That was one of the questions posed during a wide-ranging panel discussion held at the 2016 General Assembly Meeting. The panel quickly turned into the highlight of the event and touched on many forward looking topics relating to industry, workforce development, connectivity, and edge computing.
When a user decides on PROFINET, he has a choice of thousands of different products developed and available worldwide today, such as I/O devices, actuators, sensors, network and infrastructure components, and controllers. This variety gives the user maximum freedom to design his own plant and automation systems. The device manufacturer has access to a wide range of different hardware- and software-based basic technologies for optimal implementation of the PROFINET interface based on his requirements.
Did you know that all well-known chip manufacturers offer chips for IO-Link devices or masters? Over ten chip manufacturers have already listed their products. These offer a suitable chip for every device class, ranging from simple drivers/transceivers to microcontrollers. Several manufactures have also integrated IO-Link in their system or network controllers.
Secure and stable networks form the basis of high performance industrial communication. The only chance for their longevity is that they remain in perfect working condition. Is this currently the case? VORTEX 2016 for the first time delivers a comprehensive appraisal of the status of industrial networks across technologies and countries.
News from Australia and India: PI Australia held their annual member meeting and looked back at the year’s achievements, including a new membership high. PI India demonstrated a seamless multivendor system at SPS Automation India 2016.
Highlighted this month: Australia has 30 certified PROFINET and PROFIBUS training classes scheduled for the remainder of 2016. PI Middle East has an upcoming seminar focused on food and beverage in their Dubai office. IO-Link has enhanced their workshops. And many classes are on the schedule for the balance of 2016.
The product news this month is from MESCO Engineering and Weidmüller. MESCO’s Software Library simplifies the development of safe drives in accordance with IEC 61800-5-2. Weidmüller “u-remote” provides safe, digital I/O modules for PROFIsafe with integrated protection and precise diagnostics in a small format.
Sometimes time goes very fast; a year ago PI published my welcome article on PROFIsafe in PROFINEWS. As everyone expected the number of PROFIsafe nodes installed has reached 5.4 million in year 2015. There is no doubt that this trend will continue for the coming years because of the transition of fieldbus technology from PROFIBUS to PROFINET and market acceptance of safe PLCs for functional safety of the machine.