Andy Verwer, MMU
AS-Interface Extensions

Andy played a role in the morning introductory session by demonstrating the Yellow Cable in Action. Members of the audience clipped devices on to the cable and watched the configuration software being put through its paces. Later, Andy outlined the 2.1 extensions introduced several years ago before going on to describe the latest Version 3 changes. These are quite radical, he said, offering greatly enhanced functionality that in some cases crosses over the boundary with fieldbuses.

Download Andy's 'Extensions' presentation here

Phil Parry, HSE
Overview of Latest Standards

Phil gave a detailed talk on the latest Standards influencing Functional Safety systems.

Download Phil's presentation here

Paul Hingley, Siemens A&D
Linking ASi-safe with other Safety Networks

Paul's company is one of the leaders in ASi-Safe (more correctly known as AS-Interface Safety at Work), with 10,000 functional safety devices installed in UK alone. Paul was proud to introduce his latest product - a gateway allowing ASi-Safe signals to be sent into PROFIBUS networks running PROFIsafe. Linking two safety networks in this way is unique, and the ability to zone very large production lines is a major step forward.

Download Paul's slides here

Derek Lane, WAGO
Fieldbus Connectivity

Derek's presentation drew on his extensive experience of the industrial networking industry. It covered the range of fieldbuses and Industrial Ethernet options that sit above AS-i in the automation hierarchy and went on to show that AS-i makes an ideal partner for all of them, regardless of flavour or origin, because of the wide range of gateway devices available. It often makes real sense to use AS-Interface as an IO system underneath higher level networks.

Download Derek's slides here

Peter Cheetham, Sigmapi Systems
Doing it Right! and ASi in Food Manufacturing

Peter gave three presentations in all, as a proponent of 'Doing it Right' in which he gave his ten top tips for successful installation, and as an end user describing various real world applications. He also gave the final presentation of the day. Here are the two main presentations; Peter's final presentation was done to a single slide and made the point once more that errors are almost invariably due to human factors like stupidity, bad planning and incorrect wiring. He added: "The products almost never go wrong!"

Fabricio Grenados, Bihl + Weidemann
An Introduction to the Technology

Fab, as we privately call him, travelled from his base country Germany to be with us to present an introductory paper. The 20% or so of the audience who had no previous experience of the technology were the main beneficiaries, though more experienced listeners told us that 'being reminded' was invaluable.

Download Fab's slides here

Mike Appleton, LC Automation
Diagnostics

Mike came into the event at a late stage to deliver a comprehensive view of the diagnostics capabilities - available virtually free of charge - of AS-Interface, including Safety at Work devices.

Download Mike's slide set here

Andrew Hoyle, Controlled Lubrication
AS-i in a Maintenance Role

Andrew has built his company on using AS-Interface in some of the most demanding environments imaginable, to ensure that large systems like cement production machines are properly lubricated at regular intervals. The pictures alone are worth looking at because they prove AS-Interface devices can operate successfully under pretty awful conditions for years. AS-i's ease of application is also well-demonstrated: Andy began his career as a pipe-fitter!

Download Andrew's slides here