Method and system for detecting a configuration of a modular safety controller

A method for detecting a configuration of a modular safety controller that comprises a module block having a central control module and a number n≥1 of parameterizable electronic modules that are selected from a plurality of available module types, wherein the configuration of the modular safety controller is determinable by different types of electronic modules and different positions of the electronic modules within the module block and wherein functions of the modular safety controller are capable of being parameterized by setting control elements and/or switching elements of at least some of the electronic modules, the method comprising:

• provisioning a plurality of unambiguous configuration codes that represent different configurations and parameterizations of a plurality of different modular safety controllers;
• generating a digital image of the module block of the modular safety controller by a camera-based image generating device based on one or more images or image sequences of the module block generated by a camera device of the image generating device;
• transmitting the digital image to an evaluation device configured to execute an evaluation algorithm that captures, through image recognition, the selected module types, positions of the central control module and the electronic modules within the module block, and settings of the control elements and/or switching elements of each of the electronic modules and of the central control module and generates an unambiguous logic code from information obtained therefrom, the unambiguous logic code representing a current configuration and parameterization of the module block of the modular safety controller;
• comparing the unambiguous logic code with the unambiguous configuration codes to identify the current configuration and parameterization of the module block of the modular safety controller, wherein an identification dataset is generated if the logic code matches one of the configuration codes, and wherein an error code is generated if the logic code does not match any of the configuration codes, and
• outputting the identification dataset and/or an image obtained from the identification dataset if the logic code matches one of the configuration codes, or outputting the error code if the logic code does not match any of the configuration codes.