Nurenberg, November 23, 2005 – At the SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2005 show in Nurenberg, Nov. 22-24, the SERCOS® trade organizations announced that they are intensifying activities in the field of I/O communication. I/O has always been a part of SERCOS, and now the SERCOS I/O Technical Working Group is preparing a specification for an extended device profile for I/O, based on the existing SERCOS communication protocol. Modular I/O devices with bus couplers as well as simple block I/Os will be included. In order to minimize the costs of the bus interface, especially for simple I/O, an FPGA-based low-cost communication controller will be developed.
Even in smaller quantities, the price is expected to be under $5. According to Peter Lutz, managing director of Interests Group SERCOS interface, new perspectives are being opened up for modern automation concepts: “Today more and more I/O devices are being connected to SERCOS in addition to servo drives. In the future, the integration of peripheral I/O devices into SERCOS III networks will become even more simplified, occurring in combination with minimal interface costs and the support of centralized and decentralized control architectures.”The SERCOS I/O specification will be available by mid-2006.
First prototypes of the low-cost FPGA I/O controller, as well as corresponding product implementations, will be available in 2006.Visit their website at: www.sercos.com .