Essential to all open standards is the testing and certification of conformity. FieldCare, Endress+Hauser’s Plant Asset Management tool, is the first FDT frame to pass the FDT Group’s conformance test.
Field Device Tool (FDT) is not a new fieldbus protocol, but is vendor independent and established as an open publicly available specification. FDT is an interface specification that provides seamless data exchange between the field devices and control host systems.
Automation manufacturers developing devices based on Foundation Fieldbus, HART and Profibus specifications all require device description files to provide field device data. A device description (DD) is a formal description of the data and operating procedures for a field device. The operating procedures including commands, menus and display formats are written in plain text. Devices using only DDs have limitations in graphical representation and integration of special features for complex devices.
FDT technology is complementary and expands on the device description language rather than replacing it. Device applications that conform to the FDT specification (called device type manager (DTM)) can be written in numerous languages. FDT simply defines the interfaces in an open, standardised way. DD files are still necessary to describe the devices for system configuration.
FDT certification ensures interoperability of DTMs and frames. Conformance of these components is tested against the FDT Version 1.2 specification. The systematic tests performed during the certification procedure drastically reduce interoperability issues, thus avoiding potential integration costs and project delays for the user. DTM certification is well entrenched as many manufacturers including Endress+Hauser have established certified libraries.
With the latest version of Endress+Hauser’s FieldCare, customers can now use this frame application tool in a certified environment. The new FieldCare release also contains the first official Endress+Hauser Foundation Fieldbus DTM library. FieldCare can now configure HART, Profibus and Foundation devices using pre-configured DTMs. It is available as a modular configuration tool upgradeable to a Plant Asset Management solution.
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