Open Source Featured Article

Rockwell Automation has announced that it is supporting the release of a free, open-source EtherNet/IP software stack for I/O adapter devices made by the Vienna University of Technology. 

 

The technology is designed to connect different products using open communication standards and developers can download the new license- and royalty-free adapter stack through SourceForge.net.

 

The open-source communications stack was created and released by the Odo Struger Laboratory team of researchers from the Vienna University of Technology’s Automation and Control Institute. The stack is an open-source implementation of EtherNet/IP, an open network standard made available through ODVA. EtherNet/IP uses the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) on standard, unmodified Ethernet to allow communications from I/O to IT, connecting factory-floor devices to business-level systems.

 

Developers can use the open-source adapter stack in different EtherNet/IP I/O adapter-class products, like basic sensors, actuators, simple drives and I/O components. The lightweight, adapter-class stack is scalable and written in the C programming language, according to Rockwell. Its modularity and flexibility make it ideal for developers seeking a low- or no-cost communication stack for simple EtherNet/IP products. 

 

EtherNet/IP allows networks to communicate seamlessly on the factory floor, along with other IT capabilities like video, data and telephony, for a converged Ethernet architecture.

 

“An open-source stack with a support community gives industrial product developers a faster, more cost-effective way to integrate their products with CIP-based networks like EtherNet/IP,” said Harry Forbes, ARC Advisory Group. “Using open source accelerates time to market, decreases software development risk, and reduces many costs of custom software development. In addition, the availability of a peer-reviewed open-source component for EtherNet/IP provides product suppliers with greater assurance of full interoperability.”