PROFIblog

Jun 17 2009

23-minute Intro to PROFINET

loading… I was one of four presenters at GlobalSpec’s virtual conference and exhibit.  If you need a really brief introduction to PROFINET, the presentation is archived in the “Conference Center” there.  I wasn’t able to answer all the questions, but look for a document with all the questions answered on the site as well.

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Jun 12 2009

PROFINET Certified Network Engineer Training

loading… How do you gauge the growth of your favorite technology without an expensive market company study?  (PROFINET being the technology; it’s my favorite.)  One way is the number of people coming to the free one-day training classes.  (An ever-increasing number.)  A second is those taking the next step and clamoring for the next class…

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Jun 11 2009

Wireless Ethernet Safety

loading… One of the other questions that came up in Grand Rapids came up during the PROFINET section and related to safety.  I thought it worth expanding on the answer to that.  The question: “Can I use PROFINET over wireless in a PROFIBUS PA environment?” First, let’s be clear that we are talking about two…

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Jun 10 2009

How many devices on a PROFIBUS DP network in Grand Rapids?

loading… There was a good crowd at the Grand Rapids PROFIBUS one-day training class last week.  Manny and Torsten were there while I was in Vancouver with Hunter for a PROFINET one-day training class.  One of the questions that came up in Grand Rapids concerned how many PROFIBUS DP devices are allowed on a network.  We…

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Jun 8 2009

Journey to Mars (in fiction)

loading… This month’s IEEE Spectrum magazine features articles about Mars exploration.  A related article “My 10 Favorite Mars Novels” by Kim Stanley Robinson reviews a century’s worth of Mars science fiction.  In the introduction, he mentions A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs and War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.  [Click on those…

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May 29 2009

LinkedIn Tweeting Facebook

loading… Last fall I went a little crazy about social media in industrial automation.  I felt there was not enough time to do all that stuff.  But now that there are automation and mainstream comics about it, it must really have arrived.  I really like this cartoon at automation.com.  The gray-haired, balding boss behind the…

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May 27 2009

Crimping Newark Asset Management

loading… I was in Newark with Manny two weeks ago for the PROFIBUS in the Process Industries one-day training class.  We’ve been doing these classes for over 7 years now and it is amazing that we still get new questions.  In Newark we got a couple misconceptions that need to be addressed.  One attendee could…

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May 13 2009

Problem Solving in PROFINET Class

loading… I started this on the plane back from Jacksonville and I’m finishing it on the plane to Newark for the Process one-day training class.  (It’s tomorrow, May 14, at the Newark airport.  We have arranged for free parking at the hotel.)  In between I had to put the finishing touches on PROFInews North American…

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May 1 2009

PROFINET Developer Tools (Hanover Fair 2009 Report 5)

loading… The section of the booth devoted to the PI Competence Centers featured an outline of the PROFINET Design Process. A number of Development Tool providers were represented in the booth and at the fair: Hilscher, Siemens, HMS, NEC, KW-Software, IXXAT, and Molex among them.  Here is Molex’s panel in the PI booth (next to…

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Apr 30 2009

Product Updates (Hanover Fair 2009 Report 4)

loading… In addition to the new PROFIsafe products I mentioned several posts ago, there were other new products as well. First up, a Phoenix Contact PROFIBUS Proxy with built-in 4-port switch, highlighted in green here. Shown among many other PROFINET devices from Phoenix Contact. Siemens also introduced its new PLC, the S7-1200.  Karsten Schneider (former…

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