The Standard Robot Command Interface (SRCI): PLCs need only implement a single library that now contains the function blocks for programming different robots. Robot suppliers need only implement a single interpreter for their controller. And for end-users, programming occurs natively in the PLC’s engineering tool. It’s a win-win-win.

Not yet one month old, the new forum on the PROFINET ecosystem website has already amassed 100+ topics from 130+ members. The resource is a place where PROFINET experts, users, and developers can collaborate in a community-driven format.

Join us for the grandest robotics conference of the year. The Get Together for Robotics II will be held Wednesday, November 22 in Erlangen, Germany. Hear from industry CEOs as well as standards organizations on the latest in easing robot implementation.

New products to announce this month include: smart lithium batteries with PROFINET from Hellpower Energy; ultrasonic sensors with IO-Link from microsonic; new 4-port IO-Link masters from WAGO; and weighing indicators from Mettler Toledo with PROFINET and OPC UA.

IO-Link is the world’s fastest-growing technology in industrial automation, so it is no surprise that this year’s interoperability workshop set records for the number of participants, products, and represented countries. Read about the event and its accomplishments.

With the growing focus on digitalization, sustainability, and worker safety, PROFINET is seeing a resurgence in the use of Application Profiles. In this three-part series, we will look at the three Application Profiles fueling this resurgence. Part 1 here focuses on PROFIsafe.

Learn all about PROFINET and its application in industrial networks at one of these no-cost, in-person training classes coming to a North American city near you.

To address the meteoric rise of IO-Link in the North American market, PI North America, in cooperation with Analog Devices, Inc., is hosting four IO-link User Workshops in 2024 –up from three in 2023. The quarterly events will occur in: Silicon Valley, CA; Raleigh, NC; Toronto, ON; and Houston, TX.