Software determines functionality in televisions, vehicles, smartphones, and increasingly industrial automation and industrial control systems. This development has led to the emergence of virtual PLCs (vPLCs). The following article describes how such control systems are implemented in practice and which application scenarios are technically feasible. 

Virtual controllers are revolutionizing the world of automation: software is taking the lead, while hardware is becoming secondary. Less wiring, more flexibility—and even SIL3 safety—are now possible with software-based solutions.

Codesys Virtual Safe Control SL brings functional safety to any standard hardware. The solution is expected to be certified for FailSafe over Ethercat (FSoE) by the end of the year.

CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL provides a hardware-independent SIL3 safety controller that can run on standard hardware.

Terms such as openness and co-creation have long since ceased to be buzzwords and have become a reality. 

The pressure is increasing: machine builders have less and less time from the order to the productive machine. As a result, design, electrical planning and application development are increasingly taking place in parallel.