Re: 'best' control network? Devicenet vs Lonworks vs CAN vs Fieldbus vs Ethernet ???

From: Armin Steinhoff (a-steinhoff_at_web.de)
Date: 07/25/04 

Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 14:47:10 +0200

perfb wrote:
> no doubt this is a FAQ oft beat to death, but, assuming
> one wanted to control a network of about 10 i/o modules each
> with maybe 100 i/o digital/analog points, at maybe a 100Hz
> maximum rate (e.g. an automatic industrial processing machine of some kind)
> ...
>
> which control network would be, ahem, for lack of a better word, 'best'?
>
> (i.e. in terms of price/node, support, ease of development, availability
> of second-sources, availability of developers etc.?)
>
> Personally, being somewhat naive and ignorant of the field,
> I would go for ethernet, for sheer availability of tools and
> peripherals. But would I be making a gross faux-pas in doing so?
>
> is ethernet gaining ground as a general-purpose control network
> over e.g. CAN etc.?

Powerlink and EtherCAT (real-time Ethernet protocols) are already used
in the field with great success. Both protocols are going to be
standardized by standardization bodies ... which very important.

Powerlink and EtherCAT are using Ethernet as transport media together
with their real-time protocols. Higher protocols can be use in parallel
(low priority) or encapsulated with EtherCAT.

IOs are available ... but the number of vendors is still limited.

Regards

Armin Steinhoff

http://www.steinhoff-automation.com

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