SafetyBus p Club makes surprise choice for new chairman
Hannover, Germany - At the Annual Members' Meeting of the independent SafetyBUS p Club International e.V. held here, Dr Richard Piggin was elected Chairman for the next three years. This is the first time that a Chairman has been elected from outside Germany, the birthplace of SafetyBUS. Club members say this reflects the way in which SafetyBUS p is being adopted for safety-critical applications around the world.
Dr. Richard Piggin
Hannover, Germany – At the Annual Members’ Meeting of the independent SafetyBUS p Club International e.V . held here, Dr Richard Piggin was elected Chairman for the next three years. This is the first time that a Chairman has been elected from outside Germany, the birthplace of SafetyBUS. Club members say this reflects the way in which SafetyBUS p is being adopted for safety-critical applications around the world.
Several new initiatives of the club were also announced. One of the most important developments is an agreement to establish a Conformance Test Centre at the University of Warwick in the U.K.
While most industrial fieldbus foundations have conformance test centres, because of the safety issues relating to the SafetyBUS p system, the facility at the University of Warwick will be going a step further, Dr. Piggin explained. Whereas other conformance test centres merely check the conformance of the network interface, the SafetyBUS p Conformance Test Centre will also check the conformance of the device’s operation, which is essential to ensure that the safety functionality meets the specification, he said.
In addition, a set of integration tools has been launched to assist vendors who wish to incorporate a SafetyBUS p interface within their products. There are four PC-based software tools (a PSS (programmable safety system) ISI monitor, an application simulator, an error text editor and an MFP analyser) as well as an evaluation board and a DDF generator.
The SafetyBus p Club was founded in 1999 and comprises over 40 members; there are some 30,000 SafetyBUS p installed nodes to date.
Control Engineering Daily News DeskMichael Babb, editor, Control Engineering-Europemichael.babb@cahnerseurope.com
Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our WTWH Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.
