A brand new automation system from Pilz Safe Automation, the PSS4000, was developed by the industrial automation specialist as a one-stop-shop control and safety solution for manufacturing and process plants.
According to Pilz PSS4000 product manager, Adam Hallinan, the new product offers a unique fusion of control and safety that allows plant engineers to configure the logic without necessarily delving into the complications of computer language programming.
“PSS4000 is the Google of the automation industry. It makes things simple,” said PSS4000 product specialist, Adam Hallinan, at the official PS4000 launch in Victoria in September.
The primary aim of the PSS4000 is to simplify the de-centralisation of control functions and reduce engineering work. Designed as a standard and safety control system to answer all the automation requirements of an industrial plant, the PSS4000 also incorporates real-time motion control, a visualisation system for process visibility, and a diagnostics system for identifying and responding quickly to faults.
The PSS4000 runs on the PAS4000 Pilz Automation Suite, which is a component-oriented programming software that Pilz claims is simple-to-use and can be applied to all programming and parameter setting functions — with both standard data and user interfaces. PAS4000 also offers all 5 established programming languages in accordance with IEC61131-3 plus the Pilz Multi drag and drop programming method.
According to Pilz managing director, Frank Schrever, the new system can be successfully applied across all manufacturing and process plants — regardless of size.
“[The PSS4000] enables users to retain a centralised perspective of de-centralised, distributed control structures. Because of its versatility, the PSS4000 automation system can be used across a whole range of industries, for applications of any size using safetyNETp ethernet,” he said.
According to Schrever, the PSS4000 allows the people responsible for machine safety and operation, including engineers, electricians and integrators, to ‘take control’.
“Because plant safety is most effective when it is incorporated into the very design of the plant, it makes sense for the plant’s designers and managers to design and manage its safety and control functions too,” he said.
“Pilz believes another paradigm shift is overdue. Plant designers should be able to choose to deal with code or configure the logic themselves without any need to delve into the mysteries of computer languages.”
The launch of the PSS4000 automation system represents a changing direction for Pilz Safe Automation — which has traditionally been recognised in Australia as an industrial safety systems supplier. According to Schrever, the PSS4000 fuses the company’s long-running expertise in industrial control and diagnostics with safety.