SI-POWERLINK serves applications ranging from simple open-loop systems through to those demanding precise motion control. The protocol is based upon standard Ethernet and provides a solution for real-time Industrial Ethernet to satisfy the requirements of industrial automation and process control.

POWERLINK is used in applications in industries including automotive, energy management, machinery, industrial automation, railway and maritime transportation, robotics, vision systems and more.

The new module is compatible with Control Techniques Unidrive, Digitax and Commander families, and conforms to the latest release of the POWERLINK standard. It offers full cyclic (PDO) and non-cyclic (SDO) access to all drive parameters, with PDO cycle times down to just 500 μs. Additionally, drive synchronization is supported on Unidrive M600, M70X and Digitax HD M75X.

Richard Smith, Global Product Manager at Control Techniques, said: “Integration is at the heart of everything we do at Control Techniques. Our modular drive expansion systems are designed to allow integration into virtually any setup, no matter which communication protocol you use”.

Control Techniques