October 2020

NEWS n PHOENIX CONTACT is licencing its PLCnext environment to Yaskawa, which will use it as the basis for its next-generation machine controller and PLC platform. The two companies, which will also collaborate on other developments, say they have a shared goal of moving away from proprietary systems to offer an open and future-proof ecosystem for automation. Yaskawa plans to use PLCnext in future motion control and robotics products, initially in Europe and the US. Its next- generation platform will be based on new hardware and software, including a motion control engine, PLCopen building blocks and a high-end machine controller. It will use Asics (custom chips) designed by its German Profichip business. The partnership with Phoenix will not affect products fromVipa Controls, Yaskawa’s German controls business in which it took a controlling share in 2012. Armin Schlenk, Yaskawa Europe’s marketing director for the EMEA region, told Drives & Controls that the current Vipa portfolio will not be affected by the partnership with Phoenix. “We will continue to fully support our S7-compatible products … and offer our customers the best support as well as availability for many more years to come,”he says. The Vipa portfolio will be “further developed according to the technological requirements of the market”. Yaskawa regards PLCnext as being“the most open industrial automation software platform available today”. It combines IEC 61131-3 programming, modern programming languages, safety hardware and software, and control system security. Phoenix announced the Linux- based PLCnext platform in 2016, describing it as an open control platform that would“allow engineers from different disciplines to work together simultaneously on projects, each in their preferred development environments”. The first products were launched a year later with Phoenix’s chief technology officer, Roland Bent, hailing the development as“the start of a new era in automation”. The platform includes a digital marketplace for software and cloud integration. “The openness of the PLCnext ecosystem enables a large number of providers to offer highly flexible, secure, and modern automation technology,” says Ulrich Leidecker, COO and president of Phoenix Contact’s industrial management and automation business.“This technology partnership with Yaskawa is a milestone for the automation industry, because the more partners that engage in an open automation ecosystem, the more beneficial it becomes for every single participant.” www.yaskawa.eu.com www.phoenixcontact.com Phoenix licences PLCnext platform to Yaskawa for next-generation controls on Corf ae Incr ed Har t nec orfer sed P ear dw e manc Designed to With surface mo strength, Archer forces in high vi Ensuring reliabi of connected de al al ti t solder perform in high vibra un tabs for addition Kontrol can withstand later bration environments. lity in the next generation vices. ting and twis tion ented r boar .ts onmen vir on en s/ o 3 Gbit Up t Q f o per ed t tesT Q ouded shr lyulF Q with b ts sissA Q e r tur a emper T Q etaa r tda tions a 0 oper o 50 orm up t emt sys ort onnec c ting lind ma ange of -55°C to +125°C om harwin.c ol tr on -k cher ar / w t onne C c e fidenc on ith c Phoenix Contact’s Axioline controller supports the PLCnext platform. It can be programmed in high-level languages a well as traditional PLC languages.