Process control via Industrial Ethernet is becoming more and more common in the era of automated production. According to the report of HMS Industrial Networks, in 2018 the share of Industrial Ethernet based systems in the market exceeded the share of Fieldbus solutions and amounted to 52%. The growth rate of Ethernet applications is very fast, and forecasts indicate that their share will continue to increase. The most popular networks of this type are Ethernet / IP, Profinet, EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, Ethernet Powerlink and SERCOS. Each of these networks is available as part of the expansion modules for integrated servo motors MAC manufactured by JVL.
Industrial Ethernet is the Ethernet protocol used in a production environment. In order to adapt the network to harsh conditions, such as extreme temperatures, dust, high humidity or electromagnetic interference, manufacturers use high protection components and fiber optic cables in these systems.
Advantages of Industrial Ethernet
Among the many benefits of using Industrial Ethernet, several of the most important can be mentioned:
Increased speed, from 9.6 Kbit/s with serial connections to 1 Gbit/s with Gigabit Ethernet;
Increased transmission distance and wireless capabilities;
Greater precision with less complexity;
Compatibility with standard access points, routers, switches, cables, and optical fiber;
Greater scalability by having more than two nodes on a link;
Consumer-provider architectures, replacing master-slave allow multiple protocols to communicate over one cable;
Topology options, including ring, star, and tree;
Better interoperability;
Remote access options;
Above all, Industrial Ethernet reduces operational costs and improves communication efficiency between controllers, combining technologies from different manufacturers throughout the process.
Expansion modules for MAC motors
The series of integrated MAC servo motors from JVL is a unique solution on the market. An expansion module is selected for each of these motors, so they can be connected to almost any application via Industrial Ethernet.
An overview of all industrial Ethernet protocols available for integrated MAC servo motors is presented in the table below.
