Integration of Heterogeneous Access Control Functionalities Using the New Generation of NI cRIO 903x Controllers

Abstract

Engineering of Personnel Protection Systems (PPS) in large research facilities, such CERN, represents nowadays a major challenge in terms of requirements for safety and access control functionalities. PPS are usually conceived as two separate independent entities: a Safety System dealing with machine interlocks and subject to rigid safe-ty standards (e.g. IEC-61508); and a conventional Access Control System made by integration of different COTS technologies. The latter provides a large palette of func-tionalities and tools intended either to assist users access-ing the controlled areas, either to automate a certain number of control room operator's tasks. In this paper we analyse the benefits in terms of performance, cost and system maintainability of adopting the new generation of NI multipurpose CRIO 903x controllers. These new de-vices allows an optimal integration of a large set of access control functionalities, namely: automatic control of mo-torized devices, identification/count of users in zone, im-plementation of dedicated anti-intrusion algorithms, graphical display of relevant information for local users, and remote control/monitoring for control room opera-tors