Turck introduces programmable gateway

Turck the sensor, fieldbus and interface specialist has expanded its product range with a programmable fieldbus gateway for the I/O system BL67. The BL67-PG-EN is programmable with CoDeSys compliant to IEC 61131-3 and supports the growing demand for distributed automation solutions. The user has the conventional programming languages LD (ladder diagram), FBD (function block diagram), IL (instruction list), ST (structured text) and SFC (sequential function chart) available for programming.

The heart of the new gateway is a 32 bit RISC processor with 512 kByte programming memory which can process 1,000 IL instructions in less than 1 millisecond. In addition to 10/100 MBit Ethernet an RS232 interface is provided as a programming interface. Turck provides I/O-Assistant – the free-of-charge engineering, commissioning and maintenance tool – for fieldbus configuration with the BL67-PG-EN. The first programmable gateway with Modbus-TCP interface will be available for the SPS/IPC/Drives and a Profibus version will be available on the market just a few weeks later. A programmable gateway module is also in preparation for the BL20 I/O system, the control cabinet based system from Turck.

Turck also provides an ideal addition to the RFID package BL ident with the programmable gateway. Thanks to the newly gained “intelligence” the gateway takes the load off of the higher-level control, as the entire handling of the RFID communication, which can sometimes be complex, can now be implemented on a distributed basis in the gateway. The function block (“Proxy Ident Block”) required for the PLC is implemented directly in the programmable gateway. Only user data can be exchanged with the higher-level control in this way. Thus the RFID system can be connected to the controls of different manufacturers without time-consuming matching and programming, even when no function blocks are available for these controls.