We did participate in last year’s show and was disappointed with the amount of attendees and the geographics of them. It seemed that the attendees just didn’t have a good mix geographically and were too concentrated — the majority of attendees seemed to be from Texas and the nearby states. The general consensus from those I’ve talked to this year weren’t any different. The event this year drew 8000 attendees, where only 200 registered for the educations programs and there was noticeably less exhibitor booths, a significant drop from the 2008 Expo.

Vendor neutral trade trade shows like ISA Expo seem to be rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Companies are participating more in targeted technology, vendor specific/automation based trade shows (e.g. Rockwell Automation’s Automation Fair). Companies are also leveraging the power of the internet and distribution channels in getting their product announcements out. With several more cost effective ways to announce product releases on the Internet, countless social networking outlets, and limited travel restrictions due to the economy, the lure of traditional trade shows is just not the same as it was. The increasing costs of exhibitor booths, hotel accommodations and the extra costs of booth amenities like electrical outlets, internet, shipping etc. also play apart.

It remains to be seen whether this new format will be embraced (considering the fact that the educational programs this year were poorly attended). The cost/quality of this type of show would be a factor in whether people would fly in for 4 days — ISA would have to make it extremely worth their while. A suggestion has been to move it out of Houston and host it in different states every year. Having it in different states tends to create mixtures of vertical industry focus. I have found that having it in Houston every year tends to shift the focus to the Oil/Gas related industry (for obvious reasons; although not purposely done). It will be good to have a change from that (unintended) focus. Having it in different locations could also play to their advantage as allows them to create a themed approach of the event based on geographical location.

The announcement wasn’t much of a surprise to me, considering the declining participation compared to Expos of previous years and in local ISA chapters too (one in particularly has disbanded in our region). My overall impression is that this announcement was sort of a rushed decision — it seems that they are putting a sudden stop to the Expo without a clear picture/direction of what they are going to do next year.

It remains to be seen if there will be further support for other PLC manufacturers like Allen-Bradley, Siemens, GE etc. I guess it would all depend on the demand of this app — that’s a tough one, as I see more engineers having Windows Mobile and Blackberrys then iPhones. The proprietary/legal aspect of tapping into the PLCs made by the relevant manufacturers may also be a stumbling block. Nevertheless, it’s a nice option for remote monitoring.

Here are the features per their spec page:

Key Features

ScadaMobile provides many possibilities designed to meet all PLC remote monitoring needs.

-Monitor (display and change) PLC variables (tags) through local or remote wireless access.
-Supported types are boolean, both signed and unsigned 16 and 32 bit integers, and 32 bit floating point.
-Optional automatic scaling of the variables being monitored (v2.0).
-Edition of variables directly from the iPhone application and the ability to import files created in Excel, Word or Open Office containing the specification of variables
-Access to files and settings via Web browser: Safari, Firefox or Microsoft Explorer.
-Highly optimized engine for communications with the PLC allowing a large number of variables (literally tens of thousands) with a minimum of network traffic.
-Ability to set various access levels with password to prevent accidental modification of variables or display of sensible data.

Specific support for OMRON PLCs
ScadaMobile is available for OMRON programmable logic controllers, for which includes the following additional features.

-Monitor all areas of memory including: IO bit, IO channel, DM area, Work Bit, Work Channel, Timer/Counter area, HR Bit, HR Channel, EM area, and AR area.
-Supports all CJ1 and CS1 series PLCs, as well as most older models with TCP / IP connection.
-Supported CX-Programmer-generated ‘cxr’ files for direct import of selected variables without any additional step.

Other Features
ScadaMobile connects directly to the PLC without routing through servers or personal computers, using a direct TCP/IP link between the iPhone and the PLC, with minimal configuration.
The package contains “out of the box” several configuration file examples created in Microsoft Excel or CX-Programmer that can be used as templates for your own developments.

Link to ScadaMobile in the App Store

1.   Start Small Without Getting Suckered. Many of the traditional offerings charge a low fee for small tag counts and client run-times (log ins) and then charge much more for higher tag counts and run-times.  New competitive products charge nothing for run-times/users and include unlimited tag bases without breaking the budget.  Many of the sales pitches from the leaders are geared at OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), which attempts to make one KPI (Key Performance Indicator) to measure productivity, out of the few most important ones. This is a noble goal but the reality in most cases is that it will take a lot of work to get there and will not be a drop-in solution.

2.   It’s the Network Dummy. Don’t over pay for software and ignore the network infrastructure.  Hardware and software costs are coming down across the board and this is especially true of network equipment.   Old hubs and overrated network switches have no place in a modern Ethernet network.  It was once acceptable to have a certain amount of data loss on your network; this is no longer true.  Routers and managed switches do not have to cost a bundle either, allowing for real security. Diagnostics in the device now let us see that we no longer have any data loss in the network connection.

3.   Get the Right Tools. Find tools to help document existing equipment, documentation and related software.  Doing this the old fashioned way is a waste of time, effort, and money.  The rewards go far beyond a software roll out.  Passive solutions that work, like network port scanners, can help you locate and diagram the network in hours instead of weeks.  You will then be able put existing related material against those devices and publish them for the organization.  The reward for this effort will be realized every time you quickly find answers in the system.

4.   Understand What You Are Buying. Who is the man behind the curtain? OPC is a standard over which no major players has ever had control aside from the body that publishes it, the OPC foundation.  Many have packaged their solutions with licensed offerings from third parties.  These third party solutions are certified and tested by the software foundation.   Many of the platforms rely on code libraries that are GPL (General Public License) and which cost them nothing.  It is not uncommon for a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) product to be based on Linux or free BSD that are also GPL.  These free or low cost solutions dramatically lower the cost for new entrants into the market.

5.   Don’t Get Fooled by the Name. As we have seen recently no company is too big to fail.  This is just as true for the big players in the industrial automation market.  Some of their best customers are going through incredibly trying times. Many of the big industrial automation firms are already struggling in a market that is increasingly competitive to make their acquisitions and licenses offerings bring in the expected revenue.  Outsourcing and layoffs are happening and often important knowledge goes out the door as well.

6.   Not All Platforms Are Built for the Web. Web launched applications built on platforms and languages built for web technology are key in assuring that secure, functional and manageable solutions can be developed.  Everyone will assure you that you can access the product via the web.  It is security and licensing that will make or break this as a reality.   For example Microsoft charges licensing fees for active directory users on servers.  IT departments have a strong sense of ownership over Active Directory, allowing for security and authentication (Computer / Server Log-in) to a network resource.  Web application platforms will have their own security model that function separately from the office domain.

7.   Be Skeptical of the “Legacy.” Many of the next generation packages from market leaders have a start fresh approach to address this.  It comes as no surprise that large companies have trouble reinventing themselves around these new offerings.  It is not uncommon to see complete false starts and forced migrations to competing products after acquisitions.  The market leaders all have an incentive to bring current customers to the new base platform.  Don’t get caught up in the next newest thing that was made to look simply like the next new version.

8.  Focus on Total Solution Cost. Not Initial Cost Many software companies spend a great deal of time and money trying to corner the market with low up-front fees.  Eventually this strategy falls apart.  The key is to find an integrator that has the experience and knowledge to provide the best solution at the best total cost.

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This post is authored by Douglas Albright, Director of Operations at Ai Control Systems, Inc.

About Ai Control Systems, Inc.

Ai Control Systems, Inc. is a comprehensive control engineering systems integrator located in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1985, Ai Controls is an engineering boutique that works with their customers to design, engineer, prototype, test, fabricate, install and maintain operational equipment control and monitoring systems. For more information, visit their website, http://www.aicontrols.com

The EL6688 is an IEEE 1588 clock (ordinary clock), which, from the perspective of the higher-level master (grandmaster), operates as a slave or supplies the connected EtherCAT Terminals (slaves) as a master via distributed clocks.

It has to be said that the determinism factor is a common apprehension among some control engineers. This results in the (Industrial Ethernet) networking technology being dismissed as being a control system network of choice. Words like “deterministic” and “determinism” are misunderstood when applied to control/ automation networks and often used very loosely in a conversation or when making a decision. In a non time critical application/ network, the real time traffic and latencies within a switched network are very negligible; and it is certainly super fast. Nowadays, switches (which form the backbone of the network) have latencies of around the 20 microsecond range or better. With (Industrial) Ethernet, a properly designed and installed network can be as good as or better than any other type of industrial network — even without IEEE 1588.

Ethernet/IP and Profinet are good examples of technologies that have real time protocols with CIP Sync and Profinet IRT respectively. CIP Sync uses IEEE 1588 clocks on switches and the CIP Sync protocol on distributed devices; and Profinet IRT uses switches and devices with ERTEC (Enhanced Real Time Ethernet Controller) ASICs and 802.1Q. As IEEE 1588 precision time protocol (PTP) is embraced and adopted more, maybe we’ll see more Industrial Ethernet usage within areas like motion control and other time critical situations.

Other manufacturers

SyncSwitch TC100 (IEEE-1588 Transparent Clock/Managed Ethernet Switch)

Meinberg LANTIME M600/ Hirschmann MICE MS-20 Industrial Ethernet Switch

Meinberg LANTIME M600/GPS/PTP : PTPv2 / IEEE 1588-2008 Grandmaster Clock and NTP Time Server with integrated GPS radio clock

Meinberg LANTIME/PTP : PTP/IEEE1588 Ordinary Clock and NTP Time Server

OnTime Networks  T200 series – Time sync Ethernet switches

Teletronics Technology NSW -5FT/ NSW- 8GT switches

Siemens SCALANCE X-200IRT switches – Isochronous Real-Time

List of IEEE 1588 product catalog (NIST)

Useful IEEE 1588 links/articles

An introduction to IEEE 1588 (Real Time Automation)

IEEE 1588 and the need for Ethernet Clock Synchronization

Understanding the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol

Using IEEE 1588 for synchronization of network-connected devices

IEEE 1588 cited publications

Network Time Protocol (NTP)

Time Triggered Protocol (TTP)

Tutorials (from NIST)

Basics of IEEE 1588
Industrial applications of IEEE 1588 part 1.pdf
Industrial applications of IEEE 1588 part 2.pdf
Telecommunications applications of IEEE 1588.pdf
Test and measurement applications of IEEE 1588.pdf

“Cisco makes switches for Industrial Ethernet applications?” and “Cisco makes industrial switches?”, are what I hear commonly.

Yes, Cisco does make industrial switches (and I don’t mean the *old* Cisco Catalyst 2955). I am talking about the modular based IE3000 series switches. In fact, the press release for it was about a year ago (with a 2nd quarter ‘08 release). With the abundance of Industrial Ethernet switch products already in place, Cisco may have come into a crowded marketplace with some catching up to do with the established *players*.

When I think of Cisco nowadays, I think of Cisco’s Unified Communications — which includes IP telephony, unified messaging, customer contact, Web and video conferencing etc. That’s kind of edged in my mind as with the great simplistic (yet powerful) marketing they’ve done.

Cisco in industrial automation and the factory floor? Not so much. I can’t remember the time I have actually seen a Cisco IE3000 printed ad, or is there even one? They don’t even have a direct link in their main Cisco website. One will have trouble ever finding it (being buried several levels down); good thing I have got it bookmarked. For your reference, here is the direct link to their Ethernet to Factory floor solution.

Are they taking a step back because of their partnership with Rockwell Automation, letting Rockwell be the front player in marketing the Cisco switch range? Rockwell branded Cisco switches differ from the standard IE3000 models as they have inbuilt feature sets and reference architectures tailored to Rockwell’s Integrated Architecture™ applications. Cisco also has a partnership with Honeywell as well (that one we hear even less off).

The IE3000 series targets industrial automation (with the familiar PLC DIN-rail mounted form factor design and the bells & whistles of extended environmental rating, convection cooling, alarm relays, surge/ noice immunity, 24VDC power etc.), outdoor video and transportation systems control, substation automation specifications (incl. IEC61850 and IEEE1613), railway, military and other unique environmental situations. It comes in 4 ports and 8 port versions with expansions modules and SFP transceivers.

Here is a video of the IE3000 as demonstrated by their product manager.

How they will fair remains to be seen … this is relatively an early stage of them entering the already abundant industrial switch marketplace. However, with their track record, I’ll never count them out. I liken them to the Goliath of the network world with a silent but deadly presence.

Cisco IE3000 brochure

Cisco IE3000 data sheet

Shop Cisco IE3000

The Industrial Cabling Sub-committee received approval to publish ANSI/TIA 1005, Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Industrial Premises, at the October TIA TR-42 TR-42.9 meeting held in Vancouver, BC. TIA-1005 was created to address new structured cabling concepts for industrial installations. Specifically, it addresses the potential exposure of cable to hostile environments, and special cabling system requirements. (Source: Superior Essex)

The standard would be a huge step towards gaining further traction for the use of Ethernet in factory production and manufacturing environments. It will address several areas like the installation and requirements of cables within harsh environments, helping enable the installation of telecommunications infrastructure on the plant floor and between manufacturing/ industrial buildings.

TIA-1005 will introduce a 2 pair cabling installation allowance, a huge difference from the current TIA-568-B 8 pair standard. Also expect the inclusion of cabling concepts for automating outlets, Cat 6 allowance in automation islands; and the definition of the factory floor, work area and automating island using the MICE model/ table.

Using the MICE model, there will be a designation of four environmental areas of which the cable will be subjected to:

The industrial areas and mixed environments are then classified based on the limits of MICE to form the following levels: Mice 1 (commercial/ office environments), Mice 2 (Light industrial/ work areas), and Mice 3 (the automation island/ heavy industrial). The work area would typically be where the control level hardware resides and the automation island would be where the plant floor machines reside. Automation islands are where the harshest environments reside. Duly note that these classifications are concepts and not mandatory requirements.

The TIA-1005 is based on existing cabling standards of ANSI/TIA/EIA 568-B, 606-A; TIA-5690B; ANSI-J-STD-607-A and ISO/IEC11801.