Omron says its IO-Link-compliant factory automation devices will make production equipment smarter
Omron is launching the IO-Link-compliant Photoelectric Sensors E3Z, Color Mark Photoelectric Sensors E3S-DC Series, Proximity Sensors E2E and E2EQ Series, and IO-Link Master Units GX and NX Series all at once as a first step of integrating sensors into the internet of things (IoT).
The company says its new technologies are “ideal for use at manufacturing sites”.
Omron says the launch of the IO-Link-compliant sensors is a “big step” in making production equipment smarter to add various information and communication functions to over 100,000 specifications of control components for factory automation devices and achieve integration of factory automation and information and communications technology.
IO-link is a standardized technology for sensors and actuators communicating with I/O terminals, specified in the international standards IEC 61131-9. A major Japanese automobile manufacturer has decided to implement the IO-Link with EtherCAT as a standard network to adopt the IoT for its factories and has recommended the use of compliant devices to suppliers around the world.
At present, as manufacturing industries accelerate their shifts to high-mix low-volume production and optimally located production on a global scale, there is growing demand for introducing the IoT to production lines and equipment in order to improve operation rates of production equipment and produce high-quality products stably.
Given such circumstances, in order to visualize not only sensors’ on/off signals but also other information such as light incident levels, Omron adds IO-Link technology to Photoelectric and Proximity Sensors, for which OMRON has a high market share, used in many areas at manufacturing sites.
The new IO-Link-compliant Sensors equipped with individual identification functions and OMRON’s unique abnormality detection and condition-monitoring functions allow reduction in equipment downtime, a decrease in the frequency of sudden failures, and improvement in changeover efficiency, which are management challenges at manufacturing sites.
Omron says it contributes to making production equipment smarter by providing the IO-Link-compliant devices which enable a host controller such as a PLC to gather various data crucial for stable operation of the equipment through the Master Unit via EtherCAT.
