At the beginning of March 2013, members of the EPSG openSAFETY workgroup met in Gråsten, Denmark, one of the design and production facilities of Danfoss. In its March meeting, the workgroup focused on electrical drive technology. Consequently, in Denmark mainly EPSG member companies from this area met. In addition to Danfoss as the host, other great names in drive technology attended the meeting, among them Yaskawa, Control Tech-nique and NORD Drivesystems.
"The drive market is rapidly changing," says Stefan Schönegger, general man-ager of the Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG). "The suppli-ers are confronted with requirements that are increasingly difficult to meet, the effort required for the implementation of many different standards within a single product, however, is immense." This is why, based on openSAFETY, the industry is pursuing integrated safety concepts that are independent of the various control and field bus systems.
The aim of the workgroup meeting in Denmark was the preparation of generally accepted SafeMotion profiles that can consequently be established as stand-ards. They will be instrumental in further simplifying the integration of complex safe reactions and in the mitigation of interface issues between safe applica-tions and the underlying safety technology.
About EPSG
The Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG) is an independent organization founded in 2003 by leading companies from the fields of motion control and automation technology. Its aims are the standardization and further development of the POWERLINK protocol first introduced by B&R in 2001. This high-performance real-time communication system is an advanced protocol based on the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard designed to ensure real-time data transfer in the microsecond range. The EPSG cooperates with leading standardization organizations such as CAN in Automation (CiA) and the IEC. Anton Meindl, business manager of Controls at B&R, is the organization's CEO.
"The drive market is rapidly changing," says Stefan Schönegger, general man-ager of the Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG). "The suppli-ers are confronted with requirements that are increasingly difficult to meet, the effort required for the implementation of many different standards within a single product, however, is immense." This is why, based on openSAFETY, the industry is pursuing integrated safety concepts that are independent of the various control and field bus systems.
The aim of the workgroup meeting in Denmark was the preparation of generally accepted SafeMotion profiles that can consequently be established as stand-ards. They will be instrumental in further simplifying the integration of complex safe reactions and in the mitigation of interface issues between safe applica-tions and the underlying safety technology.
About EPSG
The Ethernet POWERLINK Standardization Group (EPSG) is an independent organization founded in 2003 by leading companies from the fields of motion control and automation technology. Its aims are the standardization and further development of the POWERLINK protocol first introduced by B&R in 2001. This high-performance real-time communication system is an advanced protocol based on the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard designed to ensure real-time data transfer in the microsecond range. The EPSG cooperates with leading standardization organizations such as CAN in Automation (CiA) and the IEC. Anton Meindl, business manager of Controls at B&R, is the organization's CEO.
