Emerson employs WSN products in new Smart Wireless solutions for mainstream manufacturing

By Plant Engineering Staff October 18, 2006

Emerson Process Management and Dust Networks, a provider of low-power wireless sensor networking (WSN) systems, recently announced use of Dust Networks’ Time-Synchronized Mesh Protocol (TSMP) as the communications technology used in Emerson’s new in-plant Smart Wireless field networks and solutions. Following three years of evaluating and field testing various technologies, the Smart Wireless solutions with TSMP technology are now being ordered for mainstream manufacturing use.

“Self-organizing mesh networking is one of the most exciting innovations to come along in the process industry in over 30 years,” said Steve Sonnenberg, president of Emerson’s Rosemount division. “We have tested a number of wireless sensor networking technologies in real-world industrial environments over the last three years and have found that Dust Networks’ TSMP technology best meets the reliability, security, long battery life and ease of use requirements demanded by our end users.”

“We are currently working with several leading industrial OEMs to bring standards-based wireless sensor networking solutions to market,” said Joy Weiss, CEO of Dust Networks. “Over the next few years, we expect to see the pervasive deployment of wireless sensor networks transforming the use of physical asset information, driven by the momentum in the industrial market.”

Extending Emerson’s PlantWebtal architecture, or with legacy DCSs and PLCs, to create a process automation network that delivers new and existing plant data to users. Easy access to data empowers local and mobile operators and maintenance personnel to expand predictive operations and maintenance, boosting plant reliability andoperational performance.

Emerson and Dust Networks are actively working with equipment vendors, end users and industry associations, including the Wireless HART working group of the HART Communications Foundation and ISA’s SP-100, to develop wireless networking standards that meet the requirements of industrial monitoring and control, enabling the widespread adoption of wireless sensor networking technology. Both companies are bringing field trial experience and use case learnings to the standards bodies.