Will PROFIBUS Ever Die? Expanded Post.
loading… Perhaps some explanation of the “no” answer is in order: PROFIBUS can’t be killed no matter what. The installed base is too big (the biggest of any serial fieldbus) and it continues to grow every year. We continue to see manufacturers add PROFIBUS to their automation products. Companies with PROFIBUS installed continue to add…
SPS 2014 Wrap-up, photo gallery, and videos
loading… Here’s a directory to PROFINET, PROFIBUS, and IO-Link news from the SPS/IPC/Drive Fair: Blog series PROFINEWS (There is some overlap between the blog and PROFINEWS, but the blog posts provide more behind the scenes, first-person “reporting.”? New video from PI exploring the PI Stand: From Phoenix Contact on their stand: From Siemens on their…
PI Press Conference – SPS 2014
loading… Wednesday morning Nov 26 at the SPS/IPC/Drives fair, PI held its annual press conference to announce the latest updates with respect to the technologies. Here are the highlights: PROFINET perfect for machine building PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) is pleased with the increasing use of PROFINET in machine building, where functions for safety, diagnostics,…
SPS 2014 – Around the Fair
loading… The SPS Fair is huge (22 American football field’s worth), so it is very difficult to walk it all. Instead I targeted a few members’ stands. I missed photo ops at the Balluff and Turck stands, but here are some others (click to enlarge and start slideshow): HARTING HARTING was looping this clever one-minute…
SPS 2014 – PROFINET for Machine Builders
loading… Machine builders have long been using PROFINET. At the SPS Fair this year we paid tribute to them with a machine to print, build, and launch paper airplanes. Like many real production machines, this one had multiple modules. The three interdependent modules communicated over PROFINET. And each module was controlled by PROFINET. Twelve vendors…
SPS 2014 – The Fair
loading… What had an area of more than 22 American football fields (including the end zones)? Yes, the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair. [Some more nomenclature: SPS is German for PLC. In German: Speicherprogrammierbare Steuerung.] The statistics: Exhibition space 117,800 square meters (over a million and a quarter square feet in 14 sprawling buildings) Exhibitors 1,602 (one third…
SPS 2014 – A First Look
loading… PROFINET, PROFIBUS, IO-Link, PROFIsafe, and PROFIenergy were featured on the PI stand at SPS/IPC/Drives along with a combined PROFINET and PROFIBUS application wall for process. [Some nomenclature: “Stand” is typically used where Americans would say “booth.” So, we were “on the stand” and “in the booth.” Americans call SPS/IPC/Drives a “show” while locals call…
SPS/IPC/Drives Show Is Now!
loading… Today marks the first day of the SPS/IPC/Drives Show and we’re there. Watch the Twitter feed @AllThngsPROFI for news, photos, and videos of the show in general and PROFINET and PROFIBUS news in particular. This chat between Dennis van Booma (CEO PROCENTEC) and Karsten Schneider (PI Chairman) anticipates the show. They also speak about…
Open Standards, Proprietary Standards, and in Between
loading… I’m a fan of open standards like PROFINET and PROFIBUS. But there are other kinds of standards out there. Here’s a continuum of standards from proprietary to open to too open… and in between. Open Standards Wikipedia definition: “An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights to use…