Designing multi-protocol motion control systems with Festo AP
In this demonstration video, Jarod Garbe, a Festo district sales manager in the Chicagoland area, presents a selection of key automation solutions from the Festo portfolio (Figure 1). A three-axis gantry system highlights how engineers can configure custom multi-axis setups using the Handling Guide Online tool on Festo’s website. Garbe emphasizes Festo's ability to deliver complete, end-to-end motion systems, supplying everything from the physical mechanics and drives to the motors and cabling required for seamless integration into existing equipment.
Central to the demonstration is the Festo AP platform, an I/O platform designed to handle control and feedback across the entire gantry system. Garbe details the platform’s flexibility across different industrial communication environments. Featuring a central gateway module, the system is shown seamlessly bridging signals from a Siemens PLC via Profinet to orchestrate the entire setup through a single entry point, simplifying system architecture and fieldbus wiring.
The demonstration takes a close look at Festo’s multi-protocol drive technology, which is designed to offer machine builders maximum versatility without hardware redesigns. Garbe demonstrates how the drives adapt to varying customer specifications, switching between Ethernet/IP, Profinet and EtherCAT while keeping the underlying actuators and components identical. By eliminating the need to re-engineer hardware for different fieldbus standards, Festo provides OEMs with a streamlined, scalable approach to industrial automation.
About the Author
Mike Bacidore
Editor in Chief
Mike Bacidore is chief editor of Control Design and has been an integral part of the Endeavor Business Media editorial team since 2007. Previously, he was editorial director at Hughes Communications and a portfolio manager of the human resources and labor law areas at Wolters Kluwer. Bacidore holds a BA from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He is an award-winning columnist, earning multiple regional and national awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He may be reached at [email protected]