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Sercos profile aims to cut energy consumption

15 February, 2011

Vendor organisations that back the Sercos communications interface have announced the release of an energy profile specification for the Sercos III real-time Ethernet communications system.

Called Sercos Energy, it is intended to cut energy consumption in three areas. First, it reduces the permanent load when a motor or machine is stopped; second, it adjusts consumption dynamically, depending on the process and the target completion times or dates (partial load operation); and third, it saves energy during processing by switching off components that are not needed at a particular time or point in the process (partial machine operation).

Sercos Energy is an application layer profile that defines parameters and commands for cutting energy consumption in a vendor-independent manner. A controller reads the parameters of each Sercos Energy component via Sercos III, receiving status information and detailed consumption values.

Depending on the situation – for example, whether there are scheduled or unscheduled breaks, or machine components that are not needed in the current production process – the controller can switch connected components (such as drives, I/O, or sensors) into energy-saving modes up to complete shut-down, thus cutting their energy use.

Products that support the new profile are being developed and are expected to reach the market this year. A white paper explaining Sercos Energy can be downloaded from the Sercos Web site.




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