EtherCAT adds safety profile

Because today's drive profiles do not cover functional safety, the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) is developing a new safety drive profile to close the gap. With the upcoming profile, safety functionality of EtherCAT drives with CiA402 (CANopen) or the Sercos drive profile can be used and configured in a manufacturer-independent way. The IEC 61800-5-2 standard defines safety-relevant functions for drives. With these functions, safe stopping of the drive or safe monitoring of motion can be achieved; dangerous movements at startup or during manual interaction with a machine can be avoided or limited in a safe manner. Configuration of safety-relevant drive functions is also standardized within the profile. ETG intends to make the safety drive profile available to other interested organizations and technologies because, by design, the profile is independent from the safety bus system being used. For more information, visit www.ethercat.org.