Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor Kepware Technologies recently introduced a new Local Historian Plug-In for the KEPServerEX communications platform and a Splunk plug-in to support big data systems. The products were born from customers’ requests for an easy to install and use historian for various plant applications, including labs, test situations, and at remote sites.

Softing’s OPC UA Server Module for ControlLogix is now Certified for Compliance by the OPC Foundation

Sercos International celebrates its 25th anniversary as well as 10 years of Sercos III technology.

M&M Software elevated its membership status to that of sponsoring member of the FDT Group.

Iconics achieved OPC UA Client Lab Certification from the OPC Foundation for its GENESIS64 V10.85 Platform Services.

Version 2.0 of the Matrikon OPC UA Embedded Software Development Kit (SDK) has been certified by the OPC Foundation’s Independent test labs to be compliant with the Embedded OPC Server profile.

PROFIBUS is number one but PROFINET and EtherNet/IP are catching up.

Interview with Christopher Di Biase, Principal Consultant, Rockwell Automation.

Netilities graphical software tool is useful for engineering, monitoring and troubleshooting PROFINET installations.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Internet of Things (IoT) definition as promoted by major industrial automation suppliers and computer industry suppliers is “IP to the edge.” IP to the edge means using Internet Protocol over wired or wireless Ethernet to communicate with end devices. This concept may not be common sense engineering and sound design for industrial automation systems.

The guide lists 130 providers of nearly 300 Sercos-enabled products and serves as a guide for all mechanical engineers, systems integrators and control unit manufacturers who use the high-performance Sercos automation bus.

By Kepware Technologies Repete implemented Kepware’s KEPServerEX communications platform to address the diverse protocol environments of its growing international customer base.

Molex plant floors consist of hundreds of different machines from a variety of vendors, with each speaking its own language or “protocol.” An OPC server connected them all.

By Rainer Schmidt, Harting PROFINET is an independent, proprietary system, which is primarily used for communication between PROFINET components. If PROFINET wants to seamlessly communicate right into the SAP level, it runs into the structured cabling which the IT infrastructure of the company uses.

Testing tool verifies the correct implementation of the Sercos Internet Protocol Services (S-IPS).

This specification describes the mapping of the Sercos information model to OPC UA so that functions and data of Sercos devices are made available and accessible via OPC UA.

The latest EtherNet/IP Specification provides the framework for users to design energy-conserving functionality into their products for when equipment is in production mode.

The SIG will proliferate adoption of EtherNet/IP in the process industries, and integrate field devices with industrial control systems and related diagnostic services.

The IP core for Sercos III master and slave controllers (SERCON100M/S) includes all hardware functions, such as timing, synchronization and processing of cyclic and non-cyclic data on the basis of two integrated Ethernet MACs.

By Paul Brooks, Rockwell Automation, on behalf of Industrial IP Advantage Without standard, unmodified Ethernet on the plant floor, many industrial automation companies can’t easily take advantage of higher-level protocols and the immense functionality they support. EtherNet/IP enables organizations to save money by moving away from expensive, closed, plant floor dedicated networks.