The intelligence and complexity of sensors and actuators is constantly increasing. Today, even the smallest sensors have a powerful microcontroller and several thousand lines of software code. Firmware updates may occasionally be necessary to enable new functionalities or to add newly supported profiles. To meet these needs, the IO-Link community has specified a firmware update profile.
At the beginning of the year it’s a time to reflect a bit on the year gone by and look ahead to the new year. In 2016 we watched the continuing evolution of the concepts of Industrie 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)… and PROFINET’s place in them (we call that the PROFINET of Things).
PI offers many different social media channels: blog, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and even the old standby, RSS. Here are some examples and time-saving opportunities to participate.
Dr. Hassan Kaghazchi, the Chairman of PI Ireland, has published a new book on PROFINET and PROFIBUS diagnostics. This book outlines the research conducted into diagnosing industrial communications networks with particular focus on PROFIBUS and PROFINET: Today industrial communications networks are part of the fabric of most manufacturing plants globally. The upkeep of these networks is crucial to smooth plant operations.
"The SPS/IPC/Drives Show just closed its doors and I must say it was an exciting show. Of course, Industrie 4.0 and IIoT dominated the fair from the 30 thousand foot view, but the terms tend to be too vague and everyone has their own views about what these describe," reports Karsten Schneider, PI Chairman.
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.
At an early stage, PI along with users, such as NAMUR, started to intensively work out how PROFINET can be deployed in all areas of the process industry. Very quickly it became clear that PI can offer with PROFINET a complete solution package.
PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) is making strong progress on Industrie 4.0. Main work is done in the teams of the PI working group "I4.0@PI" with sub-groups for individual topics. The requirements are being closely harmonized with users and senior experts from the various participating companies.