Strong Duo

With its SPEEDWAY 767-1311 series coupler, WAGO has introduced a real-time-capable I/O system for sercos that packs a punch not only with its extremely short delay and cycle times but also thanks to its high level of flexibility. The SPEEDWAY 767-1311 series coupler is already equipped with 8 digital inputs in the standard version. With its open architecture, a system bus can be easily expanded by additional high-speed I/O modules. sercos news spoke with WAGO product manager Helmut Börjes about Ethernet-based real-time communication and the synchronized interplay of the fieldbus and system bus.

sercos news: With the SPEEDWAY series, your product range now includes a solution that builds its own subsystem with additional components via the sercos fieldbus coupler. Isn’t that a contradiction, especially right now when lean, smart solutions seem to be “in”?

Börjes: Industrial Ethernet with sercos has proven itself in practical applications. sercos gives users both efficient and flexible solutions,  not only for drive technology but also for machine and factory automation. To come back to your question: basically, it is possible to do everything with sercos, but the use of subsystems offers numerous advantages – especially in conjunction with sercos.

sercos news: Are you getting at the separation between local and remote?

Börjes: Exactly. Like our I/O system 750 series, the SPEEDWAY system is a modular I/O system, only with the added benefit that the user has the freedom to use it where it’s needed in the machine or system. sercos no longer has to talk to every fine-grained I/O module on the transport layer. This task is done by the coupler, which gives sercos much more efficient access to consolidated data, including extensive SPEEDWAY networks. The network topology also creates the advantage that sercos communication remains decoupled in case of a cable break or communication or component faults in the subnet. A clear separation ensures greater operational safety in this case. In addition, I think there are two more important points.