With the start of the new year, let’s take a look at the top 5 insights from 2018.
1. An Easy Way to Remember PNP and NPN Sensor Wiring
“Switched” refers to which side of the controlled load (relay, small indicator, PLC input) is being switched electrically. Either the load is connected to Negative and the Positive is switched (PNP), or the load is connected to Positive and the Negative is switched (NPN). These diagrams illustrate the differences between the two connections…READ MORE
2. Back to the Basics: What is the Value of IO-Link?
With the demands for flexible manufacturing, efficient production & visibility in our factories, smart manufacturing is driving the way we work today. Analytics and diagnostics are becoming critical to our ability to perform predictive maintenance, improve equipment effectiveness and monitor the condition of the machine as well as the components inside the machine. Typically, our first reaction is to put these devices onto Ethernet. However, the implementation of Ethernet requires a high skill set that is scarce in our traditional manufacturers today. Due to the simple control architecture of IO-Link devices, it allows for many Smart devices to provide the data we need for analytics with a reduction in the Ethernet skill set that has become a roadblock for many manufacturers…READ MORE
3. What Exactly is Safety Over IO-Link?
Users of IO-Link have long been in search of a solution for implementing the demands for functional safety using IO-Link. As a first step, the only possibility was to turn the actuators off using a separate power supply (Port class “B”, Pins 2, 5), which powers down the entire module. Today there is a better answer: Safety hub with IO-Link!…READ MORE
4. Safety Over IO-Link Helps Enable Human-Robot Collaboration
Safety Over IO-Link makes it easier to align a robot’s restricted and safeguarded spaces, simplifies creation of more dynamic safety zones and allows creation of “layers” of sensors around a robot work area.
For the past several years, “collaboration” has been a hot topic in robotics. The idea is that humans and robots can work closely together, in a safe and productive manner. Changes in technology and standards have created the environment for this close cooperation. These standards call out four collaborative modes of operation: Power & Force Limiting, Hand Guiding, Safety Rated Monitored Stop, and Speed & Separation Monitoring (these are defined in ISO/TS 15066)…READ MORE
5. DMC vs. RFID in Manufacturing
The increasing discussions and regulations on complete traceability and reliable identification of products is making identification systems an inevitable part in manufacturing. There are two specific technologies that are very well received: The Data Matrix Code (DMC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)…READ MORE
