Electronic Improvements made for Industrial Valve

Abstract

The paper puts in perspective the aspects of classic valve construction and the use of off-the-shelf products in order to improve the valve's features in terms of user interface, valve status in operating conditions and control interface to classic standardized communication protocols, such as EtherCAT®, ProfiBUS®. Because the resulting products are meant to be functional prototypes, most parts used for implementing new features will not be fully developed as for a sellable product, but only to the stage of proof-of-concept. To fully develop the used equipment will imply a dedicated study, which would allow the shift from general purpose use development boards and breakout sensor boards to application-specific equipment designed for assembly line manufacturing. The same study includes the use of Internet-of-Things in industrial environment and will be the subject of separate and dedicated article. The paper only mentions the possibilities and ways of achieving future design ideas.