SERCOS III in Rovema Packaging Machines

At the recent Pack Expo show, the SERCOS vendor organizations displayed a demo unit, courtesy of Rovema, a German manufacturer of forming, filling, sealing, and case packing machines. Rovema recently designed the Ethernet-based SERCOS III real time communications system into a new control system for their packaging machines. The functioning demo panel showed the Rovema control system. 

The following press release
was issued at the show:
In ROVEMA's choice of a modern bus system, the focus was on reduction of start-up costs through the use of cost-effective and highly productive hardware components. Equally important factors were protection of customers' investments through internationally recognized IEC/EN standards plus lower electromagnetic interference as compared to analog interface technology. Through the openness and standardization of SERCOS III, ROVEMA has a universal drive and automation interface available. Read the news release.

SERCOS and FDT: working together for open systems

At the recent SPS/IPC/Drives show in Nuremberg, Germany, the user organizations for the SERCOS III and FDT open standards announced an agreement to create an annex to the FDT specification for SERCOS III. Thus, SERCOS III will be the first high-performance real-time Ethernet communication standard to support FDT Technology, used by many manufacturers to connect fieldbus devices to a wide range of software environments.

FDT Technology standardizes the communication interface between fieldbus devices and engineering tools. Extending the FDT specification to SERCOS III will allow users to configure SERCOS III devices via FDT's powerful DTM device drivers. DTMs offer special functionality for detailed device configuration and analysis via a graphical user interface. The DTM application opens a window for the start-up, parameterization and diagnosis of the fieldbus devices, thus reducing the complexity of the application and increasing transparency for users and service technicians. Read the news release.

Bus Coupler for SERCOS III

At the recent SPS/IPC/Drives show, Phoenix Contact announced the addition of a new SERCOS III bus coupler to their In-line Modular product line. This bus coupler, equipped with eight digital inputs and four digital outputs, can be installed together with up to sixty-three additional In-line automation terminals -- all in keeping with Phoenix Contact's motto "plug, don't wire." Read the news release.

New Member of SERCOS N.A.

SERCOS N.A. welcomes returning OEM member MDSI of Dexter, Michigan. MDSI® is a worldwide provider of open-architecture CNC, motion control, and factory automation solutions. You can read more about the company at http://www.mdsi2.com

New Literature

SERCOS News - Issue 2 - 2008 -- This 16-page news magazine, first distributed at Hannover Fair, includes:
- An article on SERCOS in a Tea Bag
  Manufacturing machine.
- An article on the development of LTi’s 
  ServoOne drive controllers with SERCOS III.
- Announcement that KEBA will employ
  SERCOS III as a system bus.
- Article on Hilscher's beta release of its
  SERCOS III Master Stack at the SPS/IPC show.
- Member ads, news about SERCOS and information
  on member’s new SERCOS III products.

You can download SERCOS News as a pdf from both www.sercos.com and www.sercos.de. You can e-mail to info@sercos.com to request a printed copy. (Previous editions of SERCOS News are also available on the websites.)