PROFINET and PROFIBUS Rock On
Continuing where we left off , here is a report on the last two short keynotes – these from Endress+Hauser and Phoenix Contact. Endress+Hauser is well-steeped in PROFIBUS technology, having started in the Working groups in 1991. Now they are active not just in the Working Groups but in many of the Regional PI Associations…
Read MorePROFINET and PROFIBUS Rock More
The PI North America General Assembly Meeting first afternoon started with each of our Board of Directors companies explaining why they were on board – on board with the technologies and on THE Board (of Directors). First up was Raj Batra of Siemens. He explained how PROFINET underlies the Siemens approach to industry. PROFINET supports…
Read MorePROFINET and PROFIBUS Rock!
PROFINET and PROFIBUS Rock! At least that’s my opinion after the recently-concluded PI North America General Assembly Meeting. Other attendees have hopefully come to a similar conclusion. I may be slightly biased since my responsibility was putting together the program… again. And I have to admit that I did a great job. Or, rather, this…
Read MoreMultipoint Grounding
Multipoint grounding – a post in which I draw a target on myself. I’ve been involved in some really contentious arguments on the topic. I wish I could say they were discussions, but the religious fervor of some single-point grounding advocates precludes that. I’ve had some constructive conversations on this topic in some of our…
Read MoreThe Office and the Factory Are Exactly… Different
The office and the factory are especially different when it comes to networking. For IT folks who are used to the office environment, the factory is a shock. They have to leave the comfort of carpet for the factory’s comfort of concrete. The office provides a conditioned atmosphere; the factory – not so much: temperature…
Read MoreTell Me More about PROFINET
An advantage of PROFINET being the world’s most popular Industrial Ethernet is the number of resources available for additional information. Let’s categorize those resources as those you can Read, Watch, and Attend. Read. You will of course want to read the manuals for the equipment you are using. Really. But for information on PROFINET itself…
Read MoreSecret PROFINET and PROFIBUS Meeting
This meeting is so secret that we have a link to it at the top of the PI North America home page. <smile> But it is an exclusive, members-only meeting. (If you are not a member, you probably should be; join here.) The meeting is the 19th annual PI North America General Assembly Meeting. I’ve…
Read MorePROFINET Uses TCP/IP?
In the Dallas PROFINET one-day training class a couple weeks ago, one of the students commented on his Course Evaluation: “How do you say that PROFINET has high marks for TCP/IP, when 99% of the traffic doesn’t use TCP/IP.” Obviously, I gave high marks to PROFINET for using TCP/IP. I probably should have expanded that…
Read MorePROFIBUS and PROFINET in Oil and Gas
Discrete manufacturing is not the only sector where PROFIBUS and PROFINET have found widespread acceptance as automation backbones. While currently undergoing rapid growth, the Oil and Gas market is one where the use of PROFIBUS has a long history and is well known. It is found in all phases of the petroleum industry. In upstream…
Read MoreProfibus PA – The times, they are a-changin’
[A guest post from James Powell, author of Catching the Process Fieldbus, reviewed here.] “The times, they are a-changin’”. Bob Dylan wrote these words decades ago (and about a very different topic!), but when I look at the Profibus PA market today, this song immediately pops into my head. Last year at this time, there…
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