SPS/IPC/Drives Show 2013: News

Thanksgiving is past; Black Friday is just a memory. So, it’s time for the SPS/IPC/Drives Show wrap-up from a PROFINET and PROFIBUS perspective. This will definitely take a bunch of posts!

There were several big news stories. Emerson was showing their redundant PROFINET module for DeltaV. This joins their redundant PROFIBUS module. This was their kiosk in the PI Booth:

Siemens was showing an R&D project that had been demonstrated to NAMUR earlier. This begins with a commercial chip that converts 4-wire Ethernet to 2-wire. They were seeking other vendors to join them in an effort to develop the concept. In the following sequence you can see the overall panel in their PI Booth kiosk, followed by a look inside one of the devices.

A benefit of this approach is longer distances than the 100-meter limitation of conventional Ethernet. Now if they can include power over the two wires and make it intrinsically safe… anyway, now is the time for other companies to join this effort.

If you have already downloaded the PROFINEWS App, you would have already have seen this story! Check out the story here, then download the app for iPad, iPhone, or Android.

–Carl Henning