Controlnet, Devicenet, Ethernet, PLC

B

Thread Starter

Bic

I am mechanical engineer who is really new in networking area, and have absolutely no idea about it. Because of my new project, I need to understand the basic concept of how networking works. Controlnet, Devicenet, Ethernet, PLC, Fibrecable.

It would be great if you guys could tell me where I can learn basic understanding about these stuff.

Thanks :)
 
J

James Ingraham

Well, this is a big can of worms.

Just to ask, why does a mechanical engineer need to know how industrial networks work?

"Controlnet, Devicenet, Ethernet, PLC, Fibrecable..."

Well, it sounds like you're in a Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley dominated area. That does help narrow things down a bit. I'd start with
http://www.ab.com/networks/
http://www.odva.org

It's much easier to pick this stuff up from someone who's been doing it, rather than trying to sort through the gobs of information out there. Best would be if you can find someone at your company. Vendors can also be helpful. Last resort is classes, but classes can be hit or miss.

Once you get going, you should try to keep up with some publications like
Control Design - http://www.controldesign.com
Control - http://www.controlglobal.com
Control Engineering - http://www.controleng.com/
InTech - http://www.isa.org
The Industrial Ethernet Book - http://ethernet.industrial-networking.com/

Good luck.

-James Ingraham
Sage Automation, Inc.
 
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