Highly dynamic motion control to cycle at 5-10ms

Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Apr 16, 2003

Development of a high-performance realtime solution for highly dynamic motion control applications under PROFInet will achieve cycle times of 5 to 10 ms.

Profibus International (PI) has begun work on the development of a high-performance realtime solution for highly dynamic motion control applications under PROFInet.

By using SRT (Soft Realtime), PROFInet V2.0 has already taken the first step towards a powerful realtime solution that can achieve cycle times of 5 to 10 ms.

This solution completely satisfies the demands of factory automation and is fully compatible with the TCP/IP-Standard.

Starting in June 2003, the runtime software will be available as a download to PI member companies visiting the Profibus website.

With the introduction of its Isochrone Realtime Solution (IRT), Profibus International is now starting the next step in the development of PROFInet V3 to meet all requirements for top motion control applications with respect to performance and clock synchronization.

150 axes can be controlled with a cycle time of 1 ms and a jitter of less than 1 ? Fully compatible with the TCP/IP standard, PROFInet V3 relies on the next generation of switching technology that allows high numbers of devices and large networks.

A four-port realtime ASIC switch is being developed for simple implementation of IRT products.

It will allow quick and economical development and production of IRT devices, making additional switches unnecessary.

This will result in a more powerful technology and additional cost benefits.

In addition, the realtime ASIC switch offers the possibility to construct interrupt-free redundant solutions for complex applications at very low cost.

The objective consists of transforming the motion control profile under Profibus largely unchanged to PROFInet.

This is an additional important contribution to protect the investment of end-users and manufacturers.

Basic advantages of the PROFInet Realtime concept with SRT and IRT are ease of integration and scalable performance.

After the Hannover Fair 2003, the PROFInet working groups will start working on the specifications which will conclude in 2004 with specific standards for the development, engineering, testing and certification of IRT products.