Wireless: Automation Unplugged

Networked automation via wired, wireless and hybrid systems is helping companies improve safety, reduce costs, increase access to information and improve productivity. Real-time access to information helps improve management and decision-making.

The era of “unplugged” industrial automation is now marked by cost-effective, efficient, and reliable solutions based on wireless technologies, with some analysts even describing the “wireless” wave as a “wearless” wave thanks to reduced costs, downtimes, and maintenance work.

Components of such wireless industrial systems include programmable logic controllers, robots, flowmeters, temperature monitoring systems and mixing stations.

Solutions already exist to implement office-related information flow in manufacturing plants. According to Randy Richel, president of Trakware Systems, manufacturers need to track key business-critical functions such as estimating, advanced scheduling, job costing, production management as labor and material shop floor data collection.

These unique MES (manufacturing execution systems) requirements must simultaneously integrate with major software for financials, engineering design, optimization, payroll, and even wireless interaction for mobile workers. For instance, Brunt Associates, an architectural millwork firm based in Michigan, has used Trakware solutions to streamline all information into one central, interactive system. According to Gary Mathur, an applications engineer with Moore Industries-International, wireless technology now provides secure, reliable communication for remote field sites and applications where wires cannot be run for practical or economic reasons.

As more industrial applications require greater throughput, networks employing TCP/IP and other open Ethernet packets to pass at higher data rates will be implemented. This is a very good solution where control systems need to share large amounts of data with one another or with upper level systems like MES and ERP.

Advancements in wireless systems’ performance, coupled with industry-wide acceptance of wireless devices, have led to systems being deployed in everincreasing numbers in ever-more-difficult locations and facilities.

Industrial wireless

“Industrial wireless” is a catch-all phrase that encompasses system elements that cross the boundaries of IT, process control, HR, security/ safety, and numerous other business units within a typical industrial facility. The suite of applications being supported by these devices and systems also crosses multiple business units within a single plant.

Much attention on industrial wireless has tended to focus on RFID. Active radio frequency identification (RFID), where a battery drives the tag to provide longer range reading compared to passive tags, will drive an eleven-fold increase in the RFID market over the next ten years, according to a recent IDTechEX report.

The demand for active tags in more sophisticated mobile applications will be responsible for an increase in its percentage of the total RFID market from 13 percent this year to 26 percent in 2017, amounting to a huge US$7 billion market.

The primary applications creating this growth will be real-time locating systems (RTLS), and mainly disposable, ubiquitous RFID sensor systems, including smart active labels (SALs), according to Raghu Das, managing director of research group IDTechEX.

This demand has been met by the development of tag technology that is reducing the cost and size of the tags and systems. This is evidenced by the growing availability of open standards, notably ISO 18000-7, IEEE 802.15.4 and for near-field communications (NFC) that can exploit more of the popular forms of short-range wireless communication technologies, including mesh networks and particularly Wi-Fi, Ultrawideband (UWB) and ZigBee.

Currently in field trials is the Honeywell Instant Location System (HILS), an application developed as part of Honeywell Process Solutions’ new OneWireless system. Using active RFID tags attached to assets or worn by facility staff, the system is able to track equipment movement and map employee location around the plant. Integrating with process control and safety systems, HILS can benefit emergency response scenarios, improve conformance to procedural operations, and reduce the loss of expensive equipment.

The development of ubiquitous sensor networks (USN) where large numbers of active RFID tags with sensors are radio networked in buildings, forests, rivers, hospitals and many other locations is another driver of demand, while the use of mobile phones for purchasing, mass transit for consumers in growing, particularly in Asia.

Wireless automation forecast

Analyst firm ARC Advisory Group forecasts the worldwide market for wireless in manufacturing will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 26 percent over the next five years.

“Wireless measurement technology will help users see and control more of what happens in their plants. Besides huge savings in installation costs, this will drive fundamental process and automation improvements that are not possible with wired measurements. That is what makes this the most fundamental improvement in process automation in decades,” according to industry analyst Harry Forbes of ARC Advisory Group.

Wireless technologies in a number of standards groups are passing through maturation curves. IT-driven applications are being increasingly incorporated into plant operating environments, leading to better security and operational improvements.

A recent report from West Technology Research Solutions (WTRS), an independent market research and consulting company specializing in wireless, also forecasts explosive growth in the adoption and deployment of wireless solutions in manufacturing. “Companies can recognize up to 30 to 90 percent reduction in operating costs by simply wirelessly enabling a process,” says WTRS president George West.

The industrial sector is likely to undergo workflow churn as wireless applications increase the safety, reliability and efficiency of industrial facilities. Module and development kit pricing is dropping while functionality is increasing. Frequency agility requirements are driving evolution toward industrial standards.

The report titled “New Wireless Sensor Networks IP and Patents” by WTRS indicates a significant shift in the overall amount of patent activity as well as a qualitative change in the types of patent applications and grants over the last 12 months.

Until recently, wireless sensing patent activity was primarily focused on the technology required to implement networks and devices used to provide sensor services.

Current activity indicates that technology development is driven by the requirements to enable specific network functionality and a necessity for larger and more robust networks.

There is a significant increase in patent applications as well as patent grants related to home control and automation, building control and automation, industrial control, vehicular applications and energy management.

Companies with patent activity in this market include Samsung, IBM, Philips, Sony, NEC, Honeywell, Nanotron and Motorola. Companies active in applications include Eaton, SmartSynch, Vehicle Sense, and Colorado Vnet.

The Vendor Pool

A number of vendors are entering the wireless industrial automation space, including Apprion, Emerson, Peak Technologies, Invensys and Honeywell.

Parsec Automation provides wireless sensor technologies for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and automotive industries. “Customers can track RoI on a daily ongoing basis as it relates to glass handling and line performance,” claims Wayd McNally, CEO of Sensor Wireless, a Parsec implementation partner.

The sensors are placed in line with real product and transmit data remotely to a handheld or laptop computer for instant remediation of velocity changes which can be related to glass failure or line performance.

Electronics firms Symmetry Electronics and Radiotronix offer wireless embedded design platforms that range from tiny surface-mount embedded radio modules to fully certified plug-and-play radio solutions that allow customers fast time-to-market.

Key market segments for Radiotronix include industrial automation, asset tracking and management, law enforcement and emergency response, home automation, remote monitoring for oil and gas, automatic meter infrastructure, and wireless sensor networks.

Intamac Systems, the UK market leader in Internet accessed monitoring and control systems has announced that the Intamac platform is now available for all protocols involved in supporting an Internet access and monitoring ecosystem.

Typical applications are in security systems and cameras, connectivity for entertainment and heating systems, white goods and other devices, allowing the convenience of remote activation and shutdown and the increasing benefit of energy efficiency.

The Intamac platform now enables devices to report using PSTN, wireless GSM, email and IP routing, as well as proactive monitoring and control via bespoke protocols such as X10, Zigbee and ZWave technology.

“We’re seeing new entrants coming into a burgeoning home and office automation and control marketplace but often aligning themselves with various proprietary protocols. We believe this is a mistake as it will stymie uses choice and so will retard marketplace development and not allow for the value created by the deployment of the most sophisticated and flexible systems,” says Intamac CEO Kevin Meagher.

Nighthawk Systems provides intelligent wireless power control products that enable simultaneous activation or de-activation of multiple assets or systems on demand. Nighthawk’s installed customer base includes major electric utilities and fire departments.

Another notable players in this space is ABB, involved across factory automation, process and power industries, with a broad portfolio of wireless products.

Automation powerhouses

Some of the major drivers in process automation, including Honeywell, Emerson and Invensys, are naturally extending their prowess into the wireless arena. Meanwhile, Cisco and Rockwell Automation are collaborating to deploying secure wireless solutions for real-time plant visibility.

One of Honeywell’s prime offerings is OneWireless, the company’s universal industrial wireless mesh network solution that is reportedly scalable to 30,000 devices. OneWireless supports existing Honeywell XYR 5000 wireless transmitters, which started shipping in 2004 and are now installed at more than 500 industrial sites, as well as the company’s new line of XYR 6000 transmitters, which includes corrosion, gauge pressure, differential pressure, high-level analog input and temperature transmitters.

Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa in Alabama uses the OneWireless network confi gured with temperature and pressure sensors to improve the effi ciency of several steel manufacturing processes. The pressure sensors enable operators to measure air fi ltration system performance and schedule maintenance only as needed, which equates to more effi cient maintenance and less downtime.

“The key to enhancing plant value is taking critical process information and making it readily available throughout the facility,” according to Jack Bolick, President, Honeywell Process Solutions.

Meanwhile, Emerson Process Management has an in-plant solution called Smart Wireless, which offers full network health assessment to ensure robust communications plus verifi cation of device functionality through the chosen output.

“Manufacturers hate surprises in their facilities, and have long wanted to have eyes and ears on every asset to know what is really going on in their operation,” according to John Berra, President, Emerson Process Management.

Emerson’s in-plant Smart Wireless design contest is aimed at inspiring process engineers to unleash their imaginations and creative engineering spirit by submitting innovative applications they have found where wireless technology delivered new insight and business benefi ts. Their experiences, insights, and tips will form a foundation to speed wireless usage and benefi ts in the new age of wireless.

“We frequently have customers trialing our Smart Wireless technologies for one reason, then fi nding many other good uses once they get it up and running,” said Peter Zornio, Chief Strategic Offi cer, Emerson Process Management.

And Invensys has reportedly developed wireless solutions that give field employees roaming access to real-time control systems, enterprise applications, documents and other information via wireless handheld devices. Employees get a wireless connection to remote sensors to provide incremental measurements like tank levels, temperatures, and vibration.

In oil & gas

Wireless technology has long been used in the oil and gas industry where production and distribution systems can span hundreds of kilometers. In wireless applications in this industry, remote operations controllers communicate with instrumentation at wellheads, pipelines, and other remote sites.

Secure and robust wireless technology help centralize access, helping users improve safety and minimize risk of dangerous environments. Analytical and predictive intelligence at remote oil and gas locations can also be enhanced.

Vendors have developed solutions for fi eld networks that enable oil and gas operators to wirelessly improve asset predictability, manage remote assets more profi tably, improve maintenance effi ciency and effectiveness, and deliver cost reductions in asset construction time.

The Emerson solution can handle up to 30 wireless temperature transmitters or wireless pressure transmitters over the self-organizing mesh fi eld network. This has signifi cant cost benefi ts when used for monitoring process variables that may be located up to 200 meters away from the RTU (remote terminal unit).

Wiring of instrumentation has signifi cant costs in these environments since land is often leased and surfaces may be rocky and diffi cult for wiring. The remoteness of such locations also makes manual monitoring very expensive.

The predictive intelligence increases process availability and eliminates unnecessary fi eld trips for data retrieval, confi guration changes, and asset profi ling. Through enabling online monitoring with deep-dive diagnostics and notification of potential problems, wireless solutions help users prevent unplanned downtime.

Analysts report that wireless technology from vendors like Invensys also lends itself well to several functions within oil and gas production, such as well head automation, energy management, remote surveillance, micro-seismic sensing and protection monitoring and control.

Implementation challenges

Success factors for industrial automation technologies include capability, affordability, ease of use, reliability, fl exibility, long operating life and interoperability.

However, challenges such as signal interference can stymie wireless automation efforts. Interference in wireless signals can be caused by a range of factors including welding, frequency converters and outside radio noise. Wireless technologies less immune to such interference include IEEE 802.11b/g, Bluetooth (in the 2.4 GHz band).

Technologies employing frequency hopping are preferable in situations where the possibility of interference is high in current or future applications. Implementers of wireless industrial applications should also keep an eye on long-term issues such as the solution standard’s stability and long-term availability.

Reports from ZigBee Alliance members Ember, Freescale, Microchip, and Texas Instruments indicate that the latest revision of the specification, ZigBee 2006, ensures robust operation even in the presence of in-band interference from other users, such as Wi-Fi. Components based on ZigBee 2006, which saw release last December, should soon be available to automationproduct designers.

Industry standards

Organizations such as the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society (ISA) regularly host conferences on wireless solutions for manufacturing automation, providing useful insights for technology and business success. It is currently working on SP100, a new ISA standard for wireless systems in automation.

In July, ISA hosted a two-day conference entitled “Wireless Solutions for Manufacturing Automation: Insights for Technology and Business Success”, in Vancouver, Canada. The event attracted 150 attendees from 10 countries, with approximately half representing end user companies.

As well as updates on standards progress, there were presentations from John Berra of Emerson – ““No Wires. No Limits”, Harsh Chitale of Honeywell – “Top Considerations When Choosing a Wireless Strategy”, and from representatives of Boeing, Eli Lilley, and Microsoft.

The Wireless Industrial Networking Alliance (WINA) is a coalition of industrial end-user companies, technology suppliers, industry organizations, software developers, system integrators, and others interested in the advancement of wireless solutions for industry.

As for Ultra Low Power (ULP) Bluetooth wireless technology (previously known as Wibree), the recent merger between the Wibree Forum and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has created ULP Bluetooth, the fi rst open technology extending wireless connectivity between mobile devices or PCs and small, button cell battery human interface devices (HIDs), such as watches, wireless keyboards, toys and sports sensors.

ULP Bluetooth and ZigBee wireless technology represent complementary technologies, as ZigBee technology is a low-power infrastructure-oriented wireless mesh networking technology supporting thousands of nodes targeted towards automation and remote control applications, while ULP Bluetooth wireless technology is a low-power ad-hoc networking technology that links a small number of nodes to devices such as computers and mobile phones.

The Zigbee Alliance hosts regular developers conferences, open houses, training sessions, interop events and annual conferences, and has a strong Asia presence. The ZigBee network is proving popular n Korea with the government implementing promotion support measures

Zigbee implementations based on hybrid analog and digital platforms are fi nding applications in home and building automation, utility metering and building security. Power companies are looking to technologies such as ZigBee to help them implement load control and demand-based pricing in the home. As energy costs continue to rise, such uses of automation technology can become compelling and may even become mandatory.

For the future

In addition to highlighting these real and practical case studies backed by solid industry lobbies, it would perhaps be informative to end this piece on a more “futuristic” note, pushing the edge of what is possible with wireless technology.

Freescale Semiconductor has literally rolled out the world’s fi rst “intelligent basketball.” Wireless sensors reportedly help provide information to prospective basketball players about the nature of their shooting – specifi cally, the velocity and angle of each shot.

This is achieved by incorporating three Freescale components: a three-axis accelerometer, a Zigbee transceiver and an eight-bit microcontroller. During operation, the ball’s accelerometer senses acceleration and then uses the microcontroller to integrate the area under the acceleration curve. It therefore calculates velocity and then employs the transceiver to send the output to a nearby laptop computer to display the results!

There is certainly pent-up demand for wireless in both new and existing industrial applications. That demand will be realized quickly only when end users are confi dent that new products meet their application requirements.

Author, consultant and frequent speaker at international conferences, Madanmohan Rao is co-editor of “Asia Unplugged: The Wireless and Mobile Media Boom in the Asia-Pacific”.

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Honeywell Instant Location System

Honeywell’s OneWireless platform

Emerson’s Smart Wireless system

remote operations controllers

Zigbee

The True Value of Wireless

Asheesh Arora, Asia Pacific Leader, Honeywell Field Solutions, says companies should look at wireless not just as a way of saving cabling and maintenance costs but as means for enabling things that could never be done in the wired plant world.

CEA: You refer to OneWireless as your second generation wireless system?

Arora: Yes, that’s right. We launched the XYR 5000 wireless transmitters back in 2003; the first major process automation supplier with such an offering. We also released other wireless products: the IntelaTrac PKS for operator field rounds; and the Experion Mobile Station for process visibility.

Then in 2006, we announced plans for a new, multifunctional network – called OneWireless – under which all our wireless products will be unified. The point is, Honeywell is not new to wireless; we already have valuable implementation experience at some 500 sites now.

CEA: Why should customers invest in a wireless solution?

Arora: There are two immediately compelling factors: savings in capital outlay for setting up a wired infrastructure; and savings in maintenance from not having to track so many wires in the plant.

Often, you want to measure some important parameters but it is not always feasible or cost-effective, such as where you have a wastewater facility located 600 meters away from the main plant. Wireless makes it feasible.

What we are not suggesting to customers is to jump in and install wireless everywhere in the plant. Rather, look at those areas where it is difficult to implement conventional wired networks as candidates for a wireless solution.

With wireless, often the hurdle is the customer’s mindset. Will it work? What are the implications in terms of security and interference? That’s where the Starter Kit comes in, to enable try out of the technology at very low cost and create a level of reassurance for the customer.

CEA: Is a site survey necessary before implementing a wireless system?

Arora: Every plant will have a base level of radio noise within the 2.4 GHz spectrum, and wireless signals are also susceptible to large metal objects and thick concrete walls. For a simple network without large distances and where you’re not necessarily looking for very specific response times, then you don’t need a site survey.

But for the full-blown mesh network with lots of Multinodes and where you are relying on the data to make decisions about the plant, we believe customers would looking for the reassurance on network reliability that comes from doing a site survey. The survey is pretty straightforward, however, and it does not take more than a day to a walkthrough of the plant with a laptop and antenna.

CEA: Isn’t battery life another concern when going wireless?

Arora: I believe we would have seen wireless instruments in the plant adopted sooner had long life, reliable batteries been available earlier. Reducing the number of wires is supposed to make easier for the maintenance guys, so there’s no point giving them another headache through having to worry about constantly replacing the batteries in the wireless devices. So batteries are a crucial part of the whole solution.

As well as ensuring that we could use standard, off the shelf Lithium batteries, what we really worked on at Honeywell was smart power management technology, to ensure that a device consumes the least possible amount of power.

For example, if a transmitter is updating every 30 seconds, then it will “sleep” after each update thus conserving power. (That’s also one key advantage of the OneWireless network – being able to set different update rates for different devices.) And so, even at one second update rates, our batteries have a three to five year lifespan.

CEA: What will it take for wireless to become a common feature in process plants?

Arora: We do not believe that wireless will get very far if it remains proprietary technology. Since no one company has all of the monitoring and control elements under its belt, a key obstacle is the availability and compatibility of devices. Honeywell is willing to share its wireless technology with other device manufacturers. That’s because our vision for wireless is not exclusively about the wireless field instruments per se, but in the new applications that will surely come with the OneWireless infrastructure in place.

What that means is that the customer should not look at Honeywell as that company that can sell me some wireless boxes, but as the company that can take me from my present day wired scenario to a future wireless scenario – not just for the savings in cost but for enabling things that I could never think of doing earlier. There lies the true value of OneWireless.

Asheesh Arora

Regional Sales Manager William Tan and Asheesh Arora

‘I’m very excited to be involved in Smart Wireless’

Wally Baker, Asia Pacific Marketing Manager for Emerson Process Management’s Rosemount division, is excited about the potential of wireless process instruments in the plant and is busy making sure that customers in the region get the message.

CEA: How long have you been involved in Emerson’s wireless initiative?

Baker: For about 18 months now, from the time I was Global Marketing Manager for the Rosemount temperature product line to my present role now in Asia Pacific where my marketing portfolio includes Rosemount temperature as well as wireless products. I studied electrical engineering in college with emphasis in communications, so it’s is a great fit for me and I’m very excited to be involved in Smart Wireless.

CEA: You’ve had launch events for Smart Wireless in Asia over the last couple of months. What has the reaction been like?

Baker: There really has been a lot of interest generated, which has been great to see. We had 120 people at the first event in Singapore and then 300 at the second one in Malaysia. And we’re gearing up for more launches across the region – in China, Australia, Japan, and India.

The interest from customers is in learning how this new technology works, how it’s going to increase measurement capability, and in our vision of how the future plant will operate. Emerson’s PlantWeb University (www.plantwebuniversity. com) is a great, free resource for this and the wireless learning modules available online are proving to be very popular.

CEA: Why do you think there is such excitement about wireless instrument technology?

Baker: A lot of it is from the realization that there is now this potential to do things in the plant that were just not possible or feasible before because running wires was such a nuisance. Additional measurement points can be justified, to optimize process areas that were previously out of reach.

For example, I met one customer whose plant is about 25 years old and pretty full in terms of measurement capacity. With wires, adding new sensing points would involve buying new instrument panels plus installation costs for cable trays, etc. But now with wireless, there’s the opportunity to keep the plant running at a high level for another five to 10 years before a major retrofit is needed.

CEA: Do you have any customers moving beyond interest and actually plunging in to implement the technology?

Baker: Yes, we have. The first installation in Asia is going to be in Brunei, and moving forward, we will soon have others in Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore. And following the Smart Wireless launches, our sales teams are actively talking to customers, answering their questions, and generating quotations for them.

Our SmartPack Starter Kit, which comprises wireless instruments, a gateway, and AMS software, was developed precisely so that customers could try out the technology at relatively low cost. We are also offering a free commissioning service to set up all the equipment, so that customers can quickly have a working wireless system in their plant.

CEA: When it comes to industrial wireless, concerns are often raised such as network reliability, battery life, security, interference. What is the most common worry that customers have?

Baker: That would be security – the fear of data leakage from the wireless network. So we have been in a lot of discussions with customers on this aspect, and they are assured and impressed by Emerson’s solid approach to security within Smart Wireless.

Security has been a key goal from day one of the wireless development and not something that has been added as an afterthought. We have taken our self-organizing mesh network to security experts and government agencies in the US and given them an opportunity to breach it. The verdict: the security is at sufficiently high level that it would be much easier to find other “holes” in the plant. The wireless network is not the weakest link.

CEA: Where do you hope to see Smart Wireless technology 12 months from now?

Baker: More instruments to be available, such as for corrosion, vibration, pH, etc, to build on the wireless pressure, temperature, flow, level capability. And also good feedback on the implementation experiences at the first customer sites in Asia Pacific.

Wally Baker

Will Wireless Work in My Plant?

Ask your vendor do a site survey in order to find out, recommends Shannon Erickson.

Wireless appears to be the answer to many tough applications problems, ranging from the need to connect just one more instrument to the control system without wiring through hundreds of feet of underground conduit, to connecting a remote effluent monitoring station five miles away. To many, wireless is a conduit to opportunity, without the need for conduit.

But will wireless work in your application? In many cases, you can’t tell at a glance. Can the wireless signal pass through a building? Is there too much electrical noise, interference or conflicting signals? One solution offered by some wireless vendors is a detailed engineering analysis, involving coordinates, site maps, topographical maps, and so on. A more simple way is to take a demo system to the plant and see if it works.

Surveying sites

As a systems integrator with offices in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, MacGuire and Crawford installs instrumentation and control systems across the south east United States, we are often asked by customers if wireless will work in their plant. We’ve learned not to make blanket statements or offer hurried assurances. Instead, we offer to do a site survey to find out for sure.

Using a wireless demo kit from Moore Industries, which includes a WLM Wireless Link Module, an NCS Net Concentrator System, and assorted antennas, we mount a transmitter plus antenna at remote sites and an antenna plus receiver at the control system site in a point-to-point configuration, fire it all up, and see if it works.

The radio’s onboard diagnostics can identify the signal strength on each of the individual hopping frequencies that it uses to transmit data. We can also determine if any particular portion of the spectrum is being interfered with by another colocated radio system or cell tower. If so, we can program the radios to ignore those “noisy” portions of the spectrum.

Providing proof

A steel mill was using an employee to make routine visits to eight flow transmitter locations to obtain totalization data. They asked us if a wireless system would work. We took the demo unit to the site and were able to transmit and receive signals from all eight flow transmitter locations using an Omnidirectional antenna.

With the concept proven, we provided a WLM Ethernet radio system and an NCS module with ISaGRAF to do the flow totalization at each transmitter location, providing a highly reliable and versatile solution to the mill’s inefficient use of manpower as well as continuous access to the process data.

In another example, a chemical plant invited us to do site surveys at two locations. The first was a remote sanitary lift station, and the demo worked flawlessly. We provided a WLM radio with a Modbus Interface Module (MIM) and Analog Input Module (AIM) to take four analog signals from the sanitary lift station, convert them to Modbus RTU, and transmit them to the control room. A WLM in the control room sent the Modbus signal to the control system.

But the second location appeared to be an unlikely candidate for wireless. The plant wanted to transmit from its effluent monitoring station to the same control room. The distance was less than a mile, but the direct line of sight was through a building with a four-story boiler rack. This is where a site survey using the wireless demo was crucial.

We proved to our customer (and ourselves) that wireless could pass through the boiler rack and that the application could work. The radio’s diagnostics showed that enough signal was ricocheting through and around the boiler building to allow for a strong and repeatable radio signal.

We provided a WLM radio and AIM and MIM modules at the effluent station, and mounted a YAGI directional antenna on an existing outdoor pole. The control room WLM now successfully transmits clean RF Modbus RTU signals to the plant DCS.

More reassuring

Using a demo system to prove that wireless works saves a huge amount of time and engineering. Engineers from MacGuire and Crawford have proved that wireless systems work in many installations, including chemical plants and steel mills. The wireless demo is a simple-to-use tool that not only proves the site but also gives the customer confidence in the technology and products.

So do ask your wireless vendor to bring a wireless demo kit to your plant. Seeing that it actually works is far more reassuring than an engineering analysis that says it might work.

Shannon Erickson is an Application Engineer with MacGuire and Crawford Inc of North Carolina.

The Wireless Link Module

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