EPN Industrial Automation Blog

Tested safety

The partnership between Wind River and Isagraf, announced on SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011, is taking form. The former RTOS company receives know-how on validated SIL 3 solutions while Isagraf's safety software is being integrated in common products.

Automation platforms

Today, control units for industrial automation need to be modular in order to keep cost and integration effort at a reasonable level. Since many of those applications require components (i.e software and hardware) from different vendors, certification and licensing issues arise. Bundles or system platforms may ease those pains.

SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011: IO-Link conformance

A manufacturer’s declaration is asked by the IO-Link Consortium for all IO-Link Masters and Devices in order to get IO-Link conformity. Therefore, test equipment is neccessary which allows checking all relevant parameters. A major part is EMC conformity.

Developing M2M

Machine-to-Machine communication is a term used for applications ranging from ultra-short range sensor couplings up to large automation networks. None of those pose problems in themselves, but difficulties have been known to arise at gateways to the internet.

embedded world 2011: Virtual Android

The smartphone operating system Android is very versatile, but you wouldn’t want it causing havoc in safety critical systems. However, if you can’t do without and no safer alternative like Blackberry OS or iOS around, virtualization can keep your system clean.

Integrated Fieldbus

Planning and developing industrial communication systems is a rather difficult task, especially when proprietary fieldbuses are involved. An enhanced tool allows for the direct integration of fieldbus devices into a control system topology using FDT/DTM.

CAN under control

The Controller Area Network is rather common in car electronics as well as in industrial automation. Complex networks connecting safety-critical nodes require continuous analysis and monitoring. Three devices from Ixxat are supposed to simplify that task.

The standard way to conformity

One of the most annoying tasks for electronic design engineers is securing standard conformity. The sizes of descriptions for IEC, DIN and EN usually range between the telephone directory for Greater Londonand the Encyclopedia Britannica. However, most of the more boring steps can be automatized.

Assembly automation

Modular software for modular systems: Assembly lines consist of several units, which as a rule are developed and tested independently of one another to a large extent. In order to ensure reasonable interaction of those units in a manufacturing plant and to shorten deployment time, automation software development needs to take place in parallel to hardware development, i.e. in a modular way, too.

Connect for free

People like me and maybe you who knew the Internet even before this chap in Geneva invented the World Wide Web know what it’s content always was supposed to be: free, at least free of cost. This seems to change (slowly), but offers like a freely downloadable Ethernet platform indicates that this school of thought is not completely fighting a losing battle.