Profidrive now works with Profinet

Profibus International has released Version 4.0 of its Profidrive profile, which can now be used on Profinet as well as Profibus, using the same interface. By separating the communications functions from the application, it is now possible to use Profidrive applications on Profibus or Profinet and to choose the most appropriate communications medium.

PI says that machine-builders and OEMs have been demanding the ability to use Profidrive on drives with Profinet communications, because it will allow them to react quickly and cost-effectively to changing market demands

The Profidrive profile describes a drive interface from the point-of-view of the control application, along with its mapping onto the communication system. It covers scenarios from simple frequency converters to dynamic servo drives, in six application classes.

.Profidrive can handle both simple applications and high-performance synchronous applications. At the recent SPS/IPC/Drives exhibition, PI introduced a clock-synchronous application of the Profidrive profile under Profinet for synchronous operation of several distributed motion control devices. This is expected to be particularly useful for applications such as synchronising electronic gears.

The new version of the Profidrive profile will be added to IEC 61800-7.