German auto makers endorse Profinet standard

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 9, 2004

Four major German automotive companies have agreed to back the Profinet industrial Ethernet standard.

In an announcement made at the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair in Nuremberg on 24th November, four major German automotive companies agreed to back the Profinet industrial Ethernet standard developed by Profibus International.

Speaking jointly at a Profibus International press conference, representatives of Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen said that the announcement is intended to encourage supplier companies to introduce Profinet-based systems quickly so that the requirements of next generation automation systems in automotive manufacturing can be met.

The target is to achieve a fixed, uniform protocol that is neutral with regard to manufacturers and users and which has an integrated safety technology.

Standardisation of the engineering tools for the communications bus is also required.

The four companies make up AIDA, the Automation Initiative of German Domestic Automobile manufacturers, which took as its starting point the fact that today's automation systems are heterogeneous and are compatible to a restricted extent only.

Also, fieldbus systems tend to have relatively limited bandwidth and can restrict the distribution of automation components.

Today, this requires additional resources and integration and results in increased costs.

AIDA believes that a common Industrial Ethernet platform is the way to overcome these challenges in future automation systems and has selected Profibus International's Profinet for the task.

Edgar Kuester, Chairman of Profibus International, said: "This announcement will not only influence the automotive industry in Germany but the rest of the world too".

"I also believe that the leadership of the automotive industry will have a significant influence on most other branches of industry".

"This exciting moment in the history of automation offers us all the chance to focus on real end user benefits using a vendor-neutral communications solution".

"One of the unique advantages of Profinet is that it enables legacy fieldbus systems like Profibus and Interbus to be integrated easily, thus protecting existing automation investments".

"Everybody looks to be a winner in this new automation world and I invite once again other major fieldbus organisations to join our mission".

Mike Bryant, Deputy Chairman of Profibus International and Executive Director of the Profibus Trade Organisation in North America added: "This decision by key players in the European automotive market sends out a powerful signal globally".

"My assessment at this point in time, based on our experience of the Profibus market 10 years ago and because Profinet offers a number of key Industrial Ethernet advantages, is that AIDA's lead will be followed by automotive manufacturers worldwide, including I believe in North America".

Profinet has been developed by Profibus International for distributed automation and component-based automation applications.

Profinet is also supported by the Interbus Club whose members are now developing Profinet-compatible products.

Together, Profibus and Interbus have nearly 20 million fieldbus devices installed, roughly 75% of the world fieldbus market.

At SPS/IPC/Drives Profibus International announced that more than 70 Profinet products and services are now available from 20+ major vendors in North America, Europe and Japan.

Profibus International believes the number of Profinet products will rise significantly by Hannover Fair in April 2005.

Profinet can simultaneously meet the needs of three automation domains with a single-cable Industrial Ethernet solution.

These are: IT integration, real-time automation and isochronous real-time motion control.

The Profinet solution is fully compatible with IEEE802.3 standards.

In motion control applications Profinet can control up to 150 axes in 1ms using the isochronous real time (IRT) mode while other automation or IT functions are running.

More than 140 engineers are working today in 11 international Working Groups on the development, enhancement and standardisation of Profinet, including key features such as data security and the integration of Profinet into MES systems.

A machine and personnel safety profile based on the proven Profisafe fieldbus solution is under development.