Beckhoff Automation now offers to North American markets TwinSafe safety I/O technology, which can bring safety at one-third the cost of more traditional alternatives, the company says. TwinSafe systems are created by using safety I/O terminals with standard Beckhoff I/O terminals and DIN rail mounted controllers. The certified TwinSafe Bus Terminals extend the Beckhoff I/O system with safety functions. Safe signals can be mixed with standard signals as required, and the terminals can be easily distinguished by color: safe terminals have yellow plastic housings, and standard terminals have white plastic housings. By using Beckhoff’s TwinCAT PC-based automation and control software, users can create typical safety functions, such as emergency stop, safety doors, light curtains, and others. Since the compatible bus systems used do not contribute to or take away from safety aspects, already existing fieldbus systems such as Profibus or EtherCAT can be used. The required logical link of the inputs and the outputs is handled by the KL6904 TwinSafe logic terminal. Typical safety functions required for machinery, such as emergency stop and safety doors are already included in the KL6904. The other two I/O terminals in the TwinSafe system include the KL1904 Safety Bus Terminal, a digital input terminal for sensors with potential-free contacts for 24 V dc. The KL2904 Safety Bus Terminal is a digital output terminal with four channels. It switches 24 V dc actuators with up to 0.5 A total current. www.beckhoffautomation.com/twinsafe Beckhoff Automation