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Safety‐related fieldbus is now being employed in many varied applications. Developments in fieldbus technology and programmable systems, coupled with developments in International and European Standards have created the opportunity for widespread use. Performance, equipment availability, flexibility, diagnostics and reduced cost of ownership are the principal reasons for rapid growth in safety‐related networking. The use of programmable safety systems has fundamentally have changed the way in which safety is now being engineered in the manufacturing plant. New devices provide direct connectivity to safety‐related networks, increasing the scope and changing the architecture of safety systems far beyond conventional expectations. Technological developments, application and benefits of safety‐related networking in industrial automation systems are shown. Criteria for safety network selection are highlighted.

Standards have restricted the use of networks and programmable electronics in safety‐related applications. New standards have released technology to enable improvements in safety and ensure developments take place within an overall safety framework. Best practice in the additional protocol enhancements required is discussed. The installation of a safety‐related fieldbus, replacing conventional hardwiring in a machine safety system is used to illustrate the potential of the technology. The use of fieldbus in safety‐related applications is shown to reduce complexity and enhance functionality, whilst enabling significantly reduced ownership cost.

Availability, reliability, flexibility and comprehensive diagnostics are the most significant demands placed upon safety systems today. Increasing payloads, work ranges and cycle times of robotic processes necessitate a different approach to safety, particularly other than that offered by conventional safety relays and fencing. The development of fieldbus for safety‐related applications and new International and European Standards have fundamentally changed the manner in which safety is now being engineered in the plant. BMW are the first to directly integrate robotic safety functions using a safety‐related fieldbus.

A review of safety‐technology, applicable safety‐related standards and the impact on the use of robots in industrial environments.

Technological developments are presented in safety‐related control technology, including programmable safety controllers, configurable safety controllers, safety networking and robotic safety in human environments. The technological developments are related to new and emerging safety standards.

The development of safety‐related technology and new international and European standards have fundamentally changed the way in which safety is now being engineered in industry. The introduction of new standards and revision of others have allowed safety‐related systems to utilise “state of the art” electronic, programmable, and network based technologies. New international standards are likely to include collaborative working with humans in the robotic workspace. This is set to change how robots are utilised in manufacturing environments.

The review of applicable standards and technical developments: with examples from current research and new technologies, demonstrating engineering solutions that embody the principles of the new standards.

Discusses the distribution of application functions to process‐oriented field devices and process‐remote components in distributed automation systems. Describes the use of fieldbus systems, function block technology based on standardised function blocks and a suitable infrastructure to enable these function blocks to cooperate during run time.

This paper reviews current and proposed fieldbus standards that affect Europe. Relevant technologies and the formation of standards are shown. The initial goal of a single global standard and the recognition of a number of emerging de facto standards are discussed, as is the potential future standardisation of fieldbus technology.

The CAN (Controller Area Network) standard, ISO 11898, is now ubiquitous in industrial automation environments. CAN is used with defined application layers for implementing sensor/actuator level distributed control applications. Protocols such as Honeywell's SDS, ODVA's DeviceNet (Allen Bradley) and CANopen are well‐known device level networks which are based on the CAN protocol. A new time‐triggered protocol for CAN, referred to as TTCAN, is under development where the real‐time scheduling of the network traffic can be formally verified. This paper introduces the new TTCAN protocol and suggests that TTCAN has the potential to provide new solutions in industrial automation applications. TTCAN has the potential to replace some conventional pneumatic, hydraulic and other mechanical safety‐critical control systems with a reliable electronic network. The emergence of 42‐volt technology from the automotive world will further complement the TTCAN technology to provide some unique industrial automation solutions.