SALZ Automation System
"We can't think ahead to all solutions for our customers, but we can create the basis for them to find a technical answer to all future challenges."
By cooperating with strategic partners who share our values and principles, we at SALZ Automation pursue a clear goal: to create the world's most open and flexible automation system that not only allows change, but actively supports it - for the future-oriented improvement of a wide range of applications in mechanical and plant engineering.
In doing so, we successfully combine the best OT-hardware with newest technologies from IT. This is the best foundation to meet future challenges.
The result is a highly flexible control system that takes into account functional safety in accordance with IEC 61508.
Design of the SALZ Automation System
The SALZ Automation System is based on a manufacturer-independent computer architecture with an efficient CPUs from Advantech. This ensures that all software components are and will remain portable today and in the future. The operating system is a real-time Linux, which is adapted to the needs of automation technology. These adaptations include determinism and a small and therefore efficient footprint.
The flexibility of the system is created by the combination of a high-performance data exchange through the use of Data Exchange Layer (D.E.L.) technology and the usage of virtualization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
The D.E.L. technology uses mechanisms from the field of Shared Memory and OPC-UA. The two resulting data pools are kept constantly synchronized. This ensures data exchange between real-time and non-real-time applications. To ensure that only the data that should be exchanged is exchanged, the D.E.L. also contains a user and rights management that is operated by the user.
Software Architecture of SALZ Automation System
Virtualization is the key to flexibility.
The SALZ Automation architecture is based on the approach of loading various applications onto the device using containers. This is efficient and enables clean data management. Through the Data Exchange Layer (D.E.L.) the applications can exchange data and information. The Real Time (RT) memory access enables high performance data sharing and is mirrored with the Non-Real Time (NRT) memory access.
Our Features - Your Benefits
- Seamless integration of multi-runtime systems with massive message transfer with a delay of less as 5 µs.
- Execution of many applications side by side on one device with operator controlled user and rights management.
- Deterministic and non-deterministic data exchange between application to storage using Data Exchange Layer (DEL) technology.
- Safety logic (SIL3/PL e) can be created and executed in addition to the normal control logic to eliminate the need of additional safety hardware.
- Marketplace connection (FLECS) to use multiple solutions to make a better system.
- Easy access to deterministic and non-deterministic memory for simple and monitored data exchange between applications.
- Easy and fast loading and residue-free removal of applications for fast system customization.
- Allows the controller to be used in a cluster for more computational and storage power.
SALZ Hardware
The SALZ Automation AMAX controllers has been specially developed for use in the industrial automation environment. In addition to the use of energy-efficient CPUs (X64-architecture) and the wide range of interfaces, the hardware stands out above all due to its compact design and the many expansion options. Thus, many interesting additional hardware components can be integrated via the built-in PCI Express interface (left side of the device). The I/O modules communicate via EtherCAT technology in the backplane bus of the controller (right side of the device). With this fast and established technology, the signals of the SALZ Automation I/O modules can be made available to many applications.
The SALZ Automation Controller are complemented with the appropriate products to develop the right solution for your control cabinet.
Automation ControllerSALZ Software
Besides the compact and expandable hardware, software makes the difference. Flexibility and adaptability are the key factors in the development of the Linux RT-operating system. The applications developed according to the principles of the security-by-design paradigm enable the fast and efficient integration of new applications and the high-performance exchange of data between them. The basis for this is Data Exchange Layer (D.E.L.) technology, which enables both real-time and non-real-time applications to exchange data and information. On the other hand, SALZ Automation offers its own IEC 61131-3 programming suite, SALut.Studio, with state-of-the-art IT integration mechanisms, such as GitLab. To give the most freedom of choise Codesys could be used as well.
Communication Technology
We are on EtherCAT technology. Our EtherCAT I/O modules are designed to meet the requirements of various industrial environments. With compact design, the space on the DIN rail is efficiently utilized. The PUSH IN technology saves precious time during cabling. To transfer safety-critical data, EtherCAT utilizes the Fail Safe over EtherCAT (FSOE) protocol extension.
In addition to the use of EtherCAT, other communication technologies such as Profinet RT or Ethernet-IP can be integrated.
Hardware extensions can be connected with PCI-Express too e.g. the controller AMAX-80-C.
EtherCAT I/O SystemApp Store
SALZ Automation offers a marketplace for automation-based applications. Our devices are integrated with the marketplace to let user install the applications that they want. This marketplace has easy to install and update application with a web interface. There are various specifically designed software for the hardware systems. These softwares can let anyone manage SCADA, PLC or HMI display.
Go to FLECS website