Mettler Toledo Launches First Ethernet / IP-Based Product

Mettler Toledo introduces the first of a wave of devices using the new Ethernet/IP protocol for industrial networking. The new technology promises smarter, cheaper plug-and-play devices and simpler connections between plant floor and office.

Mettler Toledo International Inc. (Greifensee, Switzerland) recently demonstrated the first weigh scale terminal based on the new industrial networking protocol, Ethernet/IP. The new protocol promises to fill the gap between simple DeviceNet and ControlNet devices and more complex Profibus, Modbus, and Foundation fieldbus units.

Mettler Toledo's Jagxtreme terminal provides an impressive platform to show off new Ethernet/IP capabilities. It features an embedded Web browser that enables users to visualize weighing processes and run remote diagnostics. It is also able to predict equipment failures.

The industrial terminal is the first of a new wave of devices to use Ethernet/IP, which was introduced only four months ago in early March. Ethernet is the de facto standard for office and corporate networks. The "IP" in "Ethernet/IP" stands for "industrial protocol."

Just Another Fieldbus?
Ethernet/IP appears an promising new addition, even in an industry flooded with process device protocols and standards. It may never replace some of the industry's more sophisticated field buses, but it does promise unique features and a potentially attractive bottom line. Ethermet/IP:

• Promotes plug-and-play interoperability using off-the-shelf Ethernet products that offer standard connectivity with other industrial devices from multiple vendors.
• Has built in TCP/IP and Ethernet functionality for simplified communications over the Internet and most corporate networks.
• Enables devices to communicate status and maintenance requests over the Internet or through email.
• Places greater distributed intelligence on the factory floor.
• Supports real-time messaging for industrial control.
• Simplifies data transfer between plant floor to office.
• Promises lower costs and faster upgrades.
• Simplifies configuration.

Advantages
The real payoff for Ethernet/IP comes from its ability to tap the huge installed base of Ethernet networks and product developers, said Kevin Knake, a business manager at Pyramid Solutions Inc. (Troy, MI). Pyramid helped Mettler-Toledo convert its existing Jagxtreme to the new protocol.

"The Ethernet protocol has the largest installed base of networks in the world," Knake said. "It is a de facto standard in office and manufacturing facilities. Advances come very quickly. We started at 10 mbit tranfer rates, and now we're at 100 mbit and working on 1 Gbit. We're working on wireless communications. With so many developers, Ethernet moves faster than other standards."

Its large installed base also promises lower-cost devices. The large Ethernet market supports many developers and a host of standardized hardware and software. These combine to drive down costs the way only a mass market can.

Another Ethernet/IP advantage is its interface with Internet tools—browsers, Web servers, and Email servers—that typically operate over corporate Ethernet networks.

Jagxtreme shows off this capability. "It can send an email message to the plant floor maintenance people to calibrate or repair it," Knake said. "It doesn't take special software to configure it."

"You can use any browser to configure it," he said. "This is convenient because everyone has a browser and everyone knows how to use it. The intelligence is built right into the device, so users can upgrade or change configuration on their browser without a dedicated software program."

Finally, Ethernet/IP makes it easier and cheaper to move plant floor data onto the corporate network.

"In the past, if a MES [manufacturing execution system] wanted to get information off plant floor, the data had to go through data concentrator. A PLC [programmable loop controller] would collect the data, then translate it so the Ethernet could pull it," Knake said. "On Ethernet/IP, the information moves directly from devices on the plant floor onto the corporate network."

Rapid Development
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Jagxtreme was the speed at which Mettler Toledo and Pyramid converted an existing Jagxtreme scale terminal to Ethernet/IP. It took less than six weeks.

One reason the partners could move so fast is that Ethernet/IP's messaging layer—the part of the system that defines the language and type of messages sent between devices the same way http defines how Web pages communicate—is a subset of DeviceNet and ControlNet.

This made it easier to adapt Jagxtreme to Ethernet/IP. It also simplifies connectivity between Ethernet/IP, DeviceNet, and ControlNet devices in the same network.

Comparison Shopping
Compared to DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP provides greater distributed intelligence. Knake said it is ideal for instrumentation equipment, robot controllers, and more intelligent devices.

"DeviceNet is better for small, low-end devices that process only small amounts of data, such as on-off switches and proximity sensors," he said. Ethernet/IP requires a 16-bit microprocessor and about 1 MB of memory to implement Internet connectivity. DeviceNet uses a less costly 8-bit processor and only 4-16 KB of memory.

Compared to Foundation Fieldbus, which is targeted at the chemical and process industries, it supports a less robust set of distributed control features, Knake said.

Knake said Pyramid helped develop some of the Ethernet/IP protocol. It provides developer assistance to companies that want to add Ethernet/IP network connectivity to their products.

Jagxtreme is the first Ethernet/IP product to be announced, Knake said, and he expects more to follow. "We have contracts with several companies, and I know of other large companies that have products under development."

For more information, contact Mettler Toledo Inc., 1900 Polaris Pkwy, Columbus, OH 43240, 614-438-4511, fax 614-438-4871, or Kevin Knake, business manager, Communication Systems Group, Pyramid Solutions Inc., 1850 Research Dr., Suite 300, Troy, MI 48083, 248-524-3890, fax 248-524-3899.

By Alan S. Brown, Chemical Online managing editor