With a new year comes new innovation, experience and insights. Before we jump into new topics for this year, let’s not forget some of the hottest topics from last year. Below are the five most popular blogs from our site in 2020.

1. Buying a Machine Vision System? Focus on Capabilities, Not Cost

Gone are the days when an industrial camera was used only to take a picture and send it to a control PC. Machine vision systems are a much more sophisticated solution. Projects are increasingly demanding image processing, speed, size, complexity, defect recognition and so much more…

2. What data can IO-Link provide?

As an application engineer, one of the most frequent questions I get asked by the customers is “What is IO-Link and what data does it contain?”. Well, IO-Link is the first worldwide accepted sensor communication protocol to be adopted as an international standard IEC61131-9. It is an open standard, and not proprietary to one manufacturer. It uses bi-directional, single line serial communications to transfer data between the machine controller and sensors/actuators…

3. Do Your Capacitive Sensors Ignore Foam & Condensation for True Level Detection?

Capacitive sensors detect any changes in their electrostatic sensing field. This includes not only the target material itself, but also application-induced influences such as condensation, foam, or temporary or permanent material build-up. High viscosity fluids can cause extensive delays in accurate point-level detection or cause complete failure due to the inability of a capacitive sensor to compensate for the material adhering to the container walls…

4. Reduce the Number of Ethernet Nodes on Your Network Using IO-Link

Manufacturers have been using industrial Ethernet protocols as their controls network since the early 1990s. Industrial Ethernet protocols such as Ethernet/IP, ProfiNet, and Modbus TCP were preferred over fieldbus protocols because they offered the benefits of higher bandwidth, open connectivity and standardization, all while using the same Ethernet hardware as the office IT network. Being standard Ethernet also allows you to remotely monitor individual Ethernet devices over the network for diagnostics and alarms, delivering greater visibility of the manufacturing data…

5. Adding a higher level of visibility to older automation machines

It’s never too late to add more visibility to an automation machine. In the past, when it came to IO-Link opportunities, if the PLC on the machine was a SLC 500, a PLC-5, or worse yet, a controller older than I, there wasn’t much to talk about. In most of these cases, the PLC could not handle another network communication card, or the PLC memory was maxed, or it used a older network like DeviceNet, Profibus or ASi that was maxed. Or it was just so worn out that it was already being held together with hope and prayer. But, today we can utilize IIoT and Industry 4.0 concepts to add more visibility to older machines…

We appreciate your dedication to Automation Insights in 2020 and look forward to growth and innovation in 2021!