What are some key considerations when selecting industrial automation equipment?
Figure 4: All levels of the Industry 4.0 communications hierarchy have the possibility of connecting directly to the Cloud. (Image source: OPC Foundation)
actuators, and safety devices like light curtains on Level 0 can significantly enhance efficiency improvements and push energy savings up beyond 30%. Common protocols used to connect Level 0 functions include DeviceNet, HART, Modbus, and IO-Link. IO-Link is a point-to- point protocol that connects sensors and actuators to higher- level controls. It’s available as a
wired or wireless standard and is increasingly deployed in Industry 4.0 as a cost-effective alternative. The NX-ILM400 IO-Link master units from Omron can mix standard I/O with high-speed synchronous I/O. The standard digital I/O’s have 16 connections per unit with a choice of (Figure 5): ■ Four 3-wire sensor connections with power supply
■ Eight 2-wire contact inputs or actuator outputs ■ Sixteen 1-wire connections for sensors and actuators connected to a common power supply Level 2 for PDS and beyond Higher-level communications can help improve field-level operations, but they are mandatory to maximize
52
Powered by FlippingBook