Sercos International, supplier of the sercos® automation bus, is offering a free update for the sercos monitor.

The tool allows a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the data traffic in sercos III networks, easing development, testing and troubleshooting. The monitor allows both retroactive evaluation of captured and stored network records in the pcap file format, and analysis of the network traffic in real time (live capture).

A user-friendly interface and overview functions for the typical features of a sercos III network, such as topology, communications phases and service channel transmission, enable a fast and targeted launch of the analysis process. A capture trigger and filters can be defined to capture only Ethernet frames that meet specific requirements.

Download here.

Pluto is a new ultra-compact (60 mm x 60 mm x 15 mm), modular  DC Servo Drive for control of rotary or linear brushless, DC brush and stepper motors up to 500 W peak, with 5 Arms output current and no heat sink needed. Pluto is designed, by Ingenia Motion Control, to integrate in applications where space is critical, such as intelligent motors with embedded servo drive, compact integrated actuators or multi-axis distributed motor control with coordinated motion profiles.

Pluto integrates common motor control functions and motion control features on a single module. A series of I/O signals, both digital and analog, are available for easy interfacing with the application. Communication with the device is done through an USB 2.0 port and a CAN interface with CANopen protocol (using CiA-301, CiA-303, CiA-306 and CiA-402).

It can operate as stand-alone mode thanks to the on-board programmability and also accepts Analog input, PWM, Step&Direction or E-Gearing control.

It also configurable and programmable with the high-level Ingenia software tools, Motion Lab and Composer software, as well as with Motion Control Library API (C/C++ or .NET).

NPR is reporting on a new trend in manufacturing automation. From their story:

Normally robots need to be programmed, but this one learns by physical training. Move Baxter's arm and it learns that's how it should move its arm. In just a few minutes, the robot can be taught, for example, to take something out of a box and place it on a conveyor belt, then, after it's assembled, put it back in a box.

More industrial automation component vendors are offering Ethernet provision as standard on their devices. A number of vendors released new products in 2012 which put the emphasis squarely on connectivity via Ethernet technology. As these vendors push the adoption of Ethernet protocols it requires machine builders and end users to switch from older fieldbus technologies.

A new study by IMS Research (now IHS) estimates that fieldbus protocols accounted for 75% of new industrial automation component network connections in 2011. This is projected to fall to 69% in 2016. New network connections using fieldbus protocols are still some way ahead that of Ethernet, yet growth of Ethernet connections is expected to be considerably higher to 2016.

IHS claims: "While fieldbus solutions offer connection speeds that may be fast enough for certain applications, they do not offer a unified networking approach, such as with Ethernet technologies. It’s not just unification which is an issue. Simplifying the network can reduce company overheads through an integrated system. This is difficult to achieve with fieldbus technologies. Instead end users will usually have separate office IT divisions and a factory IT divisions. Ethernet adoption across a plant or factory provides a better environment for sharing information and a single division with responsibility for the overall network. The benefits of which are likely to be less downtime and lower overall cost."

Meanwhile, the company predicts that the future still is strong for fieldbus, with new connections still increasing year-on-yearm bat that it is undeniable that industrial Ethernet growth will remain higher than that of fieldbus. The company believes that within 10 to 15 years industrial Ethernet will be the dominant networking technology in industrial environments and almost all components will offer Ethernet connectivity as standard.

The China market for motion-control machinery shrank last year in the face of weak export demand, but prospects will improve moving forward as the industry shifts focus to satisfying domestic needs, according to a new study published by IMS Research.

The overall motion-control market in China contracted 19% last year compared to 2011. Within the space, the General Motion Control (GNC) segment slowed 12%, while the allied Computer Numerical Control sector declined by a bigger 25%. Widely used in industries such as packaging, printing and assembly, motion control is generally considered a subset of automation and an important part of robotics, in which the position or velocity of machines is controlled by electric motors, linear actuators or hydraulic pumps.

Export vs. Domestic Markets
Weakness in 2012 stemmed from anemic demand in the downstream industries where motion-control gear is involved. In particular, the motion-control market in China was hurt by uncertainty in the European and American markets that imports Chinese-made machinery. A large portion of Chinese-manufactured port machinery, crane construction gear, machine tools, rubber and plastic-making equipment and textile apparatus is exported, so fluctuations in the export markets can easily affect the Chinese market for motion control.

Overcapacity in the production of industrial machinery compounded the problem of already diminished exports, aggravating the overall situation.

Despite the dip last year, a recovery is projected from 2012 to 2016 when revenue grows by nearly 10% each year during the four-year period. The anticipated change is part of the government’s Twelfth-Year Plan.

High-end equipment makers vs. low-end machine builders
As part of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, China hopes to expand revenue of its high-end equipment manufacturing sector to 6 trillion RMB ($951 billion) by 2015. Demand for high-end machinery and equipment is expected to grow steadily during this period, with high-end motion-control products to play an especially important role in such machinery, IHS believes.  Driving the China motion-control space will be high-end medical equipment, high-end machine tools, CNC centers, highly automated textile machinery, high-precision printing machinery, flexible electronic assembly machinery, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, automated warehouses, and automated material-handling equipment.

Meanwhile, low-end machinery will continue to be present in the China motion-control market, favored by machine builders whose main concern is to keep costs low. Japanese, South Korean, Taiwanese and domestic Chinese motion-control suppliers compete fiercely in this huge market, with rivalry expected to intensify following the launch also of low-cost products by some European makers.

Standard vs. customized motion control
The market for standard motion-control products is in a similar situation to the low-end market just mentioned. The market for customized motion controls is gradually growing because of motion controls penetrating further into emerging industries and dedicated applications.

In comparison, the market for customized motion controls has been growing gradually, with motion-control gear penetrating further into emerging industries and dedicated applications alike.

“Industries that will drive the motion-control market in the future have to do with more specialized applications, such as medical equipment, food machinery, security and monitoring, radar, rail transportation and all-electric plastic injection machines,” a company representative said. Companies that have performed well in this space include U.S.-based Danaher; Infranor from Switzerland; Lenze of Germany; and Lust, also from Germany.

Factory automation vs. process automation
The vast majority of motion-control products are used in factory automation. In contrast, relatively few are to be found in the process automation industry.

In 2011, even nation-wide projects were postponed, and the metal & steel, cement, and glass manufacturing industries fell seriously with over-capacity; however, small and medium-sized projects in the petrochemical and chemical industries are still growing steadily. In 2012, government fixed-asset investments recovered, and were 20% higher than in 2011. Pending projects in railways, urban rail transportation, nuclear power and hydropower are restarting. The investment in environmental protection, energy conservation, and desulfurization projects in power plants, will increase from 2013.

Nonetheless, the factory automation industries closely associated with the process automation industries, including material handling and construction machinery, will perform well, boosting as a whole the market for motion controls in China.

Servo drives: low-, medium- or high-power
Low-power servo drives of up to 1,000 watts account for 40% of revenue in the China motion control market. The devices are used primarily in packaging, textiles and electronics manufacturing, and also in semiconductor and light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing equipment, instrumentation and test equipment.

In comparison, medium-power servo drives rated from 1 to 20 kilowatts account for a larger 45% of the market. The devices are widely used in metal cutting and metal forming; and in the printing, rubber, plastic, and wind power industries.

Finally, high-power servo products above 20 kilowatts are used in large-scale production lines, large machine tools, machining centers, and full-electric injection-molding machines and test equipment. 

Low-power and medium-power servo drives will still be the primary focus of the Chinese motion-control market but high-power servo applications in large-scale machinery will be growing significantly faster.

Galil Motion Control is announcing the latest product in their RIO Pocket PLC Series. The RIO-47300 includes more I/O, screw terminals and two Ethernet ports which allow management of an unlimited number of inputs and outputs without an external Ethernet switch.

Digital inputs and outputs on the RIO-47300 are increased from 16 to 24 each for a total of 48 optically isolated digital I/O. The RIO-47300 is an intelligent input and output controller that uses a RISC processor for fast handling of I/O & logic. The RIO allows 400 program lines, 254 variables, 1000 array elements, 6 PID control loops and 5 Ethernet handles. Other features include PID process control loops, timers, counters, web interface, email alerts, data-logging, and the ability to read position and temperature sensors.

The RIO controller can be programmed using a two-letter language. Software is also available for converting a Relay Ladder Logic program into code for input into the RIO controller.

The RIO-47300 has screw terminals for and measures 10.8” x 4.7” with DIN tray. The RIO receives power from an external supply of 18V – 36V DC. LED indicators provide a convenient display of all digital inputs and outputs.

The RIO-47300 is $495 in single quantity and $360 in quantities of 100.

Sales of motion control products have decreased in 2012 in China as a result of overcapacity, and the global motion control market is forecast to decline by 1.9 percent compared to 2011, according to a study recently published by IMS Research. However, in 2013, the global motion control market should rebound with revenue growth of nearly 5% spurred by IMS prediction that the Chinese market will recover, while still limited by the continued Eurozone recession.

In recent years, the global motion controls market grew strongly with revenues increasing over 20% in both 2010 and 2011 to reach an estimated value of $13.1 billion. 2012 presented a very different situation, with the Eurozone recession and softening of the Chinese economy causing motion control sales to fall well below expectations.

The company explains in a release: “The biggest surprise in 2012 is the extent of the contraction in the Chinese motion control market, where revenues are forecast to decline an estimated 16.5% to 18.5%. Reduced order rates have resulted from overcapacity concerns and conservative buying patterns from machine builders.”

Sales of low-end servo products in China have been most affected, impacting the Chinese and Japanese suppliers who rely heavily on this market. The market for high-end servo products is more stable.

In the rest of Asia, excluding Japan, revenues from sales of motion control products are projected to grow by over 5% in 2012.

"Growth will be driven by the Indian, South Korean and Taiwanese markets,” says IMS, “However, the total Asian market (excluding Japan) is forecast decline by nearly 10 percent because China accounts for the majority of revenues.”

The motion control markets in the Americas, EMEA and Japan are projected to maintain revenue growth in 2012, though at much lower rates than what was observed in the prior two years. The American market is the fastest growing, with growth projected at 4.2%, followed by the EMEA market at 1.6%. Due to a struggling semiconductor industry, the Japanese motion control market is projected to grow only 0.5% in 2012.

The Fieldbus Foundation today announced approval of a backhaul architecture model, developed in collaboration with International Society of Automation standards committee ISA100 that provides a common framework enabling multiple industrial communication protocols to run over a shared wireless backhaul network in process automation systems.

Completion of this work is a key milestone supporting implementation of the Fieldbus Foundation's wireless High Speed Ethernet (HSE) backhaul included in FOUNDATION™ for Remote Operations Management (ROM) technology.

Background
In June 2008, ISA100 leaders established a new working group, ISA100.15—Wireless Backhaul Networks Working Group—to develop standards and technical reports to address one or more dedicated or shared wireless backhaul(s) to support technologies running multiple applications. At the same time, Fieldbus Foundation end user members identified the wireless backhaul as critical for FOUNDATION for ROM development.

To expedite the work, the Fieldbus Foundation and ISA began joint collaboration on wireless networks combining Fieldbus Foundation application protocol expertise with ISA100 communication networking resources to complete the architecture model. ISA will publish the work as technical report ISA-TR100.15.01, Backhaul Architecture Model: Secured Connectivity over Untrusted or Trusted Networks, within the ISA100 family of standards.

What it means:
Dr. Penny Chen, principal systems architect with Yokogawa and co-chair of the ISA100.15 working group, praised the results of the wireless backhaul collaborative effort. "Working together, dedicated engineers have a developed a solution meeting industry requirements for a wireless backhaul transport network to facilitate interoperability, end-to-end security, and end-to-end quality of service in industrial wireless installations," Dr. Chen said.

Dave Glanzer, Fieldbus Foundation director of technology development and co-chair of the working group commented, "The Fieldbus Foundation has consistently supported wireless advancements, and this joint initiative is crucial to FOUNDATION for ROM. Our ROM solution extends the capabilities of FOUNDATION fieldbus to countless wired and wireless devices installed in some of the world’s harshest and most remote locations. It provides a unified digital infrastructure for asset management in applications ranging from tank farms and terminals to pipelines, offshore platforms, and even OEM skids."

According to Glanzer, plans are underway for a series of field demonstrations using the FOUNDATION for ROM wireless HSE backhaul. Major end users hosting the demonstrations include Reliance Industries (India), Petrobras (Brazil) and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia). Additional end user sites in Japan and Europe are expected to join the program. The field demos will offer a look at the full functionality of FOUNDATION for ROM, including wireless device integration, remote I/O integration, and wireless backhaul capabilities.

FOUNDATION for ROM was designed to enable fieldbus connectivity to remote I/O and the leading industrial wireless protocols, and is the first successful integration of ISA100.11a, WirelessHART®, wired HART®, and wired H1 protocols into a single standard environment without sacrificing the diagnostic capabilities of existing wireless devices. Instead, these capabilities are mapped into the FOUNDATION block structure to provide a standard environment for data management and quality, eliminating techniques which are highly customized and much more costly to maintain throughout the plant life cycle.

As part of this solution, FOUNDATION for ROM provides a way to bring large concentrations of discrete and analog field I/O back to the control room using HSE communication. It also employs Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) and function blocks to ensure interoperability with FOUNDATION for ROM devices. This is essential to improve integration of critical functional areas, including machinery health monitoring, safety interlocks, fire & gas detection systems, and video surveillance.

To learn more about FOUNDATION for ROM, go to www.fieldbus.org.

The Fieldbus Foundation today announced that its 2013 General Assembly would be held in Shanghai, China, on March 12-15, 2013. This annual event is open to Fieldbus Foundation members and non-members, and will be attended by leading FOUNDATION™ fieldbus suppliers, end users and industry participants from around the world.

The highlight of the General Assembly is the conference to be held March 14. The conference program is focused on automation end users and will provide an overview of the many Fieldbus Foundation developments across the globe. It will include updates by leading fieldbus experts on the latest initiatives in FOUNDATION technology, as well as presentations by major end users who have installed fieldbus in their industrial operations. Representatives of Fieldbus Foundation member companies are invited to attend the General Assembly business meeting on March 15.

"FOUNDATION fieldbus is a technology that’s helping to drive global industrial development, so it only makes sense that our 2013 General Assembly would be held in Shanghai, China — the heart of one of the world's fastest growing markets and location of some of the largest fieldbus projects to date," said Rich Timoney, Fieldbus Foundation president and CEO. "Our annual meeting will attract a wide spectrum of the fieldbus community throughout China's burgeoning manufacturing and industrial base. We strongly encourage all end users of FOUNDATION technology, and those looking to become users, to actively participate in this event."

For more details and registration, please visit the Events page on the Fieldbus Foundation's website.

Hitachi America has announced its next generation inverter, the NE-S1, in the HP range of 1/2 to 3HP.

A release from the company says that the NE-S1 is ultra-compact and offers the end user and integrator the ability to use the control as is out of the box, with popular preconfigurations, simple defaults settings and the following features.

•    Pre-configured parameters
•    Optional field installed operator display
•    3 wire Start Stop compatible
•    RS-485 Modbus RTU standard
•    Logic and time delay functions built in
•    Energy saving function standard
•    CE/UL/cUL/c-Tick approvals
•    Optional door mounted display
•    Loss of signal protection
•    Sink or Source input compatible