This article explains what Festo AX is and focuses on its two main pillars: Festo AX Control and Festo AX Industrial Intelligence.
What is Festo AX?
Festo AX is a modular automation ecosystem designed for machine builders and end users who need scalable, flexible and connected control solutions. Instead of separate, monolithic control systems, Festo AX provides a component-based approach: distributed hardware modules, a modern control architecture, integrated software tools, and data-driven intelligence that supports both machine control and operational decision making. This design aims to reduce engineering effort, accelerate commissioning, simplify integration with higher-level IT/OT systems, and lay a foundation for ongoing optimisation through data analytics.
Festo AX Control, the foundation for machine automation
Festo AX Control provides a deterministic, modular control environment for machines. Its design follows modern automation principles and includes an extensible software and hardware stack that supports application development, visualisation, motion control and integration into the broader automation ecosystem. These are some of the key features of Festo AX Control.
Applications and framework
The AX Control application framework provides a structured foundation for machine software. It includes templates, reusable function blocks and standardised libraries that accelerate application development and ensure consistency across machines. The framework supports modular software decomposition so individual machine functions can be developed, tested and reused independently.
Machine visualisation
AX Control includes machine-level visualisation tools for operators and technicians. These visualisations deliver context-aware HMI screens, process diagrams, live diagnostics and alarm handling. Visualisation components can run on local HMIs, operator panels or distributed engineering stations, all designed to be consistent with the AX application framework so that runtime changes and diagnostics integrate seamlessly into the operator experience.
Ecosystem
The AX Control ecosystem comprises supported hardware modules, I/O and motion modules, software tools, libraries and certified third-party integrations. It embraces open industrial protocols to ensure interoperability with PLCs, drives, safety controllers, MES and ERP systems. The ecosystem approach reduces engineering risk by providing tested combinations, clear compatibility matrices and access to Festo’s product and support network. It also enables modular machine concepts where subsystems can be developed, replaced or upgraded independently.
Motion
Motion control is a core capability of AX Control, supporting coordinated multi-axis trajectories, synchronisation, camming and coordinated moves for complex handling and robotics tasks. The motion stack integrates with both electric drives and pneumatic motion components, providing tuneable control loops, trajectory planners and motion profiles.
Operating system
AX Control runs on a real-time operating system and runtime that provides deterministic scheduling, low-latency I/O and robust fault handling. The OS supports partitioning for safety and standard application tasks, ensuring that real-time control loops are isolated from higher-level services (e.g., logging, visualisation or network services). Built-in diagnostics and secure boot and update mechanisms help keep systems reliable and maintainable over their lifecycle.
Festo AX Industrial Intelligence, turning data into value
While AX Control handles deterministic machine operation, Festo AX Industrial Intelligence sits above the platform to extract, analyse and act on production and machine data. This layer enables condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, performance analytics and higher-level optimisation. By combining operational data from AX Control with analytics and visualisation tools, AX Industrial Intelligence helps customers increase throughput, reduce downtime and lower operating costs through some of the below apps.
AX Motion Insights Pneumatic app
AX Motion Insights Pneumatic monitors and analyses pneumatic system behaviour (valves, cylinders, pressure and flow) to detect anomalies such as leaks, sticking valves or timing drift. It extracts cycle-level metrics and trends (switching frequencies, pressure curves and cycle times) to identify wear or inefficiencies, generates maintenance alerts, and recommends parameter or sequencing changes to improve reliability and reduce air consumption.
AX Motion Insights Electric app
AX Motion Insights Electric collects high-resolution motion and drive data from electric axes and servo systems to assess performance and detect faults. It evaluates motor currents, torque/velocity profiles, position deviations, vibrations and thermal indicators to uncover issues such as mis-tuning, mechanical binding or bearing wear. The app provides diagnostics, trend analysis, failure prediction and tuning suggestions to improve cycle consistency, reduce scrap and extend component lifetime.
AX Data Access app
AX Data Access acts as the secure data gateway and normalisation layer between AX Control and higher-level analytics or cloud systems. It aggregates, timestamps and buffers runtime data, event logs and diagnostics, applies schema mapping and edge-level preprocessing, and exposes standardised interfaces (secure protocols and APIs) for downstream apps. AX Data Access also enforces access control, encryption and reliable transmission, ensuring analytics receive consistent, timely and trusted data.
AX Energy Insights app
Lastly, AX Energy Insights aggregates electrical and pneumatic energy measurements and correlates them with machine states and production cycles to reveal consumption patterns and optimisation opportunities. It provides KPIs, peak-load analysis, subsystem-level attribution, and recommendations (e.g., pressure reduction, timing or drive setpoint adjustments) to lower energy costs. By combining energy data with motion and production metrics, the app balances throughput targets against energy efficiency and helps prioritise cost-saving measures.
Festo AX users can expect several key benefits from Festo AX, such as modular scalability, faster time-to-market achieved through reusable modules, standardised interfaces and integrated engineering tools that shorten engineering and commissioning cycles, easier integration, improved uptime and maintainability, as well as data-driven optimisation.
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| www: | www.festo.co.za |
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