Robust, real-time Ethernet is optimised for industry

Citation

(2001), "Robust, real-time Ethernet is optimised for industry", Assembly Automation, Vol. 21 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2001.03321aaf.008

Robust, real-time Ethernet is optimised for industry

Robust, real-time Ethernet is optimised for industry

Keywords: Automation, Control

Ethernet is growing in popularity among automation suppliers and industrial machine builders. Progressive automation specialist, Festo Ltd, is ideally positioned to deliver and support advanced Ethernet-based componentry through proactive developments from the company's Beck division – the business responsible for acclaimed Industrial PC solutions.

Generic Ethernet hardware is readily available for PC and corporate datacomms networks, but industrial controllers equipped with Ethernet are still uncommon. Festo is committed to the development of industrial PCs and has integrated Ethernet into all its CPUs from the IPC@CHIP device up to the latest Pentium processors. To assist its customers to deploy and reap the rewards of Ethernet connectivity in critical automation environments, Festo is now developing advanced real-time Ethernet solutions based on single-chip PC architectures for its next generation industrial controllers.

The real-time incarnation tightens the protocol and reduces timing windows, making Ethernet a viable and responsive protocol for critical functions on automated machinery – including override, transfer and emergency stop functions. It also delivers instant feedback to machine builders and system users, permitting process refinement on-the-fly.

Product manager Steve Sands clarifies the trend towards a wider adoption of Ethernet in industrial applications: "Ethernet is recognised as a stable and efficient protocol. Ethernet hardware is also readily available and relatively inexpensive, but uptake in general and low-end automation applications has been hindered by the lack of Ethernet interfaces on small PLCs".

Festo foresaw the opportunities for more dynamic automation control and invested in Beck's expertise to further the development and implementation of PC processors into the PLC environment. The company is now rolling out product development with a series of controllers from basic units with 12 I/Os to large rack-mounted Pentium-based solutions all featuring the latest integrated Ethernet connectivity. "This is now a core technology for Festo", declares Sands.

Even Festo's smallest controller, the FC34, features built-in Ethernet interfacing and can operate with the real-time protocol. This product won the Control Technology category award as the "Most innovative product" at the 1999 Automation Europe event in Paris (see Plate 5).

Plate 5 Festo's smallest controller, the FC34, features built-in Ethernet interfacing and can operate with the real-time protocol

"Further developments of real-time Ethernet have clearly facilitated the adoption of the protocol into the PLC, though a prerequisite part of the enabling technology not to be overlooked is the successful adaptation of the PC operating system for industrial environments", explains Sands. He adds: "This dramatically extends the functionality of the controller to offer valuable applications that you, quite literally, only expect on a PC – for instance Web servers with discrete IP addresses to allow automation machinery to be interrogated, controlled, programmed and supported via the Internet from anywhere in the world".

Contact: Iain Burgess, Festo Ltd, Automation House, Harvest Crescent, Ancells Business Park, Fleet, Hampshire GU13 8XP, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1252 775000; Fax: +44 (0)1252 775001; E-mail: Iain_burgess@Festo.com