Delta AX-5 Functional Safety System: integrated safety for scalable machine automation
Delta is bringing functional safety and standard automation together on a single architecture. The company has launched the AX-5 Functional Safety System in the EMEA market as an extension of its AX-5 automation platform. The new safety layer communicates via Functional Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE). Machine builders and system integrators can use it to cut wiring, shorten engineering time and build machine architectures that are easier to adapt and expand.
According to Sander van Dasselaar, Head of Industrial Automation Business Platform at Delta Electronics EMEA, functional safety has stopped being a separate add-on and has become part of the core of modern machine automation. In his words, the AX-5 Functional Safety System lets OEMs build “safer, smarter and more scalable machines on a single automation architecture”, in line with Delta’s strategy of integrated solutions that speed up innovation and simplify engineering.
Three components, one safety solution
The system is built around three devices, all certified to SIL3 and all communicating via FSoE:
- AX-500SC00-0S Safety Controller: handles safety control for the AX-5 I/O series.
- AX-504AM20-0S Safety Digital Input Module: four PNP safety input channels.
- AX-504AN02-0S Safety Digital Output Module: four PNP safety output channels.
Less wiring, more flexible safety architectures
Safety signals travel over the EtherCAT network, so the AX-5 Functional Safety System replaces much of the point-to-point cabling of traditional hardwired safety circuits. This reduces installation work and speeds up commissioning. It also makes it easier to reconfigure the safety architecture for different machine variants or to expand it as the application grows.
Safety and standard logic in one engineering environment
Safety and standard PLC logic are programmed in the same development environment, so engineers no longer have to maintain two separate control worlds. The safety system fits into Delta’s wider automation ecosystem alongside AX Series controllers, I/O modules, servo drives, HMI panels and software. The result is a single, scalable control architecture for the whole machine.
A general-purpose platform for machine builders
Delta has designed the AX-5 Functional Safety System as a general-purpose safety platform rather than a solution for a single industry. OEMs and system integrators can apply it to a wide range of industrial machines and adapt it to different architectures and application requirements. With this launch, Delta extends its integrated automation portfolio and offers a single, scalable platform for both functional safety and standard control.