CODESYS Achieves World's First SIL 3 Certification for a Virtual Safe Control System
World's First Virtual Safe Controller Achieves SIL 3
In March 2026, the CODESYS Virtual Safe Control SL became the first purely software-based safety controller to achieve IEC 61508 SIL 3 certification. The system supports FSoE (Fail Safe over EtherCAT), meaning safety functions that traditionally required dedicated hardware safety PLCs can now execute as software on standard computing platforms.
This is not an incremental improvement. It represents a structural shift in how industrial safety systems are architected. The achievement was also recognized with a nomination for the ElectroTEC Pioneer 2026 award.
What Does Virtual Safety Control Mean?
Conventional industrial safety systems rely on dedicated safety PLCs — controllers built with redundant hardware, self-diagnostic circuits, and hardware voting logic to ensure correct operation even when components fail. These devices carry premium pricing, require separate supply chains, and have slow update cycles.
Virtual safety control moves these functions into software. Instead of hardware redundancy, the system uses techniques like software diversity and mutual monitoring between independent software channels to achieve the required safety integrity levels. The result is equivalent safety assurance at lower cost with greater flexibility.
The FSoE protocol ensures safe data transmission over standard EtherCAT networks with error detection and deterministic response times. This eliminates the need for physically separate safety networks — a significant simplification of plant-floor wiring and infrastructure.
Impact on the Automation Industry
The most immediate effect is on safety system economics. Certified safety hardware has traditionally consumed a disproportionate share of automation project budgets, particularly for small and mid-sized facilities. The software-based approach reduces this cost substantially while maintaining certified safety levels.
Flexibility improves as well. Software updates are faster than hardware replacements. Safety logic can be modified, tested, and validated in simulation before deployment, reducing downtime and accelerating improvement cycles. For machine builders, this means faster time-to-market for new safety configurations.
The transition will not be instant. Regulatory bodies and end users will need time to build confidence in the software-based model, and the highest-criticality applications may continue to prefer hardware-based approaches.
What This Means for Engineers
The CODESYS certification signals a broader industry shift from hardware-defined to software-defined safety. For automation engineers, this creates new requirements: understanding both traditional safety PLC architectures and software-based safety concepts becomes essential. The practical impact is that safety system design is becoming more accessible to smaller integrators, but the engineering rigor required for SIL-rated systems remains unchanged. If you work with EtherCAT-based systems, FSoE competency is worth developing now — the installed base of virtual safety controllers will grow significantly over the next three to five years.