IO-Link product line expanded with I/O hub solutions

NXR-Series give OMRON customers a new way to add IOs to factory automation systems and bring intelligence to the edge of their manufacturing lines, using Maxim Integrated’s MAX14819A dual IO-Link controller and MAX14827A IO-Link device, as well as MAX14912 and MAX14915 digital output devices. OMRON’s innovative NXR-Series allow continuous diagnostics and monitoring of the health and status of manufacturing equipment at OMRON's customers' production sites.

IO-Link’s bi-directional links bring intelligence to sensors and actuators and drive smarter manufacturing by enabling equipment to adapt to product changes on-the-fly and make decisions in real time. Maxim Integrated’s IO-Link technology, combined with its portfolio of extensive software-configurable digital output products, provides OMRON with new opportunities for IO-Link I/O hub solutions. OMRON’s use of IO-Link will also help accelerate the adoption of this standard in the industry.

OMRON is adding the first remote digital output IO-Link I/O hub (NXR-CD166C-IL2 module) to its offerings, extending the use of IO-Link beyond the sensor world. The company is addressing the dual problems caused by customers’ chronic shortage of manufacturing-line engineers: reducing manufacturing line downtime and improving the efficiency of commissioning new equipment. OMRON analysed unnecessary and inefficient work in production processes and developed the NXR Series that comes equipped with various functions to save time.

The company has achieved a 90% reduction in setup and commissioning times by using the new NXR IO-Link controller (NXR-ILM08C-EIT) and IO-Link I/O hub (NXR-[]D166C-IL2). In addition, these new NXR series of IO-Link controller and I/O hub products reduce downtime by leveraging the smart diagnostics capability to gather real-time operational information across the manufacturing line. The devices are also built for reliability with inherent wire-break diagnostic and robust protection technologies.

“With Maxim Integrated’s solutions, we have accomplished a new way to add additional digital IOs into the network so we can further drive intelligence to the edge,” said Haedon Lee, product manager for Network & IO Product Management Group, Controller Business Unit at OMRON.

Jeff DeAngelis, vice president, Industrial Communications for Industrial and Healthcare Business Unit at Maxim Integrated, added: “By extending the use of IO-Link technology with our digital IO and analogue IO industrial chipsets, we are enabling OMRON to provide a simple way of expanding the number of digital IO channels, opening a new capability for reconfiguring the manufacturing line.”