Safety position
DA Synergie software is not a certified safety system. It is intended for use by qualified industrial automation professionals and must be validated before production use.
PLCMaker and PLCRuntime are ordinary industrial automation products. PLCRuntime is an ordinary industrial control runtime and is not a functional-safety controller or safety PLC. Standard PLC logic and ordinary networked I/O are not safety systems and must not be used as the sole means of performing a required safety function.
HMI supervisory software
HMI supervisory software is not a machine safety system.
HMIMaker and HMIViewer may display process information and provide operator control through communications with PLCs and other industrial devices. Availability and freshness of displayed information depend on the host system, communications, network and connected devices.
Loss or interruption of HMI communication, loss of the host system, or unavailable or stale process information following a failure must be considered in the machine or system design. This is a failure-condition and system-design boundary; it does not describe normal intended operation.
Required emergency stopping, machine protection and safety functions must not depend solely on the HMI.
The machine builder, system designer or integrator remains responsible for the appropriate independent safety architecture and for validating system behavior under loss of HMI or communications.
Safety functions
PLCMaker and PLCRuntime are not substitutes for safety equipment required by the application.
Where required by the machine or process risk assessment, safety functions may include independently designed:
- Emergency-stop circuits
- Safety relays
- Safety PLCs / controllers
- Machine guarding and interlocks
- Safety-rated sensors and actuators
- Hardwired protective functions
- Travel or position limits
- Overpressure / overtemperature protection
- Other application-specific risk-reduction measures
The system designer is responsible for selecting the appropriate safety architecture and applicable safety integrity or performance requirements. DA Synergie does not claim that PLCRuntime has a SIL, PL, safety certification or safety rating.
Responsibilities
- Emergency stops must remain independent of software control.
- Safety relays, guards, interlocks, and safety PLCs must be implemented independently where required.
- Machine builders, OEMs, integrators, and owners remain responsible for the complete installation.
- Customers must validate every project before deployment.
Fail-safe system design
The required failure state of a machine or process is application-dependent and must be determined during the system risk assessment.
The machine builder, system designer or integrator is responsible for determining the required failure state of each controlled function and for selecting and configuring the control hardware, actuators, valves, contactors, brakes, remote I/O and other equipment so that foreseeable failures produce the required system response.
Where appropriate, fail-safe functions should be achieved through the physical and electrical design of the machine rather than depending on an ordinary software command after a failure has occurred.
For example, where a motor brake must engage upon loss of control, the machine may be designed so that energy is required to release the brake. Removal of the appropriate control or safety energy then permits the brake to engage according to the machine鈥檚 safety design.
This example is illustrative only. The appropriate failure state must be determined for the actual machine or process. Driving every output to zero is not universally a safe state.
System failures to consider
A failure of PLCRuntime, the host computer, network communication, a network switch, remote I/O, third-party hardware, power, or ordinary control logic must be considered in the machine or system risk assessment.
Software obligations
This notice does not relieve DA Synergie of responsibility for its software according to documented specifications, contractual terms and applicable law. It clarifies that architecture, configuration and validation of the complete industrial system outside DA Synergie鈥檚 control remain with the customer, machine builder or system designer.
Related engineering detail: Engineering Responsibility Statement. Product overview: PLCRuntime.