What you missed in May
Gary Friend of Extech Safety Systems gave a fascinating presentation on the conceptual differences between fieldbus (especially Foundation Fieldbus) and 4–20 mA. He pointed out that in an FF system the instrument with its function blocks is a part of the system, not just a mA source.
One of the fears many people have with fieldbus systems, is a failure in one device pulling down the entire bus. Gary pointed out how this can be overcome with Megablock inter-connectors, which are able to isolate faulty devices.
The use of FF and PA in hazardous areas was discussed, and how fieldbus systems actually simplify hazardous area system design, especially when FISCO (fieldbus intrinsically safe concept) is used, negating the need for time-consuming entity parameter checks. He also covered areas such as redundancy, fault-finding and surge protection. There was a lively Q&A session at the end, enjoyed by one of our best-ever turnouts.
The next site visit is to the BMW factory in Rosslyn. The bad news, if you were not there, is that all of the allocations were snapped up on the night.
Future site visit
This will be to the Flight Simulator at OR Tambo International. Again, you need to be there on the night if you want to reserve one of the limited spaces available. Do not miss the chance of landing at the international airport of your choice!
Schneider Awards
For the last 12 years, Schneider Electric and the Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC have presented an annual award to the top final year student at Gauteng’s tertiary institutions. This year Adam Pantanowitz of Wits and W.A. Minaar of the University of Pretoria were chosen as recipients.
Golf Day
If you have not booked your four-ball yet, contact Debbie Scott on +27 (0)11 315 2118 or +27 (0)83 788 5145. Come and support your industry, while publicising your company (and having fun, of course) on 17 July.
Technology evenings
The branch’s last technology evening was held on the evening of 10 June. Thanks to all the hardy souls who attended despite the freezing Johannesburg weather. Our presenter on the night was Conrad Muller, MD of Beckhoff Automation South Africa.
Conrad’s polished presentation examined the question: 'Why do we not just use Ethernet for industrial data communication, and do away with the confusions caused by differences between Profibus, Foundation Fieldbus, Interbus, DeviceNet, A-Si and the like?' He shared his knowledge and experience of the EtherCAT technology with us, and described its advantages in overcoming the problems of determinism and jitter in traditional Ethernet architectures.
EtherCAT is an open, high-performance Ethernet-based fieldbus system. The development goal of EtherCAT was to apply Ethernet to automation applications which require short data update times with low communication jitter and low hardware costs. Today, the EtherCAT Technology Group is the largest industrial Ethernet organisation and through its principle of operation, EtherCAT achieves superior speed, simplicity and flexibility, exceeding other Ethernet-based systems.
The Johannesburg technology evenings take place on the second Wednesday of every month, and there is generally a speaker on a topic relevant to our industry. Even though the subject may not be your main interest, there is always something to learn and people to meet. Make use of this opportunity to socialise with fellow practitioners of our speciality.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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