PI was an integral part of the embedded world trade-show last month. The co-exhibitors Innovasic, Molex, Phoenix Contact, Renesas, and Siemens gave information about how to implement PROFINET and what kind of support can be expected during development.
Recently on a LinkedIn forum, someone asked the following question: "I am a new instrumentation engineer. How does 4 - 20 mA technology work?" What followed was an in-depth analysis of the origins and history of the technology. Lost in the heat of the discussion, two people made almost the same comment: "We should leave that behind and just switch to fieldbus!"
Did you know that IO-Link drastically reduces the number of interfaces needed? Modern automation systems contain a variety of sensors and actuators from different manufacturers that are linked to controllers. IO-Link provides a universal physical interface for wiring and a uniform interface for configuration and parameter assignment.
PI is celebrating a number of social media milestones. Our YouTube channels have been producing useful videos for five years. @AllThingsPROFI has been tweeting since July of 2008. But the ten-year milestone (almost to the day!) goes to the PROFIblog.
An automation evolution exploration from industry veteran Carl Henning. I’ve been around PROFIBUS and then PROFINET for a couple decades now and I have to admit that I’m still excited by these technologies. It’s been fun to watch them mature and grow. I’ve been doing automation for decades before that so I’ve seen the long arc of automation’s evolutionary growth. Our evolutionary position is currently the Industrial Internet of Things. And it is an evolution I believe.
Being in the business of moving data with PROFINET, references to the data-driven factory appeal to PI. Appealing as that is, it’s an incomplete story. Like a word-driven blog post. Random words collected do not a blog post make. Random data collected does not a factory drive. Data is the raw material.
Following successful standardization of PROFIBUS and PROFINET in China, PROFIsafe – the first and only communication-based safety standard in China – has now been elevated to the status of a Chinese national standard. This is further evidence that the world leading PI technologies are highly regarded in China – not just because of their high quality but also based on their large installed base and reliable organization.
How can you tell an engineer has social skills? When he’s talking to you, he’s looking at your shoes. Actually, he’s probably messaging you on his smartphone, even if he’s sitting beside you. The electronically-social engineer has many non-face-to-face options for communications. Here are some suggested sites for the electronically-social engineer.