Ethernet's move to the industrial automation space is gaining momentum, as engineers make the conversion from the fieldbuses of the 1990s to networks that unify the front office and factory floor.
At Rockwell Automation's Automation Fair in Chicago recently, engineers said that machine builders are increasingly adopting an open industrial network called EtherNet/IP, despite having spent years learning such automation protocols as DeviceNet, Profibus, ControlNet, SERCOS, SDS, and CANOpen, among others. Moreover, new factories built by manufacturing giants such as General Motors are opting for Ethernet because of its dominance in the IT world.
"It took a while," Joseph Kann, vice president of global business development for Rockwell Automation, told Design News. "The original implementations of Ethernet didn't have the determinism that you need on the shop floor. But today, Ethernet is replacing the fieldbuses."
Databuses -- whether Ethernet or the more traditional fieldbuses -- came to prevalence in automation over the past two decades as a means of enabling controllers to "talk" to sensors, motors, drives, and other factory floor devices. As recently as five years ago, however, Ethernet was not considered a viable a candidate for that role because it supposedly lacked the "determinism" that's needed to assure that digital messages arrive when and where they should. Opponents of Ethernet often cited safety as a key reason for their resistance.
One of the biggest advantages of an Ethernet-based protocol is that it offers secure remote access to the shop floor. (Figure courtesy of Rockwell Automation.)
But many of those opponents are now softening their stance. Use of Ethernet offers an obvious advantage, allowing manufacturers to have secure connectivity between the plant floor and business IT systems. And determinism issues have disappeared. Moreover, it has the advantage of enabling automation engineers to leverage the hundreds of thousands of man-years of development behind it.
Ann, you have hit the nail on the head by mentioning protocols like EtherCAT. There are applications where standard Ethernet/IP can be used, but to replace the more specific bus standards like Fieldbus, you need a deterministic protocol. These have now been developed. In the IP realm, the increase in speed to gigabit and beyond helps mitigate some of the determinism issues.
I see a parallel here, sort of, between control and machine vision. In control there's been a gulf separating the functionality and usability of Ethernet/IP versus the control-specific protocols like EtherCAT and Ethernet Powerlink. In machine vision, there's been a parallel guilf, perhaps not so large, between various open-sourced protocols like USB or GigE and their vision-specific versions like the very new USB3 Vision, and the not so new GigE Vision. And the gulfs all about that pesky determinism issue.
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In yet another sign that hydrogen is creeping into the consciousness of global automotive designers, sports car maker Aston Martin plans to run a hydrogen-fueled vehicle in a 24-hour Grand Touring race later this month.
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