Beckhoff Automation, founded in 1980 and headquartered in Verl, Germany, is a pioneer in PC-based control technology. The company offers a broad spectrum of products, including Industrial PCs, I/O and Fieldbus components, drive technology, and automation software. Beckhoff's open automation systems are utilized across various industries such as machine building, building automation, and renewable energy, providing scalable and modular solutions tailored to specific applications. With a presence in over 40 countries and a workforce of approximately 5,500 employees, Beckhoff emphasizes innovation and quality, continually advancing technologies like EtherCAT, a high-performance industrial Ethernet system developed in-house.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is transforming manufacturing with open automation systems connecting devices and machines across the factory floor.
By Bradley McEwan, business development manager at automation and control technology specialist Beckhoff UK, discusses how software and modular hardware enables easy integration of technologies, like robotics and vision, that were once considered 'standalone'.
The EL6821 EtherCAT Terminal from Beckhoff allows up to 64 DALI/DALI-2 slaves and 64 DALI-2 input devices to be connected. The TwinCAT 3 System Manager makes it easy to configure and parameterize DALI devices flexibly.
Ideal for adaptive manufacturing, machine learning, vision and other complex applications, the IPC combines an ATX motherboard and GPU in one powerhouse device.
Over the past year and a half, supply chain challenges have been significant, with lead times for advanced components like drives, PLCs, and HMIs often exceeding 52 weeks. However, improvements in lead times and inventory levels have been observed.
With 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors, the controllers help engineers tackle tough applications, such as multi-axis motion, machine learning and vision, with reduced space requirements.