Readers for connection to CNC machines
Today, industrial automation is no longer the preserve of large companies alone. Medium and smaller companies are also dealing with automation with CNC machines. Every company that uses CNC machines becomes more accurate, faster and more competitive.
CNC machines are supplied by various manufacturers. For example, Stäubli, FANUC, KUKA, Yaskawa, ABB, Siemens, Beckhoff, SMC, SICK, EUCHNER, Allen-Bradley and others...
It is possible to add a code reader to speed up and refine the automation of CNC machines. Mostly 1D/2D code readers are supplied, because nowadays even 1D/2D code readers achieve goodThese readers are not as susceptible to mechanical shocks as the previously supplied 1D laser readers.
The readers will therefore read the 1D/2D code that triggers the next action of the CNC machine. Therefore, the reader must communicate with the CNC machine via the CNC machine interface. These are different, depending on the brand of CNC machine.
The CNC machine can be connected to the reader via an interface:
- Profinet
- RS-232
- USB
Profinet interface
PROFINET is defined by PROFIBUS and PROFINET International (PI) and is supported by the INTERBUS club. It has been part of the IEC 61158 and IEC 61784 standards since 2004. PROFINET is an industrial communication interface for control systems in the field of industrial automation. Profinet is built on the foundations of industrial Ethernet and therefore works with the IT standards TCP/IP.
The PROFINET interface is not directly an interface that barcode readers have. Deployment is handled by PROFINET converters, which are recommended for individual sensor types by companies such as ZEBRA, Honeywell, Datalogic.
RS-232 interface - Recommended Standard 232
One of the oldest but still popular communication protocols used in industrial and commercial products is RS-232. It is likely that most of us are familiar with the standard 9pin DB9 cable. It was used to connect various devices - printers, modems, CNC machines. Today, it is still found for connecting peripherals to CNC machines.
USB interface - Universal Serial Bus
It is currently the most widely used bus. It replaces the previously used connection methods(serial and parallel port, PS/2, Gameport, etc.). It is used in practice in USB mode - VCOM (USB virtual serial port) or USB-HID (Human Interface device) or keyboard emulation.
