Mapping DCS CIP signals to DI/DO

    I've been staring at the DCS manual until I go cross-eyed, but I'm not finding what I'm looking for.

    I have some Cartesian stay-out zones which are disabled by CSI signals from the cell Safety PLC. That's no problem. However, I would like to be able to check those same CSIs from inside my TP program before I try entering those zones.

    I've found the Rack 36 option in the DCS manual, but it seems like the only thing I can map to DIs is SPIs, which are not available as 'output' in the DCS I/O Connect menu. I can map NSIs to DOs, but that signal path appears to only go DO->NSI.

    Is there just not an option for what I'm trying to do here, or am I missing a trick?

    Hello, where can I find the DCS manual? I am working with controls to establish a safety input which will be the disabling input for a DCS zone that I have made. I short, there is a maintenance gate that the PLC monitors and I would like that input to activated the restricted space when gate is (!Open).

    I was thinking that this signal needs to be an SPI? Just unclear on where to tell controls to map the bit.

    It takes a bit to wrap your head around the safety signals. SSOs and SSIs are outputs and inputs of the safety module. So SSOs go from the safety module to a safety input on the robot. SSO 2 controls the C_FENCE input on the robot controller, for example.

    So in the DCS I/O Connect, you would connect SSO 2 to a CSI (where CSIs are network safety signals from a safety PLC over CIP-Safe, ProfiSafe, whatever). The CSIs are not pre-mapped, so you would just have to pick the same CSI in both the robot and PLC programs.

    In this example, I'm using SSI 11 to indicate that the network safety has been bypassed. I bypass the External E-Stop, but not the C_FENCE, using that. It allows me to jog the robot in Teach if the PLC isn't connected, but blocks me from running in Auto.

    CSO is a safety output from the safety module to the PLC that, in this case, indicates that the network safety is not bypassed, which the safety PLC program used to enable or disable various other parts of the automation.

    Quote from SkyeFire

    It takes a bit to wrap your head around the safety signals. SSOs and SSIs are outputs and inputs of the safety module. So SSOs go from the safety module to a safety input on the robot. SSO 2 controls the C_FENCE input on the robot controller, for example.

    So in the DCS I/O Connect, you would connect SSO 2 to a CSI (where CSIs are network safety signals from a safety PLC over CIP-Safe, ProfiSafe, whatever). The CSIs are not pre-mapped, so you would just have to pick the same CSI in both the robot and PLC programs.

    In this example, I'm using SSI 11 to indicate that the network safety has been bypassed. I bypass the External E-Stop, but not the C_FENCE, using that. It allows me to jog the robot in Teach if the PLC isn't connected, but blocks me from running in Auto.

    CSO is a safety output from the safety module to the PLC that, in this case, indicates that the network safety is not bypassed, which the safety PLC program used to enable or disable various other parts of the automation.

    Yes, it does take a bit to get it all sorted and have it stick. Sorted a handful of times prior- still hasn't stuck. Thank you for the clarity and a use case!

    It helps if you think of the DCS module as a separate system from the robot (which it is, in many ways), and has various I/O of its own connecting to the robot, PLC, and other bits. So a DCS output is an input to the robot or PLC, and vice versa. And the "classic" safety signals on the robot (C_FENCE, External E-Stop, Internal E-Stop, T1/Auto, and so on) are still there, just wired to the DCS module instead of directly to the PLC.

    In effect, the DCS module is less like an integrated part of the robot and more like a tiny Safety PLC that sits between the robot controller and any other safety devices. Plus it can see everything the robot is doing and evaluate in real time if the robot is about to violate any safety perimeters or speed rules.

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