Read more about the article SPS Show Overview
sps ipc drives 2016

SPS Show Overview

The PI Booth at the SPS/IPC/Drives Show hosted hundreds of show visitors seeking information on PROFINET, PROFIBUS, and IO-Link. Trade press editors flocked to the PI Press Conference on Wednesday morning for additional news.

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  • Post category:PI NEWS
  • Reading time:4 mins read

Asset Management with PROFINET

As the growth of PROFINET continues, new customer requirements for additional Asset Management functions have been incorporated. Added is the ability to record assets to make maintenance and operation easier despite increasing complexity of processes and related machines.

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  • Post category:PI NEWS
  • Reading time:2 mins read
Read more about the article Tech Tip: PROFINET on Switched Networks
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Tech Tip: PROFINET on Switched Networks

In the early days of Ethernet, collisions on the network prevented its use in deterministic industrial applications. If two stations tried to transmit at the same time, a collision would result. The collision was detected and each station “backed off” a random time and tried again. This approach was fine for web browsing and email but prevented determinism. The advent of switched Ethernet networks did away will collisions allowing Ethernet to be applied in industrial automation where determinism was a must.

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  • Post category:TECH TIPS
  • Reading time:4 mins read

PROFIBUS in Steel

In response to exponential market demand, the annual production capacity at the ArcelorMittal site in Fos-sur-Mer, France, is due to rise from 4.6 to 5.3 million tons of steel. One of the key projects designed to help meet this objective was the refurbishment of blast furnace number 1 based on PROFIBUS.

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IO-Link: Did You Know

Did you know that IO-Link does away with the great variety of signals and interfaces on the sensor/actuator level once and for all? Naturally, sensors and actuators covering a wide range of complexity and characteristics were produced in the past, when there was no standard for an interface with communications capability. Today, IO-Link bundles up this variety and simplifies the last meter of the sensor-actuator level. The reason is that IO-Link needs nothing more than an M12 plug connection and a standard 3- or 5-wire sensor cable.

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  • Post category:TECH TIPS
  • Reading time:2 mins read