THE APPLICATION OF DEVICENET IN-PROCESS CONTROL

DeviceNet was created out of the need to create a de facto standard fo r industrial devices used in automation applications. DeviceNet provid es communication between controllers, industrial sensors, and actuator s. The network's primary focus is to connect sensors like photoeyes, p roximity, and limit switches. Examples of actuators are motor starters , pneumatic valves, and motor drives. The DeviceNet specification is b ased on CAN with an application and physical layer developed by Allen- Bradley. DeviceNet is now owned and managed by the Open DeviceNet Vend ors Association. ODVA is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the Devi ceNet specification. There are currently over 110 members of ODVA deve loping over 150 products. Although DeviceNet was designed for use in d iscrete applications, it has been applied in process applications. The se applications have taken advantage of DeviceNet's ability to communi cate digital and variable data to and from devices. This presentation will provide an overview of the DeviceNet specification. Also discusse d will be system hardware and software components and system configura tion, An example of system operation in a process application will be highlighted defining the types of products and specific applications s olved. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.