Embedded World 2010: Industrial Networking for Automation in Focus

The system was designed, built and programmed entirely by SILICA’s applications engineers. All the specialists involved in developing it will be on hand and available to visitors for first-hand information throughout the fair.

The system is controlled via a process control system running as software under Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Standard on an Intel® Atom™ platform which serves both as EtherCAT master and industrial PC. The model’s sensors and actuators are interfaced via a slave module, demonstrating how the EtherCAT standard is realised with an FPGA core on a Xilinx FPGA. Galvanically separated interfaces linking the 3.3 V and 24 V domains use Infineon and STMicroelectronics modules.

Both the high-stack shelving system’s input and output stations have RFID readers implemented with NFC chips by NXP and barcode readers which analyse camera signals using a Renesas microcontroller. Readout data is sent to the PLC in the industrial PC and processed there. A live image of the demo is sent from a CCTV camera using a Blackfin processor by Analog Devices.

SILICA’s appearance at the fair reflects its total solutions and technical support strategy: its own application developed in-house enables specialists to deal with typical problems and the complex applications involved directly.