Mission Critical Safety: POSITAL PROFIsafe Rotary Encoders

AT POSITAL they have been busy expanding their family of IXARC absolute rotary encoders to include models explicitly designed for use in safety critical motion control systems. The new POSITAL PROFIsafe Rotary Encoders feature redundant measurement elements and are certified to Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL 2) and Performance Level d (PL d). They feature a PROFINET communications interface and support the PROFIsafe protocol.


PROFIsafe-based control systems are used for critical applications such as industrial robots or material handling equipment, where loss of control could result in hazardous situation. The encoder transmits a safety position and/or safety velocity value.


A Quick look at the IXARC specification reveals that POSITAL have checked all of the option boxes as standard:

  • Reliable Redundant Magnetic Measurements,
  • Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL 2) and Performance Level d (PL d) approvals,
  • High Vibration and Shock Resistance design,
  • Saltwater Resistant Protection Class up to IP69K,
  • Status LED‘s,
  • Counts up to 4,096 Absolute Turns,
  • Maximum Resolution of 13 bit,
  • Real Time Accuracy of up to ±0,2%,

See the full details on the POSITAL Safety encoders here