Omron recognized for continued commitment to open technology

On 22nd November 2011, during the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair in Nuremberg, Germany (22-24 November 2011), Omron was awarded the Certificate of Compliance for Function Blocks for Motion Control by PLCopen. Omron has been recognized by PLCopen for implementing and complying with the standards relating to the motion control function blocks within its new Sysmac NJ-series machine automation controller.

The certificate was presented to Mr Shinya Yamasaki, Executive Officer and Senior General Manager of Automation Systems Division Headquarters from Omron Japan by the Managing Director of PLCopen, Mr Eelco van der Wal, during a presentation ceremony conducted at the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair. Omron is a long term member of PLCopen and it is expected that this continued cooperation will benefit PLCopen when it begins to promote programming standardization within the Asian market. Although 61131 is not widely recognized in Japan, Omron would look to promote IEC61131-3 standard in Japan and Asia Pacific area as it continues development of its Sysmac automation platform. Mr van der Wal was delighted with the support from Omron and agreed that any promotion for IEC 61131-3 would assist in positioning it as a legitimate alternative to proprietary programming systems.

The role of PLCopen, according to Mr van der Wal, is to create and promote programming standards in order to help engineers work more efficiently and make machines more flexible. Mr Yamasaki also believes that developing programming standardization, especially for PLCs and motion controllers, will significantly reduce learning between automation vendors and therefore accelerate development. Omron’s European Motion Business Unit was praised for its help in defining the motion control function blocks for the standard by Mr van der Wal who looks forward to continued cooperation with Omron Europe B.V.

Omron used the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair to launch the Sysmac NJ-Series machine automation controller. Programming methodologies and data types are fully compliant with IEC 61131-3 standards and also comply with PLCopen Function Blocks for Motion Control. With its built-in EtherCAT interface, the NJ integrates motion, logic sequencing, vision and networking within one software: Sysmac Studio. www.sysmac.eu

PLCopen is an association dedicated to providing independent information on programming standards and raising user awareness of the benefits of standardized programming. This involves resolving topics related to control programming to support the use of international standards such as IEC-61131-3 as well as PLCopen extensions to this standard. By raising awareness of programming standards PLCopen aims to reduce the costs of industrial automation in areas such as training, operation, maintenance and engineering. www.PLCopen.org