Thanks to Interbus, Germany’s Transrapid Has a ‘Cool’ Journey

INTERBUS

By Control Engineering Staff January 1, 1997

S cheduled to go in service in 2004, the high-speed ‘Transrapid’ will allow 40,000 passengers to connect daily between Hamburg, Schwerin, and Berlin. The train has already achieved a speed of 450 km/h on its 31.5 km test route in northern Germany.

ing field’ which moves the train along its route. The long stator is fed with a three-phase traveling field of 0 to 250 Hz, depending on the speed required. At 242 Hz, the Trans-rapid reaches a speed of 450 km/h.

A ‘cool’ train

Although the two 15 MVA electronic rectifiers are equipped with the most advanced gate turn-off (GTO) thyristors, they dissipate enough power to require a water cooling system. This is controlled by a Siemens Simatic S5 135U programmable controller (PLC) in the central operating room. The PLC has an Interbus controller card from which an Interbus cable is connected to the switch cabinet in the basement of the building. This cabinet contains Phoenix Contact Interbus modules for temperature measurement, power contactors, display lights, and return messages.

stem could be quickly taken into operation as the cables are prewired to plugs which are on the modules. The Phoenix Contact Interbus controller could also be quickly integrated into the Siemens PLC S5 135U. The CMD software (Configuation, Monitoring, Diagnostics) made a quick start-up possible.’

Article supplied courtesy of Dipl.-Ing. ReinhardÖvermann, Phoenix Contact GmbH, Blomberg, Germany

GM Romulus Project Upgrades With Interbus

U nique challenges always exist when automation equipment is upgraded, and GM’s engine plant in Romulus, Mich., proved to be the rule, not the exception.

stations, 6,000 I/O points, and 172 servo axes. It had to be accomplished a few stations at a time.

ated software debug time.

hat had servo systems match, and Phoenix Contact and Emerson Electric provided it.’

assanella. He says installations are going smoothly and should be complete by the first quarter of 1997.

Article supplied courtesy of John F. Rupp, Phoenix Contact, Harrisburg, PA.

Interbus At a Glance

Interbus is a device-level fieldbus designed by Phoenix Contact and released in 1987. It was opened to partners in 1990. It is fast, deterministic (token passing, ring topology), and has a strong following by drive manufacturers. Up to 64 ‘remote’ nodes may be connected, each up to 400 meters apart. Interbus also allows for secondary, 10-meter loops; there can be up to 192 nodes in these ‘local’ buses. The remote nodes and the local nodes use the same ASIC chips but are implemented differently so these two types of nodes are not interchangeable. The signal conforms to RS-485 and is transmitted at 500K bits/s. It was designed for a single host.

te return path with each node acting as a simple repeater. The remote bus uses 3 pair twisted wire with shield and drain; the local bus requires five twisted pair wires with shield and drain. Power may be optionally supplied to sensors and actuators on the bus.

https://www.turck.com

INTERBUS PRODUCTS

Smart terminal blocks

Highly demanding functions such as event counting and positioning with incremental encoders are performed decentrally by these two new rail-mounted Interbus modules, a four-channel counter, and a two-channel positioning module. The counter can measure pulses up to 90 kHz and the positioning module can process frequencies up to 500 kHz.

PHOENIX CONTACT

Interbus coprocessor cards

Available in both the U.S. (Synergetic Micro) and Europe (Hilscher), these ISA (master) and PC/104 (master or slave) cards support up to 4,096 I/O points and can scan the entire Interbus network in 14 msec. The coprocessor arrangement relieves the host from managing the Interbus network, leaving more processor time for control. Software driver and developer kits are available for DOS, OS/2, and all Windows applications.

HILSCHER/SYNERGETIC

MICRO SYSTEMS

Pneumatic valves for Interbus

Buslink Pneumatic Valve Island Systems are compatible with Interbus. Islands of four to 16 valves have built-in connections, a single power supply, LEDs and a common supply pressure to all valves.

ASCO PNEUMATIC CONTROLS

Pneumatic valve manifolds

Festo’s Midi/Maxi series modular pneumatic valve manifolds for Interbus connect to Interbus with a small FB6 interface card. They are perceived by the host controller–a PC, PLC, or a VMEbus system–as standard remote I/O points. Up to 64 valve/sensor manifolds can be connected on one cable, with I/O updates as fast as 2.1 msec.

FESTO CORP.

QNX driver for Interbus

New fourth-generation Phoenix Contact Interbus boards, in both ISA and PC/104 form factors, are now supported by QNX 4.23. The software also supports Interbus-Loop modules, so it is possible to de-sign a complete system. QNX networking helps build subnetworks that are interconnected transparently, e.g., via Ethernet.

STEINHOFF AUTOMATION

Interbus cables

Olflex introduces two long-distance Interbus cables; one for data transfer and another for data transfer as well as power supply applications. Both provide complete shielding from electromagnetic interference (EMI/EMC) and a halogen-free, flame-retardant, and UV-resistant polyurethane jacket.

OLFLEX WIRE & CABLE

I/O System for Interbus

To help eliminate waste and lower system costs, Wago I/O terminal blocks come in sizes as small as two or four I/Os points. Other features include a marking carrier for circuit identification, LED status lights, easily removed DIN-rail blocks, and the use of cage-clamps for wire termination.

WAGO CORP.