The connected machine

It may or may not be over the Internet and it may not be every device on a machine, but in general, industrial automation is ahead of consumer technology adoption - for once - in what is really just distributed intelligence based on standards.

Controllers have long had their own IP addresses and on-board web servers to provide access to manage software updates, data acquisition and maintenance functions. All the IoT really changes is the level to which unique Internet addresses are assigned, and this will occur only where it makes sense.

By distributing more intelligence down to the I/O slice, response times as low as 1 microsecond are now feasible, shrinking cycle time and machine footprint.

I/O with unique addressing

Each I/O slice or distributed I/O module is identified by an unique serial number that is recognised by the control system. Uniquely identifiable automation components can prevent all kinds of errors and their associated costs, such as placing the wrong I/O slice in a rack.

Secure remote diagnostics over VNC

B&R's System Diagnostic Manager (SDM) provides powerful diagnostic functions and allows the user to access information about system hardware and software from anywhere in the world via Internet. Diagnostic applets can be easily integrated directly into applications. SDM can be launched from any PC without any installation whatsoever.

The role of industrial Ethernet

In the case of the industrial Ethernet network championed by B&R, the open source Powerlink standard, third party device makers have patent-free, license-free access to a deterministic network protocol based on standard Ethernet.

Powerlink also allows M2M and D2D peer communications as well as master-slave machine control and communications with management systems. An example of D2D is the ability of servo drives on a Powerlink network to synchronise with each other at high speed, rather than waiting for synchronisation commands from the controller, which would take longer to travel across the entire network.

OpenSafety over industrial Ethernet

An example of M2M as well as open source, portable network technology is OpenSafety. It has been proven to run on the application layer of all the popular industrial Ethernet networks.

OpenSafety is also ideal for changing the way that production lines perform safety functions to increase productivity. Instead of dropping out power, new functionalities such as Safe Motion and Safe Robotics allow the power to remain on and under control to limit the speed, direction, torque and working envelope of moving parts to prevent possible injury.

Communicating safety commands across the network to other machines, the entire line can be slowed while the affected portion of the line is made operational again. This prevents production from being completely stopped.

How low should intelligence go?

Will every device on a machine someday become an Internet node that can be accessed by its manufacturer, reseller or contracted service provider? It’s entirely possible - Moore’s Law has made such devices as accelerometers inexpensive enough to justify their cost, whether in a smart phone’s camera or an industrial device. And it continues to drive intelligence lower, into pushbuttons even.

With functionalities such as automatic software version management and performance compensation, distributed intelligence down to low level devices quickly pays for itself.

Global standards

Standards development isn’t an exciting endeavour, but it is absolutely essential. In great part, it is the lack of true global standards that has contributed to the slower innovation in industrial automation compared to the IT and consumer electronics world.

B&R makes its own network technologies "Open Source” and therefore accessible without restrictive patents, intellectual property contracts and licensing fees.

Figures

Two new master modules that each use IO-Link 1.1 to communicate digitally with four intelligent field devices: the X20DS438A with IP20 protection and the X67DS438A with IP67 protection for use outside the control cabinet.

The ACOPOS P3 three-axis servo drive allows space savings of up to 69% in the control cabinet - it features a sampling time of 50µs for the entire controller cascade, making it one of the fastest servo drive with safety functions on the market.

OpenSafety control panels allow safety data to be transferred via the bus system.