AS-Interface safety-at-work consortium adds new member
Mannheim, Germany — Bihl+Wiedemann is the most recent company to join the AS-Interface safety-at-work consortium. B+W becomes one of nearly a dozen and a half companies working to develop the use of AS-Interface cabling for safety-related components.
Two products offered by Bihl+Wiedemann under the safety-at-work concept include the AS-I Safety Monitor and OEM Slave. Monitor allows the connection of safety-at-work slaves for safety- relevant tasks and supports the use of sensor-steered safety devices and parts to category 4, EN 954-1. OEM Slave enables the connection of up to two safe switching-contacts in applications up to category 4, SIL 3. The company specializes in the development and production of AS-Interface products.
Two Bihl+Wiedemann products that fall under the safety-at-work concept are the AS-I Safety Monitor (left) and OEM Slave. B+W is the newest member of the AS-Interface safety-at-work consortium.
AS-International Association is the manufacturers/users group of the AS-Interface system, which promotes bus-compatible interfaces for binary sensors and actuators. Termed “an intelligent cabling system” rather than a true fieldbus, AS-i allows simple sensors and actuators to be linked together economically through a 2-wire bus, including the supply voltage. The group seeks to become an industry standard on the lower field level.
The Safety-at-Work consortium was founded in 1999 to develop the use of AS-Interface cabling for safety-related components. Among consortium goals are to promote technological development of the Safety- at-Work system and make it possible to implement wiring of safety components as well as sensor/actuator cabling with AS-Interface.
Other members of the safety consortium include Euchner, EJA, Festo, Honeywell, ifm electronic, Idec, Leuze lumiflex, Moeller, Omron, Pepperl+Fuchs, Pilz, Schmersal, Schneider Electric, Sick, and Siemens.
—Control Engineering Daily News DeskJeanine Katzel, senior editor, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com
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