It’s been hard to miss all the activity going on recently around time sensitive networking (TSN) and OPC UA. Here’s what it means for the near-term future of PROFIBUS, PROFINET, and industrial networking in general.
Countries featured in this month's PROFINEWS include Ireland where its Chairman provided training overseas in Turkey, Japan where IO-Link is proving immensely popular, and Germany where PROFIBUS and PROFINET events are scheduled. A major German event, the PI Konferenz, is scheduled for March 22-23.
For most folks jumping in to a PROFINET development project, there’s one only goal that they have in mind: exchange cyclic real-time data with a PLC. That’s the same task that every fieldbus in history has been designed around, and it comes with well-known drawbacks: devices that can only exchange data cyclically force developers to pack all sorts of data in to the real-time channel that don’t belong there.
Communication issues are often encountered on PROFIBUS networks, due to various factors such as reflections or electromagnetic interference (EMI). Malfunctions caused by these problems can easily be avoided if the main causes can be identified. Here is how to avoid them.
A leading integrator of factory automation and robotics solutions selected the Comtrol DeviceMaster UP 2-port 2E for a production line cell for forging spindles. In this application, laser markers communicating via TCP/IP were used to apply a serial number to the spindles. The commands were sent to the marker through a PLC running Profinet.
Modern technology allows you to do a lot of things remotely. Soaking in a spa is not one of them (at least not yet). However, with eWON remote solutions, water treatment specialists Aquila Wasseraufbereitungstechnik GmbH and their sister company Autech Tesla have found a way to do maintenance and troubleshooting of their spa system “The World of Elements” from any location. PROFINET is the automation network backbone providing both determinism and openness.
Innovation is, of course, partly about technology. But it is also about massive improvements in productivity through the empowerment of a business’s only untapped resource - its people. After all, a state-of-the-art plant provides exciting opportunities for graduates and engineers who are looking to the future for career advancement and inspired innovation.
A previous edition of PROFINEWS carried a PROFINET quiz drawn from new and old questions. This month there are all new questions! Challenge your PROFINET knowledge today...
