Where Networks Fit in the IIoT
There has been a raft of articles about networks and their place in the Industrial Internet of Things. Basically, IIoT is at the intersection of IoT and Industrie 4.0. Here’s a 46-second video reminder of how the relate. There were three articles that caught my attention: 1. Modbus As an IoT Protocol??? John Rinaldi makes…
What Should I Do about TSN?
TSN = Time Sensitive Networking. It’s a catchall name for a series of new standards whose goal is to improve determinism in “standard” Ethernet networks. It grew out of the needs of Audio/Visual delivery. Naturally, a new organization grew to further the effort: “The Avnu Alliance is a community creating an interoperable ecosystem servicing the…
Choosing an Industrial Ethernet, a Checklist
What should you look for when choosing an Industrial Ethernet? These things: Is it an open standard? Can anyone build products for it? PROFINET is an open standard. It’s part of IEC 61158. Anyone can buy the spec from IEC and build products. To build an EtherNet/IP product, you must sign a contract with ODVA,…
7 Steps to IIoT
I saw a recent magazine article outlining six steps to take to implement the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). It was mostly political – form a team, get buy-in from a C-level executive, etc. It’s not that I think the political approach is not valuable, but most of us live in a technical world. So…
Spring – When a Young Man's Fancy Turns to PROFINET
Yesterday was the official start of spring (because that’s when pitchers and catchers reported for baseball’s Spring Training). There are a lot of similarities between baseball and PROFINET: Green. They are both associated with the color green. Green grass on which to play baseball; green cable over which to send PROFINET. Pitch speed. Some pitchers’…
Spring – When a Young Man’s Fancy Turns to PROFINET
Yesterday was the official start of spring (because that’s when pitchers and catchers reported for baseball’s Spring Training). There are a lot of similarities between baseball and PROFINET: Green. They are both associated with the color green. Green grass on which to play baseball; green cable over which to send PROFINET. Pitch speed. Some pitchers’…
Worried about Bandwidth?
Worried about Bandwidth? Some students at our Long Beach PROFINET one-day training class were. It’s definitely something to think about. Here’s a start: There’s never a substitute for doing the engineering. PROFINET messages tend to be small. But design your topology to minimize the chance of using too much bandwidth. You can use line topology,…
An Engineer on Vacation
You can take an engineer on vacation, but he will find engineering things to do and see. An off-topic post today – at least off the PROFINET and PROFIBUS topic. Still engineering related through. Before going on vacation I used to check www.engineeringsights.org for engineering-related places to see. Alas, it no longer works. But, thanks…
The Importance of Open Standards
What makes a standard open? I’ve blogged that question before: Open Standards, Proprietary Standards, and in Between Open Networks: What’s in it for you? We just completed an update to our free PROFINET one-day training class material. In the course of that exercise we uncovered more detailed definitions. Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE),…
Square Peg, Round Hole: The hidden cost of simplistic PROFINET application design
Carl is taking a short vacation. He may return with more off-topic news, but in the meantime enjoy this guest post from the PROFI Interface Center’s Kyle McMillan. The first time my new neighbor got to see me get mad was when I found him lying under his mower, trying to change a blade…