SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIMULTANEOUS CONTROL OF SAFETY-CRITICAL AND NON-SAFETY-CRITICAL PROCESSES IN AUTOMATION SYSTEMS USING MASTER-MINION FUNCTIONALITY

A control system is for controlling safety-critical processes, non-safety-critical processes, and/or installation components. The control system includes: at least one control unit configured to control non-safety-critical processes and/or non-safety-critical installation components, at least one safety control unit for controlling safety-critical processes and/or safety-critical installation components, and at least one input/output unit connected to the first control unit via an internal input/output bus. The control system is configured to act as communication master or as communication minion or as both in a pool having other devices that is connected via field bus, and to that end, the control system includes a master communication coupler and a minion communication coupler. The control system is modularly configurable. At least the safety control unit includes respective subunits with master functionality and subunits with minion functionalities.