Knowledge Center: Process Performance

With 2009 well under way now, analyses differ on how long the economic downturn will extend (till Q4 2009 or even four more years!), and how this will put pressure on businesses to optimise industrial production using a range of technologies including wireless automation.

Wireless benefits for industrial automation are especially attractive in the current economic climate, since the initial outlay to install a wireless network is lower than that of a wired network, according to a recent report from IMS Research.

For instance, with a wireless sensor, a user can now more closely monitor applications incorporating rotating parts, by overcoming industrial design constraints that previously deterred any kind of data acquisition.

Embedded systems automation is present in industrial plants and oil rigs as well as major and minor appliances from cellphones to dishwashers. Technology advances in wireless footprints, power consumption and human-machine interfacing (HMI) are opening up new generations of viable applications.

Reduced power consumption and wireless communication, for example, has made it possible to embed sensors into structures and machines to monitor stresses, strains and temperatures throughout their lifespan.

It is key for vendors to envisage a variety of implementation scenarios depending on each customer's unique requirements, advises David Ewing, vice president of engineering for Synapse Wireless.

In many cases, it is required to add wireless capability to existing embedded systems. Often, in order to minimize costs, it is necessary to run the wireless software stack (and associated applications) on the same processor that drives the main system.

The success of wireless automation depends on the scope and sensing abilities of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), according to Ewing. Applications written in the Python scripting language can then be downloaded "over-the-air" into the wireless node(s).

Some solutions could entail modifying the existing circuitry to accept an off-the-shelf plug-in wireless module which includes the wireless protocol stack, or to have the wireless functionality implemented directly onto the motherboard.

Energy supply can be a challenge in the case of networks involving hundreds or thousands of wireless nodes, especially for the key router nodes. The solution is for the nodes to alternate between being "awake" for a short amount of time and then entering a "sleep mode" in which they consume dramatically less power.

But without adequately intricate dashboard and debugging tools for portable software code, many of these applications cannot be easily rolled out in a reliable manner. Synapse's peer-to-peer Wireless Mesh Network Protocol (SNAP) is useful in this regard since it takes up a very small memory footprint of 40 KB, thereby leaving more space for user applications, claims Ewing.

“The world is currently seeing an exponential growth in the use of wireless networks for monitoring and control in consumer, commercial, industrial, and government markets,” Ewing rightly adds.

ZigBee for energy On the energy front, ZigBee has commanded mindshare in industrial design considerations. ZigBee has matured into a robust and reliable standard and has become the wireless technology of choice for the utilities in implementing smart metering for demand response and energy management, according to Ravi Sharma, director of marketing for Ember.

"ZigBee enjoyed unprecedented success in 2008 thanks to ZigBee Smart Energy," says Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance.

ZigBee Smart Energy profile was ratified in May 2008 and made publicly available in June. It offers companies a secure, easy-to-use wireless platform for developing products that enhance energy management and efficiency. ZigBee is now over 300 members strong and growing, in a range of embedded network applications in the commercial, industrial and consumer markets.

“ZigBee is not yet widely deployed, but with worldwide energy concern on the rise, ZigBee’s position in the emerging smart power market may propel it into the spotlight,” according to Jeff Miller, product manager, Tanner EDA. But there needs to be even more aggressive cutting costs in every area of design, engineering, and production.

ZigBee is an ideal replacement for wired networks throughout the industrial control market. ZigBee should be considered when putting in new systems or when facing upgrades or repairs to existing wired systems, advises Rich Howell, California Eastern Laboratories.

Although ZigBee/802.15.4 networks share the same general frequency space as Wi-Fi, several ZigBee channels fall outside the typical 11 channel Wi-Fi frequency range. By automatically switching to these other channels under interference conditions, ZigBee radios dramatically reduce the possibility of interference in the ZigBee network, according to Howell.

Discrete opportunities Till recently, a major obstacle to adopting wireless communications for machine builders and end users was reliability. The presence of heavy machinery that can interrupt wireless signals, together with the increasing importance of gathering dependable, detailed machine data still makes a strong business case for wired solutions.

Nonetheless, an increasing number of companies are now beginning to experiment with wireless products that have been specifically designed and ruggedized for use in a factory environment, thanks to falling costs and increased interoperability.

Frost & Sullivan forecasts that global sales of wireless technologies for discrete automation applications will expand from US$467 million in 2008 to reach $880 million by 2012 – a CAGR of 13.5 percent. An estimated $381 million of this will come from hardware sales, $319 million from software, and $180 million from associated services

This growth will be driven by automation component suppliers, who continue to see wireless technology as the next big step to increasing plant efficiency and assuring the safety of customers.

The market for wireless in discrete automation includes products with built-in wireless functionality, such as sensors, operator terminals, PLCs, remote I/O, drives, and wireless access points.

The main drivers for adopting wireless in the automotive sector include the need for real-time data, workforce mobility and ease of installation and commissioning. Meanwhile, the food and beverage industry uses wireless devices in robotic and packaging applications, driven by the need for continuous data-tracking, production monitoring and the ease of installation.

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