This year the Industrial
Automation North America (IANA) show was held in Chicago, Illinois from
September 8th through September 13th. Sercos
International presented multi-vendor demos to show the advancement of
interoperability by using automation products that connect by using their
automation bus. Several of the devices showcased
were the Bosch Rexroth XLC (eXtended Logic Control) PLC, various IO devices
(Inline, S20, and more), and SafeLogic compact safety control, to name just a
few.
Peter Lutz, the Managing Director of Sercos International, presented a lecture
on the subject of “Trends in the Industrial Communications for the Factory of
the Future.” Speaking on the blended infrastructure conceptual approach of
factories, he elaborated on the benefits of integrating machinery in
manufacturing applications. His approach to the subject stems from his basic
thoughts on the matter in that there should be less complexity and easier
integration while using fewer cables. Along with reducing the complexity of the
integrated systems, this approach can also reduce overhead for many companies.
Industrial
Indexing Systems has long believed that factory automation motor and control
system design not only guarantees system performance, but provides application and
system engineering support of the highest levels. IIS, with over 30 years of
experience in the field, agrees that history supports Mr. Lutz’s position of
the ability of integrated machinery to lower the cost to manufacturers.
Another
interesting demo at the IANA show was the Cannon-Automata A2 PC based Intel Atom
dual core which is equipped with a
Programmable Automation Controller. The A2-PAC family of devices can to combine the many advantages of PC-based
controls with features of both PLCs and motion controllers. Another display
included the Bihl+Wiedemann’s AS-I 3.0 Sercos
Gateway. This equipment is used for
transmitting data originating from safety input slaves to output slaves by way
of CIP Safety.
Overall,
the IANA show had important information on some new technology and how to
provide solutions for automation systems. This information is crucial for
companies wanting to stay ahead of the curve
when it comes to demanding applications that
require both performance and accuracy while being reliable and energy
efficient.
