SALZ Automation shows how virtualization and functional safety can run on the same industrial PC. With its SALZ Control System and ZOS real-time Linux, the company runs CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL as a SIL3 safety controller on standard Advantech edge hardware instead of dedicated safety PLCs, turning commercial off-the-shelf systems into certified safety platforms. https://www.salz-automation.com/en/From_Virtualisation_to_Functional_Safety
The demo implements an emergency-stop scenario using Functional Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE) and mixed I/O vendors, with virtual PLC and virtual safe PLC instances replacing classic hardwired safety CPUs. Safety logic is engineered in CODESYS but executed inside containers, where safe runtime and standard control runtime are isolated and monitored via the SALZ dashboard while the full setup draws only about six percent CPU on the Advantech box.
Architecturally, SALZ maps the CODESYS “Safe House” pattern into a containerized system: one host provides an external time source, the other runs the virtual safe controller and standard control tasks as dual software channels that meet IEC 61508 SIL3 timing requirements. This virtualized safety path preserves deterministic execution and diagnostic coverage while replacing hardware redundancy with software-defined redundancy managed through Docker-style orchestration.
Because the stack is protocol-agnostic, the same approach can be applied in robotics cells, packaging lines, food and beverage plants or process and gas applications wherever functional safety and flexible topology are required. OEMs and integrators can scale from single machines to fleets by spinning up containers instead of redesigning hardware, while staying in the standard CODESYS Safety engineering environment.
Recorded at the Advantech booth during SPS 2025 in Nuremberg, the discussion positions this as an early live deployment of virtual safety control on generic edge hardware. It reflects a broader shift in industrial automation from fixed, hardware-bound safety PLCs to software-defined control on open PCs, with containerization, EtherCAT and OPC UA helping virtual PLCs and virtual safe controllers coexist on the same box without compromising certified safety levels.
