CAMotion —Wireless Distributed Safety Control Network

April 1, 2011

Wireless is a growing option for safety networks. Some of the advantages that companies are experiencing include quick deployment and faster troubleshooting. CAMotion Inc., of Atlanta—a motion control automation manufacturer—worked with automation vendor Siemens Industry Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga., to deploy a distributed safety control network for large, overhead gantry robot systems equipment.

The network involves multiple operating systems, including Siemens Microbox PC with Linux, as well as CAMotion’s motion control software.

The companies used one wireless network for all applications, including distributed safety, vision and motor control. The result delivered a number of operational improvements compared to a wired system.

“This reduced our installation time by as much as 30 percent,” says Anthony Kane, application engineer for CAMotion. “Also, the safety-rated wireless network further minimized wiring, which saved additional installation costs.” Kane notes that the system provides faster troubleshooting and diagnostics, which allowed for a two-day deployment time.

April 2011, Related Feature – Safety Networks are Getting Wired with Control
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