TURCK has expanded its line of BL20 economy modules with the release of a DeviceNet gateway. This addition augments TURCK’s current PROFIBUS-DP and CANopen gateways for the BL20 economy system.
The BL20 economy gateway provides a cost effective solution to expand fieldbus I/O. The gateway allows the connection of up to 32 I/O modules, including digital and analog, resulting in a system that can handle up to 512 digital I/O points or 128 analog I/O points on a single gateway. A combination of digital and analog I/O on a single node is also an option. BL20 gateways utilize TURCK’s I/Oassistant software package for configuration, parameter set-up, documentation, commissioning and diagnostic functions. The I/Oassistant package may be downloaded for free at www.turck.us.
The BL20 economy gateways are compatible with TURCK’s standard BL20 slices, including new motor starter modules with the SWIRE communication technology. SWIRE connection consists of a single I/O slice within the BL20 node and uses ribbon cable media to daisy-chain to the motor starters. The BL20 economy gateways can accommodate up to three SWIRE slices for a total of 48 non-reversing motor starters (16 per slice) or 24 reversing motor starters (8 per slice). Motor starters range in size from .08 to 20 horsepower. The BL20 economy gateways are also compatible with TURCK’s RFID system, BL ident, that is able to read and write data on-the-fly using 13.56MHZ technology – even with speeds up to 22mph (10 m/s).