PROFINET Student Tips

With sixteen free PROFINET one-day training classes around the USA, we probably have one near you.  You should come.  (See the city list.)  Here are some tips to get the most out of the class: Be prepared.  If you are unfamiliar with Ethernet, before you come, watch our webinar “An Introduction to Ethernet for Control…

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Hanover 2015: IO-Link News

IO-Link had some big news at the fair, but first let’s look at some of the IO-Link products.  First, the IO-Link wall at the PI booth with more products than ever before. One of those products was an AS-interface master for IO-Link.  Ok, there are masters for every other bus you can imagine, but, really,…

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Choose the Network First

In the Atlanta PROFINET one-day training class, someone was asking about using PROFINET with a controller that does not natively support it.  The unusual part of this is that only one controller maker does not support PROFINET natively (you have to use a gateway).  That’s what happens when you pick the controller supplier before picking…

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PROFINET, the Solute in the Automation Solution

I cannot believe that I could not find his quotation on the Internet: “If you’re not part of the solution you must be part of the solute.”  I have seen it written down… on the men’s room wall in the Chemical Engineering building at university.  And this does relate to PROFINET, as all things seem…

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PROFINET vs EtherNet/IP

First, a disclaimer, and no surprise: I may be slightly biased in favor of PROFINET. That said, I believe the following facts to be actual facts. While this post could expand to thousands of words, this will be the Readers Digest version: Organization. PI ODVA Regional Associations 27 4 Members 1,487 300 Training centers 28…

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Feed Me… PROFINET Data

Audrey II in The Little Shop of Horrors demanded “Feed me!”  Analytics systems today also need fed, but they need to be fed data.  Enter PROFINET.  As part of the Industrial Internet, PROFINET feeds data into controllers which in turn feed information (perhaps through the cloud) to historians and analytics systems. But it all starts…

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Will PROFIBUS Ever Die? Expanded Post.

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 more…

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SPS 2014 – PROFINET for Machine Builders

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 contributed…

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PROFINET Can Multicast. But Why Do It?

There was a recent blog post over at Schneider called “It’s all about choice: EtherNet/IP and unicast and multicast traffic.” You can follow the link to read the whole thing but the gist of it is: “PROFINET people think EtherNet/IP cannot unicast, but it can do both multicast and unicast. PROFINET can only unicast. So…

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