by Gary Mintchell | Nov 2, 2022 | Automation, Business, Embedded Control, News
- Salesforce supports digital service concepts
- SICK contributes sensor data integration and sensor apps
- Partner world ctrlX World now includes over 60 third-party providers
Ecosystems and partnerships are the current rage. The idea has been building for several years. I’ve seen them with software platforms and also with some hardware. Success with the execution has been spotty. It is a good way to spread the word about a new platform. Bosch Rexroth has been busy bringing partners to augment its new ctrlX control platform. They have accumulated an eclectic mix of partners. Recently Salesforce and Sick have joined up.
With ctrlX AUTOMATION, Bosch Rexroth has created a world of automation in which the specialist knowledge of companies from various domains is combined for the purpose of co-creation. The partner network, ctrlX World, is expanding the automation toolkit –adding hardware and new apps. More than 60 third-party providers have already joined the partner world – most recently Salesforce and SICK.
Why Salesforce?
“Our joint solutions with Bosch Rexroth and other ctrlX World partners enable data-based decision making and business automation in mechanical engineering and other industries. For example, manufacturers can quickly visualize and analyze all of the data coming from ctrlX AUTOMATION. Another use case is the preventive maintenance of machines or the automation of spare parts orders. Our Manufacturing Cloud enables business and service automation based on business intelligence. ctrlX AUTOMATION provides the important data for this,” said Juergen Brixel, Regional Vice President Industry Solutions & Strategy at Salesforce.
Sick is a leading sensor company. Here is an explanation of why it joined the ecosystem.
“By integrating our solutions into the ctrlX AUTOMATION partner world, we can provide sensor and application data in the easiest way possible. We do this via the ctrlX Data Layer. It offers secure, managed access to the data. Machine manufacturers for example can easily benefit from valuable data and use these data in order to meet IoT and Industry 4.0 requirements,” said Walter Reithofer, Senior Vice President R&D at SICK.
And some other partners.
Other partners that have joined the ctrlX World in recent months include: 36ZERO Vision by Deutschdata Karamat und Ziesche GmbH, Dataprophet, FANUC Deutschland GmbH, Hailo Technologies Ltd., i-flow GmbH, KEBA Industrial Automation GmbH, SIMON Modellierungen GmbH, Timecho Europe GmbH, WEPALL ROBOT EASY TOOLS, S.L. and Balluff GmbH.
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 14, 2022 | Automation, Embedded Control, Motion Control, News, Technology
Bosch Rexroth held a webinar unveiling its ctrlX control platform in March 2021 that I had the pleasure of moderating. According to a press event held this week, more than 600 units have been sold.
Rexroth representative use terms like freedom, openness, next level. Preceding Rexroth down this openness path in my experience were OMAC (originally Open Modular Architecture Controller, now know for PackML), Bedrock Automation (Open Secure Automation), and OPAF (Open Process Automation Foundation).
OMAC didn’t come up with an open controller, but it did come up with a winner for the packaging machinery market with PackML. I gave Bedrock Automation a good chance to succeed with its emphasis on security along with open automation. But as I researched for this article, I discovered its website almost stripped bare. Don’t know what happened there. OPAF has momentum building an architecture that is a “standard of standards.”
Many companies have presented revolutionary control concepts to me during my years as an editor and writer. Most are gone. Rexroth has a successful run as a motion control technology provider. I predict a solid niche for it in the machine OEM market with this technology–especially if the app ecosystem is sticky.
They call it the “smartphone of controllers” pointing to its ecosystem of apps now being provided by third-party automation companies. I’ve also seen ecosystems come and go. Perhaps one day one will find traction. Perhaps this is the one.
Here are a few morsels from this week’s press event:
CtrlX Operating System
- Now available for third party developers
- Linux-based operating system
- Available for hardware from third-party providers and virtualized environments
- Next level of openness and freedom in automation
- Can be used on all levels – from the field level to the cloud
- Hardened software stack with a high degree of cybersecurity
- Connection to the ctrlX Store and the ctrlX Device Portal
- Hardware independence also makes it possible to operate a virtual control system on hypervisor platforms, in the data center, on edge servers or in the cloud.
- Supports app technology, web-based engineering, secure user management and the high-performance exchanging of data via the ctrlX Data Layer.
- The ctrlX Device Portal allows effective device management anywhere in the world.
The next level of freedom in automation
ctrlX ecosystem with app technology
- New third-party support
- Salesforce supports digital service concepts
- SICK contributes sensor data integration and sensor apps
- Partner world ctrlX World now includes over 60 third-party providers
- Other partners that have joined the ctrlX World in recent months include: 36ZERO Vision by Deutschdata Karamat und Ziesche GmbH, Dataprophet, FANUC Deutschland GmbH, Hailo Technologies Ltd., i-flow GmbH, KEBA Industrial Automation GmbH, SIMON Modellierungen GmbH, Timecho Europe GmbH, WEPALL ROBOT EASY TOOLS, S.L. and Balluff GmbH.
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 6, 2022 | Embedded Control, News, Organizations, Software
The Eclipse Foundation announced results from its 2022 IoT & Edge Developer Survey administered by the Eclipse IoT Working Group, the Eclipse Edge Native Working Group, and the Eclipse Sparkplug Working Group. Now in its eighth year, the survey is the IoT & edge industry’s leading technical survey.
“IoT and edge computing are arguably the most important technologies today, particularly for industries like industrial automation, agriculture, and automotive,” said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. “The insights detailed in this survey report can help guide internal developer teams and technology decision-makers as they seek to bring the Industrial IoT to life.”
- The online survey was conducted from April 1, 2022, to June 15, 2022, during which 910 global developers, committers, architects, and decision-makers from a broad set of industries and organizations participated.
- Java, C, and C++ are the most widely used programming languages for constrained devices. Developers indicate that Java is the preferred language for IoT gateways and edge nodes.
- MQTT continues to be the most widely used IIoT communication protocol, though there seems to be increased fragmentation. HTTP/HTTPS and REST show slight decreases in IIoT usage compared to 2021, while alternative communication protocols (TCP/IP, AMQP, in-house/proprietary) have seen noticeable growth.
- Agriculture (23%) has emerged as the leading industry for IIoT and edge computing technology, followed by industrial automation (22%), automotive (20%), and energy & smart cities (17%).
- Concerns around security have nearly doubled in this year’s survey, making it one of the top 3 challenges developers face, along with connectivity, and data collection & analytics.
- There is increased public cloud fragmentation, and the big three are being challenged. Despite continued dominance, Amazon AWS with 36% usage (-8% in 2022), Microsoft Azure with 18% (-11% in 2022), and Google Cloud Platform with 16% (-4% in 2022) have all lost ground against a growing competitive landscape.
- Container images (49%) are the most frequently selected edge computing artifact.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 26, 2022 | Automation, Embedded Control, Technology
Emerson sent me a number of renewable energy technology news releases and a live discussion over the past couple of months. I wrote about hydrogen a couple of months ago. These news items talk about wind power technology.
[This is also a good time to promote a new book, The Carbon Almanac, ideal for everyone to learn about what they can do to reduce carbon generation.]
Support China’s Carbon Reduction Goals
Emerson, a global technology and software company, will provide integrated wind automation solutions and services to Taiyuan Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. for three greenfield wind farms located in Shanxi Province, China, a region experiencing high growth in its renewable generation base. Emerson’s wind turbine control software and expertise combined with TYHI wind turbines will deliver green energy to over 35 million residents located in Beijing and other Northern China cities.
The technology includes Emerson’s wind turbine controls and SCADA software.
The wind farms are scheduled for commercial operation in 2023.
Emerson Acquires Mita-Teknik
Emerson announced it has acquired Mita-Teknik in an all-cash transaction. Founded in 1969, Mita-Teknik is a leader in the control automation business for wind power generation, equipping wind turbines and wind farms with technologies for performance and reliability. This acquisition is complementary to Emerson’s existing control system portfolio and supports the company’s ability to help customers in their quest to digitally transform operations and meet sustainability goals.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 13, 2022 | Automation, Embedded Control, Security
OK, I could use scare tactics like a mass market “journalist” talking about Russia and threats nuclear warfare. On the other hand, how would the control system on your critical infrastructure withstand a high altitude nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) blast?
If you are using a controller from Bedrock Automation, this video documents tests of high voltage EMP resistance. Independent test lab certifies that the Bedrock OSA control platform and power supplies can survive repeated high voltage electromagnetic pulse (EMP) blasts
The video documents independent test procedure by which Bedrock’s Open Secure Automation (OSA) platforms have achieved compliance with U.S. Military Standard 461 (MIL-STD-461G) for electromagnetic pulse resistance. The system withstood repeated electromagnetic pulse blasts per the RS105 test, equivalent to what a high-altitude nuclear EMP detonation might deliver.
As defined by the RS105 Test Criteria, National Technical Systems, Inc., a leading independent provider of qualification testing, inspection, and certification solutions, subjected the Bedrock systems under test to a total of 67 EMP strikes in X, Y, and Z orientations. The 67 strikes are part of the test, starting at 50% (25,000 volts/m) and the last 5 strikes are at the full 50,000 volts/m.
Although surviving electrical blasts of 50,000 volts/m was required to meet the standard, the testing team maxed out the test chamber at 107,000 volts/m and the Bedrock systems under test survived multiple rapid strikes and remained operational.
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 10, 2022 | Automation, Embedded Control, News, Security, Technology
Yesterday was a travel day and I didn’t get anything posted. I’ve been busted back in my airline priority (no traveling during Covid). I’m in the economy seats with no room to pull out the laptop. So, I rest up.
What with a user group week followed by Hannover followed by the ARC Forum, news abounds. I’m also working on essays about data and about open vs. Interoperable. Ideas that have sprung from my reading and conversations.
I had several meetings with Schneider Electric this week at ARC. The really big thing to watch is its work with Universal Automation promoting IEC 61499. The question I asked around the conference with no suggestions of answers forthcoming was “will there be a critical mass of companies and users that upsets the automation and control market?” We will watch and evaluate.
Three pieces of news this week: Digital Twin Software; collaboration on security with Claroty; collaboration with Intel.
Schneider Electric launches digital twin software solution
Short take: EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin cuts commissioning time by 60% and reduces time-to-market by 50% by revolutionizing the design and build processes
Schneider Electric has launched EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin, a scalable digital twin software solution to manage the entire machine lifecycle.
The software enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to create digital models of real machines so they can be designed and commissioned virtually before building the machine itself. EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin’s intuitive environment includes drag-and-drop mechatronic components, VR/AR interfaces, and application-focused libraries, all of which enable the parallel engineering of mechanical, electrical, and control tasks.
EcoStruxure Machine Expert Twin spans the entire machine lifecycle, from sales, concept, and design, to manufacturing and operation. Transforming design ideas into convincing sales animations helps customers to properly visualize the end product, while the in-depth design helps to improve and verify prototypes, reduce risk and quality costs, and speed up time-to-market.
Claroty and Schneider Electric Collaborate to Enhance Industrial Cybersecurity
Short take: Reinforces commitment to industry-leading operational cybersecurity through collaboration
Schneider Electric has announced its collaboration with Claroty, the security company for cyber-physical systems across industrial, healthcare, and commercial environments.
The agreement builds on the existing relationship between the two leading companies and leadership in their respective industries. Schneider Electric will now integrate The Claroty Platform into their offering, enabling them to better address new cybersecurity concerns, including protection, safety and insurance for industrial customers.
Schneider Electric collaborates with Intel to Drive Industrial Innovation
Short take: Project to enhance industry’s first Universal Automation system, EcoStruxure Automation Expert by creating a Distributed Control Node (DCN) software framework
Schneider Electric announced a collaboration with Intel to extend EcoStruxure Automation Expert by creating a Distributed Control Node (DCN) software framework complimented by an associated Intel processor-based DCN hardware offering.
By combining the performance, security and deployment capabilities of Intel Edge Controls for Industrial (ECI) technology with EcoStruxure Automation Expert, the DCN framework can simplify and speed the development of software defined control systems. Additionally, the DCN will enable EcoStruxure Automation Expert – the world’s first software-centric automation system – to scale faster and further in process industries, including energy and chemicals, mining, water/wastewater, pharmaceuticals and hybrid markets.
This DCN development will be based on Universal Automation (UniversalAutomation.org), an organization that manages the implementation of a shared source runtime based on the IEC61499 standard. EcoStruxure Automation Expert represents the first of a new era of automation software based on this shared runtime.
A fundament feature of EcoStruxure Automation Expert is the ability to decouple software from hardware. This allows hardware to be upgraded as required to improve system performance while the application remains the same, thereby protecting the customers intellectual property and investments. The joint effort between Schneider Electric and Intel illustrates the industry’s transition from fixed-function hardware to software-defined, flexible, plug and produce solutions that deliver customers greater operational effectiveness.
Initial results of this joint DCN framework development will be shared at this fall’s Schneider Electric Innovation Summit – Las Vegas (October 12-13).
