Darrell Halterman

Senior product manager of PACSystems controllers at Emerson’s machine automation solutions business

Figure 1: Good industrial equipment safety design will incorporate the necessary sensors to protect workers by de-energizing equipment if there are any unsafe conditions.

Simplified Safety Increases Application Options

Configurable safety controllers provide a flexible automation safety option, making it easier for users to implement these devices in more applications.

Figure 1: Certain PLCs and edge controllers, such as those offered by Emerson, can be installed in redundant pairs on a PROFINET MRP ring to provide controller and media redundancy, often needed for critical control applications.

PROFINET in the Age of Edge Computing

Traditional industrial Ethernet protocols continue to play a crucial role for PLC and PAC automation designs, and also for newer edge computing options.