Emerson has introduced a new Class A, IO-Link master that is said to provide customers with a cost-effective solution for smart and analogue sensor connectivity on the AVENTICS Series G3 Fieldbus platform.
The G3 IO-Link Master is suitable for machine architectures with many sensors and pneumatic valves, and where it is important to have reliable digital data communication between field devices, such as sensors and the machine controller.
IO-Link is an internationally standardised I/O technology (IEC 61131-9) for communication at the sensor/actuator level in machine control. During replacement, IO-Link devices can identify and configure themselves automatically, saving maintenance time. The IO-Link master provides pneumatic valve control through direct digital data communication with the machine controller. It offers event-based and I/O mapped diagnostics – both important predictive maintenance requirements for Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications.
By adding the IO-Link capabilities to the valve systems, customers can include multiple IO-Link masters on only one G3 Fieldbus platform, saving hardware costs, and thus enabling the customers to be future-proof and positioned for IIoT application requirements.
Costs can be cut by reducing the number of communication nodes. G3 IO-Link master is optimised for sensor-rich applications with eight Class A ports per module to support multiple IO-Link smart and standard analog sensors. The IO-Link master can be distributed up to 30m from G3. Together with the 20m IO-Link cable length maximum, the sensors can be located up to 50m in total from the G3 Fieldbus platform.
