Sercos at SPS 2018

Presenting universal system solutions, innovative products and trendsetting technology demos utilizing the Sercos automation bus

Sercos International will be represented at the SPS show in Nuremberg, Germany November 27–29 with a joint booth in hall 5, booth 130. In addition to system solutions and innovative products, a Sercos III-based robotic demo will be exhibited by Schneider Electric, where visitors can prove their tactical abilities against the robot-assisted tic-tac-toe game.

Six co-exhibitors will be represented at the Sercos booth: Bosch Rexroth, Schneider Electric, Phoenix Contact, Bihl+Wiedemann, Vision&Control and Cannon-Automata. Bosch Rexroth and Schneider Electric will each display Sercos-based system solutions consisting of controllers, drives, I/O, safety peripherals and third party connectivity.

Phoenix Contact will present various I/O solutions for control cabinets and field installation. The highlight is the Sercos-based IO-Link master, which enables the connection of any IO-Link device to a Sercos III network.

Bihl+Wiedemann will present various gateway solutions for the coupling of Sercos and ASi. This enables direct communication between Sercos and ASi devices, including safe data exchange via CIP Safety and ASi Safety, if required.

Vision & Control will showcase innovative camera solutions that can be integrated directly into Sercos networks and thus provide image information quickly and precisely across the network.

Cannon-Automata will display CoDeSys-based controls, as well as a stepper motor controller and two versions of a Sercos-Ethercat coupler. The  Sercos-Ethercat Bridge allows data to easily be exchanged between the respective networks via a slave-to-slave connection. The Sercos-Ethercat Gateway simultaneously acts as a Sercos slave and an Ethercat master, making it possible to operate Ethercat slave devices in Sercos III networks.

In addition, numerous other automation devices and network components will be exhibited, including two trade fair innovations. IBH will introduce a compact PC-based CNC based on the Sercos SoftMaster. Israel-based Gal Lior will present a multi-channel Sercos encoder emulator characterized by an update rate of 250 μSec and a maximum output pulse frequency of 5 MHz.

Several technology demos will exemplify how Sercos can be combined with other trend-setting standards, such as OPC UA and Ethernet TSN, to support the requirements for improving vertical and horizontal integration, as well as cross-vendor interoperability in the context of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.