Connection Technology For Intelligent Networking

The Industry 4.0 vision provides for more efficient and flexible production systems”,“The amount of information and data used will increase massively”,“With the decentralization of machines and systems, the number of connection points increases significantly”. These are all statements from the white paper "Electrical connection technology for Industry 4.0", published by the Central Association for the Electrical and Electronics Industry (ZVEI). The importance of electrical connection technology in the Industry 4.0 environment will therefore increase significantly. But what is the focus?

The ZVEI names five fields here:

Digital twin

The first is about the increased digital representation of a component in the engineering process. As the real and virtual worlds continue to grow together, every physical product now has a "digital twin" from the start, which is constantly evolving. The VDE | DKE is currently working with Phoenix Contact, Rittal and Eplan on how standards can also be converted into a machine-interpretable, formalized form. This would enable technical aspects of the digital twin to be checked during engineering and problems of the end product to be identified.

Industry 4.0

Pre-check the conformity of the "digital twin" with standards

Standardized data models and plug systems

Increasing digitization also means that amounts of data and information are created that must remain manageable over the entire life cycle of a component. In order to be able to operate in a network with different partners around the world, global standards are particularly important - the second field named by the ZVEI. However, this does not only include standardized data models and description languages; The standardization also affects the physical component itself. In the case of plug systems, these are, for example, the plug faces with fully standardized interfaces.

Industry 4.0

New machine language for Industry 4.0

Integrate electronics

The third field in the ZVEI white paper sounds exciting: it says integration of electronics. Intelligence comes into play with electronics, because with its help, components can be developed in such a way that they think in the Industry 4.0 environment and thus contribute to greater efficiency and productivity. Using a CAN ID module, for example, Harting developed a “smart” connector that can prevent incorrect configurations and simplify predictive maintenance.

Connectors

Intelligent connectors - when components communicate

User friendliness required

Simple - this is also the right keyword for topic area 4. Because, according to ZVEI, user-friendliness, ie easy handling, is becoming increasingly important. A big topic here is, for example, push-in connection technology, which more and more companies are now offering for connectors and terminal blocks. The push-in technology plays a major role, especially when it comes to wiring in the control cabinet. In a survey carried out by Vogel Business Media on behalf of Phoenix Contact in 2014, the arguments in favor of this technology were above all the short wiring time, the simple handling and the reduced process costs during installation. In addition to installation and operation, planning and configuration can also be made user-friendly. Wieland Electric offers a new online tool for this:Wieplan Click-2-buy. It should facilitate planning and project planning as well as price determination and ordering of terminal strips. There is a bidirectional interface to Eplan. For the product selection, the project data are automatically transferred from the circuit diagram. The focus is on easy handling but also networked process engineering.

Interview on push-in connection technology

Efficiency in wiring is a big issue

Terminal block

Smart online tool makes configuration and ordering of terminal strips easier

Transmission technologies are changing

After all, electrical connections are also about transmission technologies - the fifth topic of the ZVEI. High transmission rates and large information flows require interference-free signal and data transmission. To do this, connection components must function reliably. Lapp and Intercontec have z. B. their assembly is partially automated and achieve 360 ​​° shielding due to new process steps, which significantly improves the shielding effect. Weidmüller, on the other hand, has developed contactless energy transmission based on the inductive coupling between two circuits. This should open up completely new possibilities for establishing a connection in future.

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