Hannover 2016: The Show
Events surrounding the show were tough this year between track maintenance on the main line, a transit strike in Hannover, and the security surrounding President Obama’s visit. Despite all that, the show itself was a success. By the numbers: 190,000 visitors, 5,000 from the USA 5,200 exhibitors, 58% from outside Germany, 525 from the US…
Read MoreHannover 2016: PROFI Growth
I’m just back from Hannover Fair, reflecting on the news therefrom. In passing (literally), it was President Obama’s walk-by. For us automation types though it was the continuing growth of all things PROFI. The independent auditor’s count of nodes installed during 2015 provides new totals. While I and my PI colleagues get enamored of the…
Read MoreDo the Engineering
I realized I had a pet phrase to go with my pet peeves: “There’s never a substitute for doing the engineering.” I realized it was a pet phrase when Gary Mintchell noticed I said it in a comment to his post, More on Industrial Protocols and Standards. A corollary might be “choose the right tool…
Read MoreHanover Fair Preview
Remember when there were big independent shows in the US? Shows like ISA and National Manufacturing Week? Hanover Fair (April 25-29) in Germany makes them look tiny. Hanover Fair is big, although not as big as in years gone by. You’re probably not going to Hanover Fair, but you can visit vicariously through live Tweets…
Read MoreWhat did the blender say to the toaster?
What did the blender say to the toaster? I don’t know, but that apparently happens in the Internet of Things. What did the I/O block say to the PLC? Here’s my inputs and thanks for the outputs. That’s the Industrial Internet of Things. When I read articles about the Internet of Things, I find them…
Read MoreWhere Is the Edge of the Industrial Internet?
I’ve recently read a number of blog posts and articles talking about the Edge of the Industrial Internet of Things, including Vibhoosh Gupta’s blog post titled “Industrial Edge Node: The iPhone of Industry.” They made me think about where the edge really is. I’ve heard “edge” defined differently by different people. This is my attempt…
Read MoreWhat is PROFINET?
PROFINET is a mechanism to exchange data between controllers and devices. Controllers could be PLCs, DCSs, or PACs. (Programmable Logic Controllers, Distributed Control Systems, or Programmable Automation Controllers.) Devices could be I/O blocks, vision systems, RFID readers, drives, process instruments, proxies, or even other controllers. PROFINET exchanges data quickly and deterministically. Required speeds vary depending…
Read MoreComplementing PROFINET
“Nice job, PROFINET.” “Way to be deterministic there PROFINET.” No, not complimenting PROFINET, complementing PROFINET. PROFINET is a great backbone for I/O, controllers, vision systems, drives, and more. But it isn’t all things to all devices. There are times and places where PROFINET is not the logical network to use. Fortunately, PROFINET integrates complementary networks…
Read MoreAsk the instructor: PROFINET Developer Training
Kyle McMillan is a guest blogger and the PROFINET Certification lead at the PROFI Interface Center – a PI-accredited Test Lab. Recently, we began offering a formal Developer Training course to complement our PROFINET Certified Network Engineer curriculum. Carl invited me here to explain why. It’s simple: I’m lazy. Really, I am; I like to…
Read MoreDeveloping a PROFINET Product – Member Resources
We at PI North America and PI Competence Centers like the PROFI Interface Center are happy to help anyone who is developing a PROFINET product. But we can offer more resources to members. In my last post I outlined some resources that are available to anyone. This post is about the resources that are available…
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