The current wave of the industrial revolution, also known as the Industrie 4.0, has proven to improve the production process in various aspects. To realize the promised benefits, a strong communication protocol that allows semantic interoperability among interconnected devices is needed. In manufacturing industries where processes are greatly dependent on the industrial sensors and actuators, there are a few challenges that hinder seamless plant floor communication.

Take for example, the use of 4-20mA analog signals for communication between proximity switches and sensors. Although this produced satisfactory results, it did not provide any scope for diagnostics. So, the issues in the process go unnoticed until the whole system comes to a standstill. The combination of digital and analog devices also requires multiple cable and hence a tedious installation and maintenance process.

To overcome such challenges, the IO-Link Consortium Community, an organization in which key user companies from various industries and leading automation suppliers join forces to support, promote and advance the IO-Link technology. With over 120 members and strong support in Europe, Asia and the Americas, IO-Link has become the leading sensor and actuator interface in the world. The common goal of these companies is to develop and promote a unified and bi-directional communication architecture that involved an easy implementation process and the ability to diagnose the errors at the right time. The IO-Link protocol thus came as a knight in shining armor for the industries to help them gain the best of the Industrie 4.0.

IO-Link is a robust; point-to-point communication protocol specifically designed for devices like actuators and sensors. The IO-Link client is independent of the control network and communicates with an IO-Link master port. This port is placed on a gateway and transfers the data and or signals to the control system for further operations.

IO-Link proves to be beneficial for the factory automation processes especially in the digital era ofIndustrial Automation. With embedded software systems now becoming an inevitable part of industries, more IO-Links help them to leverage the power of Industrial automation and IIoT.

To get a gist of the benefits you can expect through the proper implementation of IO-Links, read the entire blog.

IO-Link Wired setup enhances factory automation communication for Industry 4.0 applications

Incorporating automation processes into an existing manual based manufacturing end processes are a primary challenge that IR4.0 possesses. To overcome this, many factory communication protocols have been introduced by various institutions.

For the device level, the communication IO-Link protocol is the most viable options to choose from. The reason being many, that we shall discuss in the next section. On the factory floor, IO-Link has long been seen as a wired communication network.

A basic IO-Link communication cycle involves:

• A request from the master device
• Waiting Time- for the request to reach the client device
• Processing time of the request from the client device
• Answer from the device to the master.
• Waiting Time- for the answer to reaching the master.

In general, factory automation units have wired IO-Links that offer high flexibility and enhances the communication systems between the controllers and the system actuators and sensors. However, with the advent of reliable wireless networks, industries are now adopting wireless IO-Link set up these days.

The popularity of the IO-Link for the communication between sensors, actuators, and the control level is steadily increasing with each passing year. In a wireless setup, an approximate 5ms maximum cycle is achievable with high probability. In addition to this, it also provides the required flexibility in automation solutions and opens door to the possibility of using battery-powered or energy-harvesting sensors as well.

How IO-Link Benefits OEMs and End Users

As already mentioned, IO-Link be it wired or wireless creates ripples of benefits for OEMs and ends users.As already mentioned, IO-Link be it wired or wireless creates ripples of benefits for OEMs and ends users. One of the advantages of IO-Link is that by incorporating the smart sensors with IO-Link, you can optimize your smart factory with powerful data and diagnostics and prepare them for the future – to increase your uptime and productivity. Along with faster time to market and lower total cost of ownership, OEMs and end usersalso benefit from improved asset utilization and risk management.

Typically a smart sensor functions as a regular sensor unless it’s connected to an IO-Link master. When connected, you can leverage all the advanced configuration data capabilities that IO-Link has to offer.

Let us have a look into some of the key advantages of implementing IO-Link for OEMs and end users.

Enables better maintenance

One of the main reason behind the popularity of the IO-Link is its diagnostic capabilities. It means the servers are informed well in advance about any forthcoming issues. This makes them ready for need-oriented maintenance and a better factory automation system.

Efficient operation

As IO-Link sensors are independent of the control network and their accessibility no longer plays a role in automation, you can place them directly at the point of operation. This means the machining process can be optimized to operate at maximum efficiency in the minimum time frame.

Consistent Network

The IO-Link being a standard communication protocol between IO sensors/actuators and the control network brings consistency in your automation network. So you get to integrate more devices into your IO-Link protocol network and introduce flexibility to your network.

Makes your system versatile and future proof

IO-Link sensors and actuators do more than just process and transmitting data to and from the control network. IO-Link protocol integration facilitates reliable and efficient communication between devices. Having IO-Link devices means your system has access to integrated diagnostics and parameterization which also reduces the commissioning time to a great extent. Overall it imbibes versatility to your system and makes it ready for the future of IIoT.

Enables processing of three types of data

With the IO-Link, you can access and process three types of data namely process data, service data, and event data.

• Process data includes data such as temperature, the pressure that is transmitted by the sensors or actuators upon request from the IO-Link master request.
• Service data refers to the one related to the product and not process and includes manufacturer name, product model number, and the like.
• Event data usually comes from sensors when any event notification has to be raised like an increase in pressure.

Provides IODD for each IO device

IO-Link protocol integration assigns each IO device with an IODD or IO Device Description such that the master manufacturers display the same IODD for each of their devices. This way, the operability of all the IO-Links is uniform irrespective of the manufacturer.

Reduces or eliminates wired networks

Since IO-Link protocol integration allows uniformity among the sensors, actuators, and control system, there is no need for separate wires. This way the number of wires can be reduced to a great extent. As wireless networks reign the IIoT arena, the concept of wireless IO-Link protocol integration is also gaining popularity.

Increases machine availability

With IO-Link protocol porting, you can enjoy an errorless and fast data exchange between sensors, actuators, and the control system. This increases the operation speed and reduces the downtime and improves the commissioning processes. Overall the machine errors are reduced thereby giving you more out of the machines.

Conclusion

The 21st century has paved the way to better industrial processes through the advent of industrial automation or the IR4.0. IO-Link protocol porting and IO-Link protocol integration has greatly helped OEMs and end-users alike, in making their production process in compliance with the IIoT set up. If you are looking for a reliable and flexible IO protocol integration for your plant, we at Utthunga have the state of the art technologies.

 

Embedded systems are a ubiquitous and crucial part of the industrial automation. Whether it’s a small controller, an HVAC, or a complicated system, embedded systems are everywhere in the manufacturing space. You need embedded systems to help in improving the performance, operational and power efficiency and to even control processes in the complex industrial realms. Building and maintaining an embedded system, the software that goes into these systems, is anything but a trivial task. It requires specialized tools like build tools, cross compiler, unit test tools, and documentation generators among others. The process of setting up such an embedded environment in your system could therefore be quite overwhelming. Docker helps in making the whole process a lot easier and manageable. Docker is similar to virtual machines but is a light-weight version of the same. This creates containers that share common components with the Docker installation.

How can Docker run on an embedded system?

Dockers are one of the preferred containers used by software developers these days. Embedded system developers are also now leveraging the benefits containers bring into their software through Dockers. Installing Docker is relatively easy and it supports different OS platforms. Once installed, you need to define a run time environment with a Docker file and create a Docker image. Once this is done, all you are left is to execute the image with the run command and share the files between the host and container. To share, you need to create a bind mount which is created every time you run an image with the “mount” option. Since embedded systems have a fairly slow rate of system update changes, you can use the lightweight Docker on a minimum build then start layering on top of it. However, running Docker on an embedded system comes with its own set of challenges. For example, Docker uses the latest LINUX kernel, which may not match the embedded system’s kernel features. Another important hurdle that developers often face is that Docker image architecture should match the run time environment.

Containers and Industrial Automation

Containerization of software applications is fast gaining popularity and is speculated to disrupt the “industrial automation” as we know today, for good. For developers, the array of container images means the collaborative creation of software deliverables is possible without overlooking the requirements for running an application within a machine environment. With the introduction of containers, industrial automation may also witness an end to the vertically integrated business model, which hasn’t changed much since the times of PLCs and DCSs. This is because the acceptance of containerization has paved the way for an efficient embedded system and easier implementation of the same into the current Industry 4.0 scenarios. It also makes automation accessible and easy to deploy in various machines.

Containers and Maintenance (Sustenance Engineering) of Embedded Systems

The industrial OT world traditionally consists of proprietary embedded systems that focus on reliability, longevity and safety.With technology advancements, maintenance of these older systemshas become a burden. The wide popularity of containerization has made containerization an important maintenance strategy for the embedded systems. Product sustenance or re-engineering is basically fine tuning your released products to add new services and enhance their existing features. It virtually extends your end of the lifecycle or older products with periodic fixes, updates and enhancements that assures reduced maintenance costs, help maximize profits as well as retain your customers. Some of the ways in which containerization adds value to your sustenance engineering are:

• Ready to implement container images reduce the development time needed for application updates, defect fixes or new features enhancements
• Resource utilization and sharing is optimized with better maintenance plans
• Container frameworks and prebuilt tool chains enable the development and maintenance of applications on multiple embedded hardware platforms like STM32, Kinetis, ARM series etc.
• Software containerization and isolation of other processes and applications protects your application from hacks and attacks. This security aspect limits the effect of a vulnerability to that particular container and thus not compromise the entire system.

Key Benefits of Docker Containers on Embedded Systems

There are multiple motivations to leverage Docker containers benefits in an embedded environment. Easy to use, they provide a lightweight and minimal way to solve legacy architecture problems etc.

1. Docker supports Windows, iOS, and Linux
2. Developers can use the tools available in their local development environment. It means they need not install tools to run a Docker on the embedded system
3. Developers can check the code against toolchains without worrying about tools co-existing.
4. Your development team can use the same tools and build environment without having to install them
5. Containers enable edge computing and convergence of services at the edge or gateway level
6. The pre-integrated container platform allows developers to create applications that scale up to their business requirements and deliver qualitytime-to-market solutions in an accelerated manner
7. Containers allows isolation of storage, network, and memory resources among others enabling developers to have an isolated and logical view of the OS
8. Portability of containers allows it to run anywhere allowing greater flexibility in the development and deployment of applications on any OS or development environment.

Conclusion

Even with its set of challenges, Docker seems to be the game-changer in the Industry4.0 era. With embedded systems playing a pivotal role in many industries, your developers can use Docker to deploy automated machines. If you want smart solutions for a decentralized plant floor, you need to get professional development assistance from Utthunga. We help you create embedded systems that truly bring out the best degree of productivity for your company. Leverage Utthunga’s embedded system consultations services and products which have transformed industries across various verticals includingdiscrete, process, oil and gas, and power industries. Contact us to know more.  

Introducing innovative business practices is common among industries, thanks to the changing market landscape demanding for newer, better, and focused solutions.

Dell surveyed 4000 global business leaders among which 89% agreed that the pandemic has forced the need for a more agile and scalable IT environment. As per the statistics of Dell’s Digital Transformation Index 2020, 39% of companies already have mature digital plans, investments, and innovations in place, which is 16% higher than in the year 2018.

Having said that, the industries must have robust and flexible backend systems to handle newer processes and technology. Legacy systems are software programs or outdated systems and are not integrated with other business solutions. Due to their conventional design and infrastructure, they may not be able to perform a more efficient operation process than modern cloud systems

Digital transformation of the legacy industrial software applications is the process of modernizing an operational system to maintain and extend investments in that system.

The digital transformation process of legacy systems is generally large-scale and involves both infrastructure and application modernization. Since these legacy systems are outdated and lack robust security, industries need to transform their legacy applications to avoid data breaches and failure. This blog will cover the digital transformation of legacy applications and the factors you should consider before starting the shift.

Need for Modernizing the Legacy Industrial Software

Before we talk about how digital transformation can be done, let’s see why you need to do it.

Difficulties in Maintenance

The most obvious challenge faced by industries is maintaining these legacy systems. Legacy systems are pretty vast in terms of the codebase and functionality. You cannot just change or replace one system module due to its monolithic nature. Even a minor update can result in multiple conflicts across the system, and there is a considerable risk of interfering with the source code. Since legacy systems contain large amounts of data and documentation, migrating the application to a new platform is not easy. Companies using legacy software applications built in-house quite often face challenge in maintaining them as it becomes difficult to align the legacy applications with the modern ones. Also, the maintenance cost in these cases, are quite high.

Integration is A Challenge

As discussed in the first point, legacy applications are vast and less scalable; hence, integrating old legacy systems with modern applications can be a huge and time-consuming task for SMBs to improve their work processes.

Meaning, if you want to integrate new tools or programs, you have to write a custom code to make it work. Another issue with the industrial legacy software applications is that most modern cloud and other SaaS solutions are incompatible with these legacy systems. SMBs looking to cut costs and improve productivity should consider replacing or upgrading their legacy applications.

The main reason behind using a modern industrial software application is that it can help you eliminate data silos and enable you to use the application’s data in an actionable way they’ve never had before.

Obsolete Cybersecurity Provisions

Outdated systems and applications are a prime target for cybercriminals. Legacy systems are not up-to-date and may not be maintained, leading to a possibility of security threats. It is one of the reasons organizations are gravitating towards the cloud in recent years as cloud security is more robust than most on-premise systems.

Inadaptability to Business Opportunities

One of the common disadvantages of using a legacy system is the stifled ability to modernize and improve. As mentioned above, legacy systems are very inflexible and inadaptable to dynamic business opportunities giving birth to several issues for businesses operating in today’s digital environment.

Inability to Use Big Data

A significant issue posed by legacy systems is the silos resulting from disparate systems within an organization. Digital transformation of these legacy systems helps remove these barriers and enable you to use the vast amounts of Big Data that SMBs possess to help support your business decisions.

Complex and Expensive Infrastructure

The underlying infrastructure of legacy systems is more complex and becomes more expensive to maintain as it becomes old. Since legacy systems require a specific technical environment, the infrastructure maintenance cost remains higher than modern cloud-based solutions. Legacy application data is scattered across several databases and storage resources, making it hard to reorganize to optimize the storage space.

Today, industries should deliver a robust digital experience to engage and retain customers, and complex legacy technology is the most significant barrier to digital transformation.

Factors to be Considered Before Modernizing Legacy Industrial Software Applications

We hope you have learned the disadvantages of legacy systems and how the digital transformation of these applications can solve many business issues. Now, we will see the things you should consider before starting the digital transformation approach of your applications.

Look at Your Strategy 

Are you excited to start the digital transformation approach of legacy systems? Hold your horses! Have a well-planned strategy and stick to it. In the excitement of digital transformations, most businesses often install too many systems, too quickly, and without a strategy to implement them thoroughly.

The lack of proper backing of your strategy is the main reason behind the failure of the digital transformation of industrial software applications. Therefore, a proper strategy formulated with the help of thorough research and analysis is a must.

Prioritize Your Applications

Most businesses fall into the trap of digitizing everything altogether just because they are in a hurry to modernize. Never do this. Start by focusing on the areas of your organization that need to be upgraded to reap the return on investment immediately. Digitizing all your organization’s applications at once might result in failure and disruption throughout the organization.

The whole point is- No solution introduced for digital transformation purposes should ever weaken the work process. If you feel that your investments are not improving the productivity or efficiency of the organization, digitization might not even be an appropriate solution for it. Make sure you’re targeting the processes or applications that need digitization rather than digitizing for the sake of it.

Time Management

Digitizing your legacy systems demands time and patience. Digital transformation of legacy software often takes years to realize fully. The digitization process can vary for each organization and may include implementing technologies, such as cloud, mobility, advanced analytics, and cybersecurity. Make sure you have enough time to implement the digital transformation strategy to reap its maximum benefits.

Eliminate Unnecessary Functions

Before implementing digital transformation, identify which functions and applications you can safely remove without creating any problems in the new configuration. Evaluate your business process to determine the importance of the tasks that are being carried over.

Change Management

A digital transformation strategy should always come from the top-level executives in the organization and should be fully endorsed, envisioned by the key decision-makers in the organization. It helps organizations’ decision-makers and people involved in the process to be on the same page.

Conclusion

Transformation of the legacy applications will no longer be a choice; it will become necessary instead. We are living in the digital age where a business’s adaptability to dynamic technologies paves the way to success. The sooner you transform your enterprise digitally, the efficient, agile, and streamlined your business processes would be.

Utthunga is a leading digital transformation solutions provider having expertise in a range of domains like Cloud, Mobility, IIoT, Analytics, and much more. If you wish to witness rapid business growth, then Utthunga is just the right digital partner for you. Get in touch today!