. To ensure interoperability and compatibility of safety-related peripheral devices, such as controls, drives, and I/Os from different manufacturers, Sercos International and ODVA agreed to jointly develop a Safe Motion Profile based on CIP Safety. The new profile guarantees that the peripheral devices’ safety-related functions are available across the entire network in a uniform and manufacturer-independent manner.
The profile includes safety functions defined in IEC 61800-5-2, such as safe torque off, safe stop 1 and 2, and safely limited speed, mapping them to CIP Safety objects. The specification of the Safe Motion Profile is being developed in coordination with manufacturers and users, and will available by April 2013.