TECHNOLOGY n 29 www.drivesncontrols.com July/August 2026 SIEMENS IS MAKING software-defined automation (SDA) accessible to a wider range of users – including service and maintenance teams – with enhancements to its Simatic AX Logic Control Engineering (LCE) engineering tool. The changes include the introduction of a ladder programming capability, the first graphical programming language for LCE, and support for Siemens’Simatic S7-1200 G2 compact controllers. The updates combine OT-friendly programming with IT-style workflows, helping engineers to work more efficiently, while opening up new application areas for low-cost automation projects. Until now, Simatic AX LCE has been an engineering environment based on Structured Text (ST), aimed mainly at software automation engineers. The addition of the ladder programming environment, called XLad, means that service and maintenance technicians, as well as engineers who prefer graphical logic representation, will be able to work more intuitively with control programs. Siemens says this will shorten onboarding times, simplify troubleshooting, and improve collaboration because more users, both from OT and IT, will be able to participate and collaborate. “By introducing ladder programming to Simatic AX Logic Control Engineering, we’re making software-defined automation more accessible to a broader user base from the world of OT – bringing the digital and the real worlds closer together”, says Rainer Brehm, COO for automation and CTO at Siemens Digital Industries. XLad is the first text-based ladder programming tool to be integrated into the Simatic AX LCE environment. It brings software development practices such as version control, automated testing, and continuous integration, into the world of ladder logic. With integrated support for Git and CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment) workflows, users can manage changes to ladder logic more transparently, collaborate more effectively across teams, and improve software quality. The interaction of XLad with ST will allow users to re-use libraries created in ST by integrating them into ladder logic applications. The object-oriented programming and intuitive readability of ladder diagrams make it easier to implement complex control logic with high levels of clarity. In addition, XLad supports bidirectional programming. Users can switch between a graphical view and a text-based editor, depending on their workflow preferences. The textual representation is both human-readable and AI-ready, laying the groundwork for future AI-supported engineering applications, such as AI-assisted development of control logic. At the same time, Siemens is extending the software’s hardware scope by adding support for its Simatic S7-1200 G2 controllers, thus opening up a new spectrum of projects. Previously, the Simatic AX tool focused on supporting Simatic S7-1500 controllers. Now, users can also apply Simatic AX LCE to the engineering of basic automation controllers. www.siemens.com/en-us/products/simatic-ax Software-defined automation adds ladder logic and reaches more users NVIDIA HAS ANNOUNCED what it is calling “industry’s first full-stack a safety system for robots and physical AI”. The Halos for Robotics system unifies AI computing and safety. The US humanoid developer Agility is the first company to use the system to incorporate safety into its Digit humanoids that are working for customers including Amazon, Schaeffler and Toyota. Nvidia argues that traditional safety technologies built for structured environments do not work as spaces become more unstructured, and robots move out of cages. The new system combines powerful AI computing with safety. The safety stack offers users a standardised, unified safety architecture that connects AI computing, system software, sensor data, safety applications and inspection for robotic systems. It is aimed at next-generation autonomous robots operating in dynamic environments alongside humans, using AI foundation models, accelerated computing and distributed sensors. Nvidia says it will give a single safety architecture to machines that sense, decide and act in the real world. “Physical AI is transforming how factories, warehouses and logistics operations work, and robotics teams need a unified safety architecture to scale autonomous systems into these environments,” explains Deepu Talla, Nvidia’s vicepresident of robotics and edge AI. Nvidia announces first full-stack safety system for physical AI and robots Siemens’ enhanced Simatic AX LCE engineering tool now supports the company’s S7-1200 G2 controllers
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