Automotive Research Council Supports EtherNet/IP

ControlDesign.com
06/27/2006

	U.S. Council for Automotive Research

ODVA reports the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) has agreed to support EtherNet/IP as the industrial Ethernet network standard for plant-floor applications in vehicle assembly facilities. As a result, USCAR is starting efforts to increase the standard’s adoption in the U.S. vehicle assembly operations of its three member companies—DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp.

 

In its first EtherNet/IP initiative, USCAR is working with EtherNet/IP manager ODVA to identify aspects of network performance that have the most impact on real-time control applications that are typical in vehicle assembly operations, and developing reporting criteria for specific network performance parameters. One result will be that purchasers of EtherNet/IP devices will be able to make better purchase decisions by analyzing published performance parameters for specific devices and choosing the device that best meets the performance requirements of each application. In conjunction with the USCAR agreement, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and ODVA recently agreed to research and develop industry standards, and then test methodologies for performance parameters of EtherNet/IP devices.

In other news, ODVA recently published the CIP Motion Drive Profile in the latest edition of the EtherNet/IP Specification (Edition 1.2). This profile establishes the technical foundation for implementating multi-axis, synchronized motion control on EtherNet/IP. It also supports a range of drive types from variable frequency drives to high performance servo drives.

ODVA also has published the CIP Safety protocol for EtherNet/IP in the latest edition of the CIP Safety Specification, Edition 1.1. The CIP Safety protocol for EtherNet/IP meets the requirements of IEC 61508 up to Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3/Cat.4) and establishes the technical foundation for the implementation of CIP Safety on EtherNet/IP.