Success Story: PC-based Automation with unified Interfaces for all Formats and Protocols

The test bench specification, which requires a permanent change of the connected devices, was pivotal in müller+krahmer’s decision to opt for cifX: Hilscher’s cifX PC card family offers users a common standard for all Real-Time Ethernet and fieldbus systems used in PC-based automation applications. Thanks to Hilscher‘s uniform platform strategy, all PC cards use the same drivers, tools and API – regardless of protocol and card format. Hilscher’s netX technology enables all the required Real-Time Ethernet protocols – ­currently EtherCAT, PROFINET and SERCOS III – to be implemented using a single hardware. A protocol is changed simply by reloading the firmware.

Automatic Protocol Change Minimizes Errors

This flexibility and multi-protocol capability ensures a drastic reduction in errors and a largely automated handling of the test by the end user.
„We can change the bus on the fly with the cifX cards,“ Müller explains. Manual input by the operator is no longer required, which shortens the test time and, above all, reduces the susceptibility to errors. Since the cifX PC card only has a single connection for several buses, there is also no need to switch the bus interface hardware between the test bench and the device, which would otherwise be necessary. „This eliminates another potential source of error. The test bench can be more compact and be used more flexibly than would be possible with one physical interface per bus. Also there’s no need to modify the test bench to integrate future bus protocols,“ Müller continues. The cifX technology is therefore of interest to anyone faced with the challenge of having to test devices with different interfaces. „This is the case for all typical actuators,“ says Müller, adding that it is obvious for „reasons of effort and handling“ to carry out such tests with a single machine. cifX technology is the right approach to this, and the expert believes that it is „absolutely recommended“.