Have you ever looked inside your electrical enclosure and been amazed at the number of industrial network protocols that lie within? A machine may have different protocols for the PLC, HMI, Temperature Controllers, Single Axis Drives, Remote I/O, Factory Network, and so on… If you think that is too many protocols, below is an example of how the Cross Company Automation Group was able to use EtherCAT to reduce the number of protocols on a packaging machine.
EtherCAT is basically industrial Ethernet. It is fast, accurate, and highly efficient in terms of data transmission. EtherCAT essentially works “downstream” and focuses on machine automation; the machine network. It leaves the “upstream” tasks to be handled by Ethernet, such as programming of the devices and interfacing with SCADA software; the factory network.
Network and Wiring Architecture
Our customer came to us with a machine that consisted of an Omron PLC and Remote I/O, Red Lion HMI and Temperature Controllers, Allen Bradley Ultra5000 drives, Keyence Light Curtains and Sensors, and various pneumatic products. A major concern for them was the complicated wiring and communication between all of the devices. Additionally they were frustrated by the lack of ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ compatibility with the Allen Bradley drives.
EtherCAT a One Cable Solution
We were able to address both ‘pain points’ for our customer through the introduction of EtherCAT and Omron Industrial Automation products. Omron has been fully backward compatible since they started manufacturing PLC’s and all indications are that Omron will continue to be forward compatible as well.
With one cable type, a standard shielded Ethernet cable, we were able to connect almost all of the automation components on the machine. The daisy chained cable connected the EtherCAT components consisting of servo drives, remote I/O, inverter drives, temperature controllers, and even a programmable laser sensor. The Ethernet portion of the network was allowed to do what it does well which was handling communication with the HMI and the factory network.
EtherCAT for the Future
The end result for this customer was a more powerful and cost effective machine – one that allowed EtherCAT to handle the machine network and the Ethernet to handle the factory network. The new architecture was very clean and the simple wiring, with just one shielded Ethernet cable,greatly reduced the labor and frustration associated with wiring the machine. On future machines, the customer may decide to add the pneumatic system and safety components to the EtherCAT machine network.
Maybe EtherCAT is the Right Solution for you?
Please reach out to us with your EtherCAT related questions. Our team of experts will be happy to talk with you about how to optimally design your machine so that it can make full use of the latest industrial network technologies that are available.
