The latest TwinCAT product merges PC-based PLC and motion control with next-generation Ethernet. TwinCAT 2.10 can scan hardware through Beckhoff, Profibus, CANopen, DeviceNet, SERCOS, real-time Ethernet and Lightbus high speed, deterministic EtherCAT. It compares networks to system configurations, identifying what hardware is physically present, making for faster and easier diagnostics.
TwinCAT has always been able to synchronize multiple deterministic networks and offered support for multiple fieldbus networks simultaneously. The 2.10 version now does the same thing for EtherCAT-networked devices, so high-speed EtherCAT devices can be added into systems and use other fieldbuses and I/O devices at the same time. It also lets systems use different update rates for different drives, meaning the CPU can now run control loops only as often as necessary, so all drive control loops no longer have to run at the fastest rate required. TwinCAT 2.10 allows full remote target systems programming for Beckhoff BC, BX, CX and PC controllers, with communication via TCP/IP, HTTP and serial connections. TwinCAT software allows open, PC hardware to replace the conventional PLCs, NC/CNC controllers and operating devices.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Designing and filling a new type of water bottle might take less engineering work, but the description will help kids understand how science, math, and engineering influence their lives even through things that seem mundane.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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