By John Guite, Division Engineering Manager
In the continuing evolution of motion control networks, the world has seen a movement from traditionally cabled analog-based motion wiring to more advanced fieldbus solutions such as CANopen and DeviceNet to high-performance Ethernet-based motion networks being deployed today. In hindsight this evolution makes sense. As processor technology improved and network infrastructure grew solutions presented themselves to the problems of configuring cumbersome and expensive cabled applications. This has yielded several powerful Ethernet-based networks capable of meeting the high-performance motion needs of many applications.