Page 8 - Industrial Technology EXTRA - 14th April

CONNECTIVITY...

Seamless connectivity from

the workpiece to the cloud

Warren Harvard, Product Manager at Festo, looks at how

improving connectivity supports machine builders
he 4th Industrial Revolution is redefining
manufacturing business models, value
chains and even the classic automation
Tcontrol pyramid. One area that is
developing rapidly and offering users improved
automation efficiency, is connectivity – networking
and communication within a system.
The Industry 4.0 roadmap defines standards to
make it far easier to connect networked, flexible
production, creating modular structures and
hierarchies by utilising intelligent products with
embedded smart functions. As a result, the classic
machine architecture with its central control system is
increasingly moving towards more versatile,
distributed automation subsystems. These are
decentralised and closely communicating with each
other. This approach brings greater flexibility in
production processes enabling more variation in
machine architecture concepts, ideal to meet the Servo drives with controller CMMT-AS and
increased requirements of global production. motor EMMT-AS integrated directly in
The increasingly networked components require a Ethernet-based control solutions
high level of compatibility and integration across all
system participants. Unobstructed data exchange Connectivity explained
facilitates smoother processes, but it depends on all Essentially, connectivity is the ability to connect and
components being aligned to the application, whilst at link up individual participants i.e. eliminating the
the same time perfectly matching one another. interfaces between devices. Connectivity describes
Effective networking and communications between the ability of the component or a subsystem to be
components and the production systems ultimately integrated within peer, or higher-level architecture
depends on their connectivity. structures, as well as their optimal coordination

April 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p8