Mitsubishi Electric to Release 102 Factory Automation Products with the CC-Link IE TSN Compatibility

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it will release the 102 factory automation products, including programmable controllers, servo amplifiers, robots, GOTs (HMIs), inverters and CNCs that are compatible with the CC-Link IE TSN next-generation industrial open network, starting from May 7.  Integration of machine control and information communication required for next-generation smart factories will be realized on one network, further enhancing Mitsubishi Electric's e-F@ctory integrated factory automation solution.  In addition, high-speed, high-precision communication will reportedly improve machine performance and thereby contribute to productivity and quality improvement.

The CC-Link IE TSN is an Ethernet-based industrial network, based on specifications disclosed by CC-Link Partner Association on November 21, 2018.  It adopts TSN technology to mix different protocols through time synchronization.

Product features as follows:

Factory automation products support TSN technology for flexible Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) system architecture

• Factory automation products offering industry-first compatibility with CC-Link IE TSN
• Separately configured machine control and information communication can be integrated into one Ethernet cable, helping to reduce system configuration design and installation costs
• Easy parameter registration allows mixing of multiple communication cycles, such as 1 Gbps and 100 Mbps, enabling easy configuration of optimum systems

High-speed, high-precision communication helps improve productivity and quality

• With a link scan of 31.25 μs, high-speed processing that reportedly is 16 times faster compared to existing motion networks (CC-Link IE Field network motion), reducing facility and machine production cycle time for improved productivity
• High-precision synchronous control without communication delay, even in large-scale systems (communication variation time is less than ±1 μs when a maximum of 254 stations are connected), realizes highly data analysis in cloud and edge computing systems, thereby improving quality

Engineering tool improves system management

• Connected device profile coordination function with CSP+, the description language specifications released by CC-Link Partner Association, of Melsoft GX Works3 engineering tool manages all connected devices, including third-party partner products
• Graphically displays entire network status to allow network and fault device diagnosis with intuitive operation, helping to reduce downtime due to errors