Site planning and wireless network installation
January 2014
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
By Paul Hsu, Moxa product manager.
Building a wireless network can be quite an undertaking. Compared to wired networks, wireless networks require a great deal more planning to install and deploy. In addition to marked differences between wired and wireless LANs, there are currently no standardised procedures for wireless network planning and installation.
So before you begin site planning your network, you need to decide which technologies will be the most beneficial and whether or not consumer-grade products can meet the needs of your mission-critical application. This white paper explains the important factors you should consider in planning and installing a wireless network.
Why choose industrial wireless?
The convenience of connecting devices without the use of wires has led to the unprecedented success of wireless technologies in the consumer sector. Due to this success, these same technologies are beginning to appear in various other settings including industrial applications. Wireless technologies offer a number of key benefits including mobility, flexibility, wide coverage, and cost savings.
Mobility and efficiency: improved data communication leads to faster and more efficient transfer of information between people in your organisation, as well as between you and your customers. Members of your sales team, for example, can remotely check stock levels and prices while on a sales call.
Flexibility and easy relocation or expansion: in a factory setting, stationary systems can be connected over a wireless network to mobile subsystems or robots to achieve a level of connectivity that would otherwise be impossible. Furthermore, wireless technology can make it much simpler to gain temporary access to plant machinery for diagnostic or programming purposes.
Wider coverage: because wireless technology allows you to communicate wherever you are, you can send and receive information at any time without being limited by physical wires.
Saving time and money: wireless networks can be easier and cheaper to install and implement than wired networks. There is no need to purchase metres and metres of wire or to pay additional installation costs to wire your environment. The average time required to deploy a wireless solution is also significantly shorter than for a wired solution.
However, these advantages also come with additional factors you need to take into consideration when adopting wireless technologies in industrial applications.
Before installing your wireless network, consider the important factors associated with site planning. Download the full Moxa White Paper at http://instrumentation.co.za/+C18494
Further reading:
EtherCAT interoperability removes industrial networking barriers
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Selecting the right communication technology is one of the most important decisions engineers make, and interoperability helps with that decision. Key development tools and standards ensure interoperability among many EtherCAT devices and manufacturers.
Read more...
Condition monitoring to go
Turck Banner Southern Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Anyone who wants to efficiently monitor the climate in control cabinets will find a comprehensive range of control cabinet monitors for the DIN rail in Turck Banner’s cabinet condition monitoring family.
Read more...
Innovative separation of recyclable materials
Beckhoff Automation
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A plant built by Belgian specialist machine builder, Absolem Engineering features an innovative process for separating recyclable materials. Using PC-based control from Beckhoff, a major problem has been elegantly solved - the generation of different signal sequences for the exact synchronisation of different camera systems.
Read more...
Enhancing AI-powered object detection and recognition capabilities
Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Innodisk has announced its cooperation with Advantech, a global leader in AIoT and edge computing. This collaboration leverages Innodisk’s customisable MIPI camera modules and Advantech’s Intel x86-based AFE-R360 solution to enhance AI-powered object detection and recognition capabilities, expanding visual applications for autonomous mobile robots in smart factories and warehouses.
Read more...
Rugged, agile and scalable boards
Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Embedded computing pioneer, AAEON has launched the PICO-ASL4 and GENE-ASL6, both featuring the new Intel Atom x7000RE Processor Series for the edge.
Read more...
Rugged gateway board with open-source flexibility
Vepac Electronics
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The SRG-CM4 from Vepac brings all the open-source flexibility of the Raspberry Pi OS and ecosystem to AAEON’s signature rugged, durable gateway design to create a truly industry-ready modular system.
Read more...
New safety I/O modules for functional safety in highly automated operations
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Belden has expanded the Lumberg Automation LioN family with its new LioN-Safety I/O Modules. Designed to support functional safety efforts in industrial operations, the modules streamline the transmission of data over existing networks.
Read more...
IO-Link master for the automation and IT world
ifm - South Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The decentralised IO-Link master modules from ifm serve as a gateway between intelligent IO-Link sensors and the fieldbus. Important information on the intelligent sensors can also be simultaneously sent.
Read more...
Condition monitoring with IO-Link rotary encoders
Pepperl+Fuchs
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Whether in the materials handling industry, in packaging machines or in wind turbines, sensors with an IO-Link interface are increasingly being used to pave the way to Industry 4.0. Pepperl+Fuchs was one of the first manufacturers to launch an absolute rotary encoder with IO-Link interface, that was available in numerous variants and with a wide range of setting parameters.
Read more...
Efficiently consolidate analogue signals and reduce wiring
Turck Banner Southern Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Control engineers can bring analogue signals into a control system more efficiently with the new R95C 8-port analogue input to modbus hub.
Read more...
printer friendly version