In sensor and measurement technology, replacing cables with radio links is an effective way of optimizing systems by simplifying installation and reducing maintenance. "This works without difficulty for sensors that are already wireless by design, but not for wired sensors," says Thomas Schildknecht, Managing Director of the Schildknecht company of the same name. A new device from the Murr-based company is designed to solve precisely this problem: Two closely interacting Dataeagle modules from the 2730 series form a functional unit, whereby a wireless module designed as an IO module in the form of an M12 distribution box (DE X-treme IO 2730) developed together with Murrelektronik receives the sensor signal directly on site via cable and transmits it on the output side via radio (Bluetooth LE) to another module, up to 70 meters away (Dataeagle compact 2730), which in turn is connected to the controller via fieldbus (e.g. Profinet, Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, Ethercat, Powerlink). Alternatively, the sensor values can also be transmitted directly to the cloud via mobile radio.

In addition to other supported wireless technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G, LoRA or Mesh, Thomas Schildknecht also sees enormous opportunities for automation technology in the upcoming 5G technology: "We expect 5G to be available in two to three years. The advantages will be a significantly improved latency time or a significantly increased number of devices at a mobile base station. While only around 50 devices can be operated with 2G and up to 10,000 with NB-IoT, 5G can handle up to 100,000."

However, in order to implement 5G reliably and quickly enough for the requirements of industry or to make it available in corresponding gateways, the real-time capability of the technology is of crucial importance. This is a topic that the BMBF research project '5Gang - 5 G for Industry' is currently addressing. With her involvement in the project, Schildknecht wants to play an important role for German SMEs. "5G could not only be used as a successor to LTE, but also as a WLAN replacement," Thomas Schildknecht is convinced and continues: "There will be access points with the 5G protocol instead of IEEE 802.11. These access points could operate on mobile radio frequencies and be rented out by license holders. This will result in new business models on the one hand and new areas of application such as operating WLAN in a licensed band on a factory floor on the other. Last but not least, 5G will make low transmission costs possible through mobile network providers - current M2M SIM cards are still very expensive because 100 gateways already fully utilize a base station."

Partnership with Delta Logic

Thomas Schildknecht also announced a partnership with Delta Logic at SPS IPC Drives 2017: together, the two companies have further developed the Dataeagle 7050 module. The IoT Edge Gateway was previously able to use its globally accepted eSIM card to record data from compressors, pumps or control systems installed around the world, pre-process it on site and then send it to the cloud via mobile communications and display it on a portal. In its new, expanded version 7051, the wireless system also includes the Accon-AGLink software package from Delta Logic. This now also enables the gateway to exchange data between a PLC on one side and a PC or server on the other via the programming interface, as is required for programming and commissioning machines via the cloud, for example.