Industrial Communication: Field Bus Systems

What Will You Learn?

• Describe the automation pyramid and explain what a fieldbus is and why digital networks replaced point-to-point wiring at the field level.
• Compare serial standards RS-232 and RS-485 and select an appropriate network topology (star, bus/line, ring, or tree) for a given application.
• Explain and configure the major industrial protocols, including Modbus RTU/TCP, HART, PROFIBUS-DP and PA, PROFINET, and EtherNet/IP.
• Wire, terminate, and address a multidrop fieldbus segment and commission a simple PROFIBUS or industrial-Ethernet network with the correct cabling and device addresses.

Requirements

• Completion of relevant lower-level electrical, electronics, and PLC courses (including Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics and Fundamentals of Programmable Logic Controllers), or equivalent technical experience.
• Basic understanding of digital signals, binary numbers, Ohm's law, and electrical and workshop safety.
• Familiarity with using a PC and basic engineering software for the addressing and configuration exercises.
• Access to a multimeter, RS-485 cable and terminating resistors, a PLC with a fieldbus or PROFINET/PROFIBUS interface (e.g. Siemens or Allen-Bradley), and at least one fieldbus field device or simulator for the practicals.