Connectivity
Factory automation leverages connectivity solutions Connectivity solutions are at the heart of advances in automation and machine control networking. This special report provides the perspective of industry experts, and how meeting cybersecurity requirements and concerns has come forward as a front and center issue for automation connectivity technologies.
Smart manufacturing systems require sophisticated interfaces with all types of devices that are the component parts in the manufacturing process. FACTORY CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS MAKE higher levels of automation and machine control networking possible. This ability to interface a wide range of devices is key to manufacturing excellence and has helped to create an ecosystem of solutions aimed at systematic production improvement. In this special report, the Industrial Ethernet Book offers comprehensive coverage and offers the perspective of industry leaders on how connectivity technology is shaping the future of the smart factory.
Intelligence at the edge IO-Link technology solutions
According to Jonathan Law, Director of Process Control and Factory Automation at Analog Devices, the combination of trends helping to drive higher levels of factory automation device and networked automation connectivity are the needs created by edge computing.
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“As Industry 4.0 continues to evolve, there is a drive to deliver more Intelligence to the Edge of the factory floor. This new capability enables a fabric of intelligent sensors and actuators that provide a higher quality of information that allows Productivity software algorithms better data to make better decisions to optimize the productivity of a manufacturing line” Law told Industrial Ethernet Book recently. “At the heart of this evolution is an exciting new technology called IO-Link, which enables flexible manufacturing to improve factory throughput and operational efficiency.” IO-Link® is a short distance, bi-directional, digital point-to-point, 3-wire industrial communications standard (IEC 61131-9) designed for linking sensors and actuators into control networks. IO-Link applications, the transceiver acts as the physical layer interface to a microcontroller running the data-link layer protocol while supporting up to 24V digital inputs and outputs.
Law said that IO Link technology enables sensors to become interchangeable via a common physical interface that uses software in the form of a protocol stack and a IO Device Description (IODD) file to allow a configurable sensor port. He added that an IO Link port now becomes the ultimate Universal IO that can support any type of sensor or actuator. It is truly plug & play ready while providing the ability to re-configure its parameters on the fly.
IO-Link benefits
IO-Link offers specific technology and application benefits that are making on impact on the connected factory. “IO Link provides a new capability to reconfigure a sensor and actuators performance parameters on-the-fly to allow manufacturing lines to accommodate a variety of products at one factory,” Law said. This flexibility and ability to provide a higher quality of information to enable productivity algorithms
in d u s t r ial et h er ne t b o o k
11.2021
