Siemens announced its entry into the field of IoT gateways at Hannover Messe 2016. The Simatic IOT2040 has now been released for delivery shortly before SPS IPC Drives. At almost the same time, distributor RS Components announced that it would be exclusively distributing another Siemens IoT gateway with immediate effect - the 'Simatic IOT2020'. When asked how the two products differ in concrete terms, Katrin Kunz replies: "The IOT2040 is an industrial gateway that is designed in particular for communication between production and the IT level or the cloud. With a Quark x1020 processor from Intel with security features, two Ethernet and two serial interfaces, as well as 1 GByte DDR3 RAM, 8 MByte Flash and 256 kByte SRAM, it is perfectly equipped for this. The openness with regard to programming and the integration of various protocol drivers enables a wide range of applications - especially for retrofitting existing machines and systems."

In contrast, the Simatic IOT2020 is a variant specifically for the academic market. "Here, the openness in programming and the numerous expansion options with Arduino shields paired with the established Simatic quality offer an ideal platform for courses and research projects," says Kunz. The technical specification with an Intel Quark x1000 processor, an Ethernet interface and 512 MByte DDR3 RAM, 8 MByte Flash and 256 kByte SRAM is also tailored to this use. "In order to be able to offer the IOT2020 directly to students, Siemens needs a distribution partner with the appropriate access and experience in this environment," says the Head of Marketing, explaining the recently concluded distribution agreement with RS Components, adding: "In RS Components, we have found a partner to position the product worldwide as an open platform for the academic market. That's why the product launch took place at the Maker Fair in Rome together with Massimo Banzi, the inventor and founder of Arduino."

The different features and objectives of the two IOT2000 family members are ultimately also reflected in the price: while Siemens states the list price of the IOT2040 at 199 euros, RS Components charges 89 euros for the IOT 2020 - less than half the price. This price difference should ultimately not only be of interest to students. "Ultimately, the customer decides how and where to use the IOT2020," notes Heiko Luckhaupt, Global Merchandising Manager - Automation & Control at RS Components, adding: "It is therefore quite conceivable that there are also industrial applications in which the IOT2020 can be used."

In addition to the IOT2000 family, Siemens has another IoT gateway in its portfolio - the 'MindConnect Nano' (list price 990 euros). When asked about the mutual differentiation, Kunz replies: "The MindConnect Nano is the first MindConnect element for connecting to the Siemens MindSphere Cloud. The software for the secure transfer of data is already integrated here. With the standard devices, the user has to do all this themselves." There will also be a MindConnect element similar to the Simatic IOT2040 called MindConnect IoT2040 - a preconfigured gateway that establishes the transmission of encrypted data to MindSphere via a secure Internet connection to enable cloud-based applications and services." According to Kunz, the MindConnect IoT2040 is close to market release and can already be inspected at the trade fair.