The May technology evening was moved out a day to accommodate the public holiday on 1 May and the topic of IO-Link attracted an excellent attendance at the Durban Country Club, in spite of the disruption to traffic in central Durban due to strike action by municipal workers.
Hennie Prinsloo (left) thanks Robert de Scande for his presentation.
Robert de Scande, SICK Automation’s product manager for Presence Detection and Motion Control Sensors, presented to us and provided the meeting with background information about IO-Link, and how it may be used in conjunction with existing bus systems. He gave examples of how it can benefit the factory automation industry by making information that is already available in many plant-mounted devices available to users at low cost. A further advantage is that the master can be programmed so that if a field device is replaced, the new one will take the required characteristics set by the master instead of having to set it in a workshop environment before installing it in the plant.
Jared Sigamoney (left) of UKZN, the winner of the Student Award Scheme for the 2nd semester 2018, receiving his certificate from Hennie Prinsloo.
Robert showed the meeting that not only SICK, but many other well-known device manufacturers, incorporated IO-Link capability in their products. In fact it is quite possible that devices that are already installed in our plant have IO-Link capability unknown to their users because of their compatibility with existing signal communication systems.
Robert concluded his presentation with a live demonstration of two IO-Link devices, showing the type of additional data that can come from a basic inductive proximity switch and a colour scanner.
The branch thanks SICK for the kind sponsorship of this evening.
SAIMC Zambia SAIMC
SAIMC News
SAIMC Zambia marked its 21st anniversary with the annual SAIMC Banquet, held on 29 November 2025 at Mukwa Lodge in Kitwe, Zambia.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Durban Branch closed off its 2025 technology meetings with an exceptionally well-attended session on selecting and applying signal transducers.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban year-end dinner SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Durban branch hosted its much-anticipated annual year-end dinner at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club on 22 November 2025. Durban’s summer weather provided the perfect backdrop for a warm, ...
Read more...Durban branch
SAIMC
At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
At the Durban branch of the SAIMC held in October, Mitch Naidoo took the attendees on an interesting journey on Asset Health Management: Tracking The Pulse Of Your Plant.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Johannesburg Branch technical evening was hosted by Proconics Advanced Solutions. The topic of the session was ‘Turning Big 3D Data into Actionable Engineering Insights – Challenges and Smart Solutions’.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council Annual Summit 2025 SAIMC
SAIMC
October 2025 marked a pivotal moment for the South African automation and manufacturing community as the SAIMC User Advisory Council hosted its first annual summit under the SAIMC banner.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg
SAIMC
The Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC hosted a successful Technology Evening on 10 September. The event was well attended and generously sponsored by Phoenix Contact.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version