Andreas Jacob
Hilscher Gesellschaft fuer Systemautomation mbH
SERCOS Energy - Energy Profile for SERCOS III
At Hannover Fair 2010, the SERCOS vendor organizations have announced the development of an energy profile for the SERCOS III Real-time Ethernet Communications System for controls, drives and decentralized peripherals.
SERCOS Energy reduces energy consumption in three areas. First, the permanent load at motor/machine standstill is reduced; second, the consumption depending on the process is dynamically adjusted considering the target completion times/dates (partial load operation); and third, energy is saved during processing by switching off components that are not required at a particular time or point in the process (partial machine operation).
SERCOS Energy is an application layer profile that defines parameters for the reduction of the energy consumption in a uniform and vendor-independent way. The control reads out standard parameters of each SERCOS Energy component via the SERCOS III network, receiving status information and detailed consumption values. Depending on the situation (e.g., scheduled or unscheduled breaks, machine components not needed in the current production process) the control can switch connected components (drives, I/O, sensors) into energy-saving conditions, up to complete shut-down, in a targeted manner, considerably reducing their energy consumption.
„The energy profile is an important complement to the existing SERCOS profiles and proves the claim of SERCOS as an open and complete real-time interface for machine and plant manufacture,“ declares Peter Lutz, Managing Director of SERCOS International. „SERCOS III offers - as the only communication system in production with SERCOS Energy – the potential for energy saving in combination with full productivity.“
A working group consisting of several member companies of SERCOS International has worked out a concept and a first draft of the energy profile specification. The final released specification will be available in June 2010.
Categories / Tags: Development, Productmanagement, SERCOS