Industrial electronics and machinery play and significant role in efficiently conduct and automate complex tasks, improve accuracy, and help businesses maintain consistent quality control while reducing human involvement. Industrial electronics and Machinery is critical in modern industries, offering benefits like increased productivity, reduced operational costs, and enhanced safety.
However, with increased complexity and role of industrial electronics safety and security is paramount. It is essential to design systems with established functional safety standards to protect workers and minimize the risks of costly regulatory penalties, downtime, and legal liabilities.
VerveTronics is trusted partner to bridge that gap by offering advanced industrial automation solutions. Our deep expertise spans the design and implementation of Functional Safety (FuSa) and Device Security systems, ensuring safer / secure, more efficient, and compliant industrial systems.
Domain Expertise in Industrial Electronics
Power/ Energy Storage Systems ESS
Industrial power electronics and energy storage electronics involves designing and implementing safety and security measures to mitigate risks arising from equipment failures or hazardous conditions. These systems include:
- Circuit Protection: Overcurrent protection systems to prevent electrical hazards.
- Arc Fault Detection: Identifies and mitigates hazardous electrical arcs in industrial systems.
- Battery Management Systems: Ensures safe operation of industrial batteries and prevents overcharging or overheating.
- Battery Energy Storage Systems (ESS/ BESS): Residential or Industrial grid connected energy storage systems with high voltage battery management systems.
- Inverters: High power and low power AC to DC, DC-AC or bidirectional AC-DC grid connected inverters
- DC-DC Converters: Various DC-DC converters covering wide range of application requirements.
- Fuse Boxes, Load Distributions: Safety Critical fuse boxes and load distribution units.
Connectivity
Industrial connectivity systems play a critical role and hance safeguarding and securing the transmission is critical. These systems include:
- Secure Communication Protocols: Protect against cyber threats that could compromise safety systems.
- Industrial Communication Protocols: Profibus, Profinet, HART, CAN, Wireless Protocols like WIFI, Blue tooth
Sensors
Industrial sensor electronics can have cascading impact on performance, reliability and safety the over industrial. These industrial sensors include:
- Safety-rated Encoders: Ensure accurate position tracking in critical applications.
- Gas and Radiation Detectors: Alert operators to hazardous environmental conditions.
- Fire Detection and Suppression Systems: Monitors for fire hazards and deploys automated suppression systems.
- HVAC Safety Systems: Prevent equipment failures and ensure safe ventilation and temperature control.
- Pressure Transmitters: Detect pressure levels in various fluids in Safety critical applications.
- Temperature Transmitters: Detect Temperatures levels of various systems in Safety critical applications.
- Flow meters : Detect flow rates of various fluids in Safety critical applications.
- Light Curtains and Safety Sensors: Detect the presence of operators in hazardous zones and stop machinery as needed.
Machinery
Industrial agricultural machinery and material handling machines consists of critical components such as:
- Earth Moving Machinery: Ensuring robots can safely interact with humans through sensors and safety protocols.
- Agricultural Machinery: Ensuring safe and secure operation of agriculture machinery like tractors, combines, harvesters which include safety critical electronics systems for agriculture machinery like steering sensors, joysticks, hydraulic actuators , motors etc
- Heavy Material handling machinery: Ensuring safe and secure operation of industrial machinery like forklifts, cranes, which include safety critical electronics systems like sensors, joysticks, hydraulic actuators, power management systems, motors etc
Controllers
Industrial control electronics like PLCs, Remote Controls, Central controllers/gateways, safety interlocks are central to industrial electronics infrastructure. These systems include:
- Emergency Stop Systems (E-Stops): Devices to immediately halt machinery during an emergency.
- Safety Interlocks: Prevent operation unless certain conditions are met, ensuring safe operation of machines.
- Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS): Ensure safe shutdown or control of industrial processes to prevent accidents, especially in chemical plants, refineries, and power plants.
- Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs): Fail-safe PLCs are used in automation to maintain operational safety in case of system failures.
- Distributed Control Systems (DCS): Monitor and control industrial processes with built-in safety mechanisms.
- Remote Monitoring and control Systems: Ensure safe operation of equipment even when monitored and controlled remotely.
- Edge Computing Safety Devices: Analyze and act on safety-critical data at the edge of networks.
Robotics
Industrial power electronics and energy storage electronics involves designing and implementing safety and security measures to mitigate risks arising from equipment failures or hazardous conditions. These systems include:
- Collaborative Robot (Cobot) Safety: Ensuring robots can safely interact with humans through sensors and safety protocols.
- Safety-rated Motion Control: Monitors robot movements to prevent collisions or unsafe operations.
- Power and Force Limiting Systems: Restrict the force and speed of robots to safe levels.
Challenges in Industrial Electronics
Organizations in the industry face several key challenges related to functional safety and device security:
- Increased System Complexity: With the rise of electrification, automation, connectivity and the complexity of industrial systems has grown significantly. Managing functional safety and device security in such complex environments requires specialized expertise.
- Adapting to Evolving Standards: The industry is governed by stringent functional safety and cyber security standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 13849, Machinery Directives, IEC 62443 m UN ECE regulations etc which are continuously evolving. Ensuring that safety and security processes remain compliant with these standards is challenging for organizations that lack dedicated resources.
- Heterogeneous Interconnected Systems: Coexistence of legacy systems and new technologies like sensors, actuators, controllers, and software from multiple vendors makes uniform safety and security implementation difficult. Use of protocols like Modbus, PROFINET, or OPC-UA, which may lack inherent security mechanisms.
- Sensors & Actuators: Safety-critical systems rely on sensors and actuators, and even minor inaccuracies or delays can lead to failures.
- Malicious Usage: Employees or contractors with access to systems may intentionally or unintentionally cause harm or steal sensitive data.
- Compliance and Certification Costs: Meeting both safety and security certifications can be time-consuming and expensive, especially for small businesses.
Why VerveTronics?
VerveTronics brings deep expertise in delivering functional safety and device cyber security solutions tailored to the industrial electronics sector. Our core strengths include:
- Deep Expertise in IEC 61508/ISO 13849 and ISO 21434: Our team has extensive experience with the IEC 61508/ISO 13849 standard, ensuring that industrial systems meet the required safety and security integrity levels.
- Deep Expertise in Industrial Electronics : With specialized experience in controls, sensors, and electric vehicle systems, VerveTronics is well-equipped to manage the safety challenges posed by industrial controls and Electrification development.
- Holistic Approach to Safety and Security: We provide comprehensive functional safety services, from early-stage risk assessments to full-scale system validation, covering both hardware and software safety aspects.
- Innovative Solutions for Emerging Technologies: VerveTronics has a proven track record in addressing the unique safety challenges posed by industrial BESS, Controls and Sensors systems, ensuring compliance while enabling technological innovation.
- Safety Analysis and Risk Mitigation: We conduct in-depth safety analyses, including Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), to identify and mitigate potential hazards.
- Training and Consulting: VerveTronics offers training and consulting sessions to enhance your team’s knowledge of functional safety and cyber security standards and methodologies, enabling them to manage safety-critical systems more effectively.
Our Approach
VerveTronics provides a structured and wholistic approach develop state of the art safety and security critical systems by focusing on People, Process, Tools and Continuous improvements for following stage of development
- People Knowledge & Competencies: A culture focused with building deep knowledge and competencies across domains and standards.
- Tools & Process Automation: Emphasis on tools to automate process and thus achieve best in class quality through
- Requirements Management
- Dev Ops for CI/CD Continuous integration and Continuous Delivery.
- Traceability
- Hardware in Loop & Fault Insertion Testing
- Culture of precision, attention to details and excellence through continuous improvement.
- Requirements Engineering: Core competency of Requirement engineering and decomposition considering multifaceted systems engineering approach for architectural components.
- Safety/Security Analysis and Risk Reductions: Carry out thorough failure and threat analysis at various phases with optimum risk reduction techniques.
- Re-usable & Proven in use accelerators: Development and Usage of ready to use, time tested, proven in use accelerators that faced rigorous levels of compliances and testing.
VerveTronics Case Studies/Solutions:
We worked European Tier-1 for Electronics Power Steering & Vehicle Control unit as per IEC 61508 SIL3 / ISO 13849 Ple for end to end concept to certification support for their heavy machinery application
VerveTronics Role:
- Support for end to end IEC 61508 SIL3 | ISO 13849 Ple compliance and certification
- Safety/Technical Concept and specifications ,
- Safety Analysis for System (HARA), Hardware(FMEDA), Software(FMEA) and Mechanical (FMEA)
- Safety Compliant Hardware Specifications and Assessment
- Hardware Design and development
- Safety Compliant Software Specifications, Validation and Assessment
- SIL3 Process Development and Improvements
- Safety Assessment and Certifications
We successfully contributed in development for a leading Tier-1 supplier in US BESS Energy Storage Electronics and Battery Management System according to IEC 61508/ ISO 13849 SIL3 rating
VerveTronics Role:
- Support for end to end EC 61508/ ISO 13849 SIL3 compliance
- Safety/Technical Concept and specifications ,
- Safety Analysis for Hardware(FMEDA), Software (FMEA) and Mechanical (FMEA)
- Safety Compliant Hardware Specifications and Assessment
- Safety Compliant Software Specifications and Assessment
- ASIL-C / ASPICE Process Development and Improvements
- Safety Assessment
We worked with a leading Tier-1 supplier in Europe to develop DC Power Converter System according to ASIL-B rating
VerveTronics Role:
- Safety/Technical Concept and specifications ,
- Safety Analysis for Hardware(FMEDA), Software (FMEA) and Mechanical (FMEA)
- Safety Compliant Hardware Specifications and Assessment
- Safety Compliant Software Specifications and Assessment
- Safety Assessment.
Knowledge Center
Robotics Electronics Safety/Security
As robots increasingly operate alongside humans, ensuring their safety, reliability, and interoperability becomes critical. Robotics standards offer a structured approach to achieve these objectives. This blog will explore robotics standards through the lens of why they matter, what they cover, and how they are implemented.