Webinar: Safe By Design - Developing Safety Certified Field Devices From Hart 4-20mA to Ethernet-APL
On-Demand Webinar: The process industry faces the challenge of increasing plant efficiency, reducing production costs, and ensuring the safety of people and the environment. As a result, current developments in electronics and measurement technology focus on digital signal processing, artificial intelligence, real-time data transmission, predictive maintenance with easy device replacement, and functional safety in explosion-proof designs.
In this context, digitization is key. By leveraging valuable data from the field level, processes and maintenance intervals can be optimized. Established factory automation technologies are adopted and tailored to meet the specific needs of process automation.
This Webinar presents the development steps for a safety-certified field device—from sensor front end to data processing and diagnostics, as well as possible line interfaces. We demonstrate how a traditional 4-20 mA analog interface can provide safe signaling and be additionally equipped with HART to provide the necessary diagnostics channel.
As an alternative interface, we introduce the new standard for process automation, Ethernet-APL, an Ethernet-based 2-wire communication interface that can both power field devices and be used in hazardous areas. Ethernet-APL offers the broad versatility of standard Ethernet protocols such as TCP/IP, HART-IP, PROFINET, OPC UA, and others. Using HART-IP and other HART protocols, applications can leverage SafeHART technology, ensuring secure, reliable diagnostics and process data communication—critical for safety-related functions. This integration facilitates an easy transition for HART-oriented environments while supporting other protocol families to fit various production needs.
A typical development cycle follows the V-model, covering requirements, architecture, hardware and software design, testing, validation, and certification for functional safety and IEC-Ex. Since this process is complex and resource-intensive, we show how the intended setup can be easily prepared using our MESCO Design Packages system by combining upcoming modules with minimal modifications, such as sensor adaptation.
Through this systematic development and the use of modern standards, including SafeHART, we contribute to making process automation safer, more efficient, and more future-oriented.