Flexible network architectures, enabled by EtherCAT

Factory automation integrates systems from different disciplines for the purpose of controlling and managing production orders: production planning systems interact with recipe control at the plant management level, which in turn affects the machine and system control, ultimately resulting in control of the actual production process. This requires communication systems, which are suitable for the wide range of sensor/actuator communication requirements right up to production control level on the one hand, and on the other, can easily communicate with each other across the entire network. Beckhoff has a policy of using open technologies in its PC-based control systems, i.e. EtherCAT for the field and process control level and OPC UA for vertical integration. In other words, Beckhoff has already been meeting the requirements of integrated information exchange from the sensor to the management level and into the cloud for many years, as currently discussed in the working groups of the Industry 4.0 associations, for example. Author: Dr. Guido Beckmann,