RTA's Blog
A Better Way to EtherNet/IP or PROFINET
Oct
Manufacturers love EtherNet/IP and PROFINET. Those industrial communication protocols simplify everything for them. It’s almost trivial for them to connect drives, linear actuators, sensors and other devices to their PLCs. If you have an automation device and you don’t support these devices, you can’t sell to manufacturers using Siemens or Allen-Bradley controllers.
One way to get EtherNet/IP and PROFINET on your automation device is to add software. You can get code from RTA or from an open source, if you like a lot of risk. That development project would include integrating that code into your device, building an interface layer for your OS and hardware and then learning, as you go, how to do conformance testing. After that, you’ll have to deal with the field issues as they come up.
That approach works, but if you haven’t ever done it before, just know it will probably take three times as long as you think, and your engineering costs will be astronomical. However, if you work with a company like RTA, you’ll get help every step of the way. So, if that’s your plan, contact one of our application engineers at sales@rtautomation.com or call 800-249-1612. We’ll be glad to discuss how we can help you enable your device for EtherNet/IP or PROFINET.
But that method doesn’t work for everybody and it definitely doesn’t work for products that don’t have the processor bandwidth, a processor without Ethernet, or a processor with critical timing. If you’re one of those customers, there is a much better solution.
The RTConnect Module is a fast and straightforward way to add Ethernet-based communication protocols to your industrial automation device. You can painlessly add not only EtherNet/IP, but also PROFINET, BACnet IP, Modbus TCP, MQTT and OPC UA with almost no program changes to your device’s processor. Add the RTConnect module to your PCB and send your device data to the RTConnect module over Modbus. Your data will be transferred over whatever protocol your customer is using.
This works amazingly well to equip scales, barcode readers, marking devices and other ASCII-based devices with EtherNet/IP and PROFINET. Instead of Modbus, the module can take your ASCII string and make that string available to your customer’s controller.
Plus, you’ll get a whole host of other benefits including:
- Quick and easy integration into your device application code (little code to do)
- Connectivity for all major industrial networks from a single module
- Data models that integrate easily into your customers’ PLCs
- New protocol technologies as they become available
- Uncomplicated and straightforward field configuration
- Xport upgrades if you currently support Xport
- A small size, so it is easily deployed on PCBs with compact real estate
- Expert assistance with integration, deployment and troubleshooting
- Wireless communication in the same module and no software changes
- Your brand prominently displayed on the user interface
- You get the benefit of RTA’s experience with conformance testing
The RTConnect module is a solution that vastly expands the market for your device. Start selling your device to the manufacturers using Siemens and Allen-Bradley architectures. To do that, get in touch with an application engineer today by calling 800-249-1612, emailing sales@rtautomation.com, or visiting the RTConnect Module webpage.
