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When looking at flexible manufacturing, what first comes to mind are the challenges of handling product changeovers. It is more and more common for manufacturers to produce multiple products on the same production line, as well as to perform multiple operations in the same space. Accomplishing this and making these machines more flexible requires changing …
Continue reading “IO-Link Changeover: ID Without RFID – Hub ID”
Comparing “IO-Link” and “Safety” to “IO-Link Safety” There are many I/O blocks that have “IO-Link” and “Safety” in their descriptions, which can cause some confusion about which safety features they include. Here’s an overview of different safety-named blocks and how they compare to IO-Link Safety. Safety Network Blocks These blocks have I/O ports that use …
Continue reading “IO-Link Safety: What It Is and Isn’t”
As manufacturers continually look for ways to maximize productivity and eliminate waste, automation sensors are taking on a new role in the plant. Once, sensors were used only to provide detection or measurement data so the PLC could process it and run the machine. Today, sensors with IO-Link measure environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, ambient …
Continue reading “How IO-Link Sensors With Condition Monitoring Features Work With PLCs”
I have been working with IO-Link for more than 10 years, so I’ve heard lots of questions about how it works. One line of questions I hear from customers is about the operating condition of sensors. “I wish I knew when the IO-Link device loses output power,” or, “I wish my IO-Link photoelectric sensor would …
Continue reading “IO-Link Event Data: How Sensors Tell You How They’re Doing”
By Scott Barhorst Working previously as a controls engineering manager in robotic welding, I have seen some consistent challenges when designing robotic weld cell systems. For example, the pre-engineered-style welding cells I’ve worked with use many types of tooling. At the same time, space for tooling and cabling is limited, and so is the automation …
Continue reading “IO-Link Benefits in Robotic Weld Cell Tooling”
With most sensors now coming out with an IO-Link output, could this mean the end of using traditional analog sensors? IO-Link is the first IO technology standard (IEC 61131-9) for communications between sensors and actuators on the lower component level. Analog sensors A typical analog sensor detects an external parameter, such as pressure, sound or …
Continue reading “IO-Link: End to Analog Sensors”
Famed physicist Albert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” When the topic of IO-Link comes up, whether a salesperson or technical expert is doing the explaining, I always find it’s too much for the layman without a technical background to understand. To simplify this complex idea, I’ve created an analogy to something we use in our everyday lives: highways. Prior to the Federal Highway Act …
Continue reading “What is IO-Link? A Simple Explanation of the Universal Networking Standard”
In a previous blog entry, I discussed IO-Link SPE (Single-Pair Ethernet). SPE, in my opinion, has two great strengths compared to standard IO-Link: cable length and speed. With cable lengths of up to 100 meters and speed of 10 Mbps, compared to 20 meters and max baud rate of 230.4 Kbps, what could be out …
Continue reading “IO-Link Wireless – IO-Link with Even Greater Flexibility”
20 meters. That is the maximum distance between an IO-Link master port and an IO-Link device using a standard prox cable. Can this length be extended? Sure, there are IO-Link repeaters you can use to lengthen the distance, but is there an advantage and is it worth the headache? I hope you like doing …
Continue reading “Is IO-Link with Single Pair Ethernet the Future?”
Using IO-Link allows you to get as much data as possible from only three wires. IO-Link communicates four types of data: device data, event data, value status, and process data. Value status data and process data are constantly sent together at a known rate that is documented in each device’s manual and/or data sheet. Device …
Continue reading “Use IODD Files with IO-Link for Faster, Easier Parameterization”
