Complex problems which arise in connection with Industry 4.0 cannot be solved alone. Sustainable concepts can only be developed with open solutions supported by a large majority of users, manufacturers, and user organizations. For this reason, PROFIBUS & PROFINET International is working intensively with associations like the OPC Foundation, Namur, AIDA, ZVEI, and ODVA.
Last month the IO-Link Member Assembly took place in Frankfurt, Germany. Dozens of members came together and learned about the new V1.1.3 specification and other future-oriented topics: wireless, safety, profiles, etc. Up next, join us at the IO-Link Interop Workshop in Germany in October!
Since the inception of PROFIBUS and PROFINET International (PI), one of the guiding principles has been to 'think globally, act locally'. What this means is, on the one hand, our technologies are centrally developed and standardized worldwide. On the other hand, a vibrant decentralized community exists to offer immediate support.
There are many questions regarding TSN technology: What’s the guaranteed transfer time, latency and performance? Can I continue using existing technologies? When will the new technology be ready? PI provides concrete answers HERE.
Open solutions have always been the trademark of PI technologies. The PI Organization follows this credo both in the integration of TSN into PROFINET and the presentation of PROFINET data in the OPC UA object model. The result is a user-friendly solution which can be used for future architectures as well as brownfield systems.
The goal of APL is to bring Ethernet down to field level instruments in hazardous areas. Nowadays, existing field devices typically rely on limited fieldbus network infrastructures. The development of a two-wire-based advanced physical layer (APL) for Ethernet is running at full steam.
The theme for this month's issue is clear: the usefulness in employing both PROFINET and OPC UA. Existing use-cases (e.g. predictive maintenance) become easier to achieve, and new use-cases (e.g. C2C Safety) are created through the powerful combination of these two complementary technologies. Thank you for reading and enjoy!
Mapping PROFINET data to the OPC UA information model has been one of the main tasks of PROFIBUS & PROFINET International for the past few months. The many use-cases discovered show that the effort spent collaborating on a Companion Specification with the OPC Foundation will be beneficial across the Industry 4.0 landscape.
