This may be a strange question to ask, but I would like to know if it is possible to use a any of X20SL8xxx SafeLOGIC controllers without a SafeKey (X20MK0223 or similar) inserted into the slot at all? What would happen if I try to do that? Would the SafeLOGIC controller go into the “FAIL SAFE” mode after booting and refuse to communicate to the Remote Control panel of the SafeDESIGNER?
Please kindly clarify this for me.
My intentions are just to TEST a simple Legacy safety program (Safety Release 1.10 or below) in a lab environment. I plan to use SafeDESIGNER 4.2.x and “PLCOpen_Motion_SF_2” Library.
I don’t need the mappSafety or any advanced functions which need premium licenses at all. I don’t even need to ensure any real physical or electrical SAFETY measures (danger to hardware or people) per se. It would probably be OK for me if my program runs only in Debug mode…
Well, in order to do that, I need to establish a connection from SafeDESIGNER to my X20SL8100 module, right?
But the module light its red FAIL SAFE LED after booting and does not communicate to the PC (using any available Communication settings in SafeDESIGNER). However, the SDM shows the X20SL8100 module with a green check mark in the Hardware tree with “ModuleOK” status showing FALSE.
Is there anything I can do with the X20SL8xxx controller, without any X20MK02xx SafeKey inserted?
Please kindly let me know.
unfortunately I’m not a safety expert, so I hope that others in the community can give more precice information on that topic.
But what I know is, that the safekey does not only contains the licences, but also the program an parameter flash memory for the device.
So, if there’s no safekey I’m pretty sure that there’s no possibility to download software to the device because it can’t be stored anywhere on the safelogic.
If the communication is activly refused because of a missing safekey, I don’t know. But I can imagine, that because of the missing safekey’s memory the safelogic cannot even boot up into a state where communication is possible?
Maybe other community members know more about that.
Thank you very much for your insight! What happens in my case is the “FAIL SAFE” LED is going red as soon as the power is applied, blinks once as the SafeLOGIC module boots (I think) and then stays red all the time. No communication seems possible to the module from the SafeDESIGNER (4.2.x) software.
As you mentioned, the possibility that the SafeKey is a storage for the safety program logic makes sense. Especially given the fact that those SafeKeys used to be available in 2 models featuring different memory sizes (X20MK0211 - 2MB and X20MK0213 - 8MB).
More recently, the newer model X20MK0223 has 8MB memory capacity, but the product info page says that it is “exclusively for mapp Safety”.
So, at the moment I’m not sure which model we should get for these simple tests. Perhaps, we have to get more than one. Finally, I would like to get more information regarding the specific license requirements and the “X20MK Configurator” tool.
If you or anyone else in the community can find/post more information regarding this, it would me greatly appreciated!
An update regarding my ability to connect the X20SL8100 SafeLOGIC module. I connected one of the Powerlink ports of the module to the Ethernet port of the PC (using a direct Powerlink cable) and set the IP address of that to 192.168.100.x range (with default net mask). Now I can Ping the 192.168.100.1 address of the module (since its Powerlink node is set to 1 by the switches). I can even Telnet to it on the TCP port 23 (but can’t do much without knowing the password). However, the SafeDESIGNER is still unable to connect to the X20SL8100 module! (of course, I changed the options accordingly).
I’m not sure which particular TCP port does SafeDESIGNER uses and I don’t know the Telnet console password. So, I’m still stuck without the ability to even connect to my SafeLOGIC module. If someone can share any information or ideas on this subject, I would sincerely appreciate that.
I’ll try to share what I know about.
But before ordering something, I strongly recommend to contact your local B&R sales representative and/or support, because I’m not aware about the products life cycle and availabilities, and I’m not 100% sure that I understood every aspect of your use-case right.
About the “X20MK configurator”:
the configurator is needed because the part number of a safekey, for example X20MK0211, is not an “real order code”.
The suitable order code contains the safekey itself, but also the maximum range of safe nodes (io modules and drives) handled by the safelogic, the needed safety technology functions, and so on.
The configurator itself is just “some tables in the manual” to identify the right order code for the safekey+suitable function range that fits to your needs.
For example, defining an order code for “small application, less then 20 safe io modules and drives needed, safemotion is needed but no robotics, no special technology functions needed” would lead to an order code X20MK1001.000.000
But as I said above: please come into contact with your local B&R sales representative to discuss your usecase before ordering, because I can’t guarantee that I got all information right.
yes, there’s a telnet console server on the safelogic, but I don’t know about it’s functionality or the credentials. As I remember, it’s not some kind of full-featured remote access console, but used for some initial setup work like formatting a safekey - normally, the user does not need this console at all as I know.
As I remember, the safedesigner uses port 50000 TCP for communication with the safelogic.
Thank you for the explanation and the link to the document. We will get in touch with the local B&R office and see regarding the availability of the SafeKeys with Legacy safety functions (X20MK021x models) as well as the the newer models for the mapp Safety functions (X20MK0223). We might need to have the newer models in the near future.
Interestingly, the document about the mapp Safery exclusive X20MK0223 model available at this link does not have any order code table like that for the legacy version of the SafeKeys. Also, the document mentions that “No license information is stored on the SafeKey”.
Well, I guess, there is another method to manage licenses with those newer SafeKeys. We will try to get more information on this subject from the local B&R office on Monday.
I appreciate all the time and efforts you put answering my questions!
I agree, the ability to connect to a SafeLOGIC module via Telnet console would be helpful for some special functions or troubleshooting. It would be nice to get any document on this subject, but not critical.
What really matters is the SafeDESIGNER connection (directly to Powerlink port or via the CPU) and ability to use Remote Control and Download the project to the SafeLOGIC module.
But it seems impossible for now, since I don’t have any SafeKeys plugged in the slot.
So, as far as I understand, we must get some SafeKey in order to proceed. There is no other way (by setting the switch on the module, etc)
I can confirm that the safety part of the X20SL8xxx can’t be used without SafeKEY. It’s only the Powerlink part that works.
Therefore it is in fact not useable without SafeKEY - not even for test or debug purposes.
Regarding the telnet console: don’t use it! There is no documentation about it and it might be changed or removed without notice.
Regarding the test you want to do: would it maybe be possible to use the Simulation Mode of the SafeDESIGNER?
Documentation can be found here: EasySim controller simulation
I really appreciate your feedback and confirmation!
The purpose of this test is not to debug some safety logic but to use a SafeMOTION library FB to Enable an axis of a SafeMC ACOPOSmulti drive (using “Legacy safety” library “PLCOpen_Motion_SF_2”). So, the simulation may be useful only for determining the type of X20MKxxxx.xxx.xxx licensing (order code) required.
As for Telnet access, I found it by accident while trying various ways to connect to the SafeLOGIC module. I understand that it’s undocumented. And it was never my intention to use this console for any purpose whatsoever.
