November 29, 2018
The unified communication standard of the Industrial IoT has been chosen
OPC UA over TSN will be the unified communication standard of the Industrial IoT. Standardization and ongoing development of OPC UA at the field level will take place under the umbrella of the OPC Foundation. This represents a long awaited answer to the market's demand for vendor-agnostic, interface-free industrial communication.
B&R has been a main player in the initiative to develop and standardize OPC UA over TSN for communication at the controller and field level. The company plays a leading role in the corresponding standardization organizations: OPC Foundation, IEC/IEEE and VDMA. B&R also actively participates in testbeds such as those conducted by the Industrial Internet Consortium. "We're working to make sure that both builders and operators of industrial machinery see real benefits from harmonized communication as soon as possible," says Stefan Schönegger, vice president of strategy and innovation at B&R. In addition, B&R's parent company ABB has been appointed to the board of the OPC Foundation.
18x faster
OPC UA over TSN will enable plug-and-produce networks that are easy to administer and configure. Network stations will communicate up to 18 times faster than with any protocol available on the market today. This opens up new possibilities in areas such as tightly synchronized motion and control applications.
OPC UA over TSN will also meet the requirements of future IoT applications. The technology supports networks comprising tens of thousands of nodes and benefits from bandwidth extensions to the Ethernet standard. Even large volumes of data – such as those generated by integrated machine vision applications – can be handled with ease.
The fusion of IT and OT
OPC UA enables seamless, transparent communication from the sensor to the cloud. The worlds of IT and OT merge to form a unified network, fulfilling a key requirement of all Industrial IoT applications. Both OPC UA and the TSN Ethernet extension are managed and developed by independent organizations, making OPC UA over TSN a truly vendor-agnostic protocol. "In terms of communication, machine builders and operators are no longer bound to specific suppliers," explains Schönegger.
With Canadian manufacturing suffering from a growing labour shortage, the participation of industry in skills development is emerging as a vital component in hiring and retention.
The needs are stark: The Canadian Exporters and Manufacturers Association says almost 40% of its members have jobs they can’t fill. Five years from now, 60% expect to be short-staffed, especially when it comes to skilled trades. Statistics Canada forecasts the country’s labour force growth rate will remain below 0.2% for the rest of the decade, below replacement levels.
This growing shortage is affecting companies of all sizes. Already, some manufacturers acknowledge losing out on contracts because they can’t find the manpower to fulfill them.
In reality, the challenge is two-fold: to replenish and expand the workforce to help close the gap between the number of job seekers and vacancies through 2030 when the last baby boomers reach age 65, and ensure workers get opportunities throughout their careers to upgrade or add to their skillset as current technologies evolve and new ones emerge. Festo, through Festo Didactic, one of the world leading provider of equipment and solutions for technical education, intends to help Canada meet this challenge on both fronts. In essence, the approach Festo has always taken is that the learning never stops.
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New Product
Emerson recently introduced the ASCO™ Series 209 proportional flow control valves, which offer the highest standards of precision, pressure ratings, flow characteristics and energy efficiency available in a purpose-built, compact architecture. With this combination of size and performance, Series 209 valves allow users to precisely regulate the flow of fluid in a wide range of devices that require exacting performance, like those found in the medical equipment, food and beverage, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industries.
Accuracy, response time and repeatability are critical in high-precision flow control applications, such as controlling tool speed in dental chairs, the flow of steam in coffee makers, water flow in cooling systems and hydrogen flow in fuel cells. Series 209 valves have low hysteresis (less than or equal to 5%), excellent repeatability (less than or equal to 1%) and high sensitivity (less than or equal to 0.2%) that contribute to their precision.
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Featured Product
Teledyne FLIR Integrated Imaging Solutions is pleased to announce the all new Ladybug6— the latest addition to its field proven Ladybug series. Ladybug6 is the leading high-resolution camera designed to capture 360-degree spherical images from moving platforms in all-weather conditions. Its industrial grade design and out-of-the-box factory calibration produces 72 Megapixel (MP) images with pixel values that are spatially accurate within +/- 2 mm at 10-meter distance.
“The new Teledyne Ladybug6 is designed for mobile mapping and all-weather inspection projects requiring excellent image quality and high resolution,” said Mike Lee, Senior Product Manager at Teledyne FLIR. “With the addition of Ladybug6, we are now pleased to offer a wider variety of spherical cameras with higher resolutions ranging from 30 MP to 72 MP.”
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