Last year, Weidmüller presented the industrial service platform “easyConnect” –which provides universal access to all of the company’s digital services. It is far more than just “an account for all of Weidmüller’s digital services”. Instead, easyConnect links Weidmüller products with digital services, such as the u-control web control system with u-link remote access or various data visualisation options. This makes it possible to visualise IIoT data with tables, dashboards, and diagrams, or carry out live monitoring through a secure remote access connection.
It is just as easy tomanage and connect devices to the Industrial IoT as it is to organise devices according to individual asset structure, i.e. in a representation that can be set up according to the logic and structure of the customer-specific industrial plant. Likewise, machine data can be evaluated and analysed with custom machine learning models.
As an “enabler from data to value”, Weidmüller supports its customers with easyConnect, from data acquisition and pre-processing to data communication and analysis.IT security plays a major role when it comes to cloud-based platforms. Weidmüller guarantees a high level of security by using state-of-the-art encryption of relevant data layers (e.g. TLS) and hosting the data with a reliable and certified SaaS provider.
All services in a single place
Now, engineering services such as the OMNIMATE®4.0 web configurator will be launched as the next step. In the past, these were available only as part of the Weidmüller Configurator (WMC), and had to be installed for the application by the user as a desktop application. After the PCB plug-in connectors, other product groups will be made available in succession for web configuration. This offers a whole range of advantages for users:
• They can be accessed using any browser. The customer does not have to install any software, which on the one hand takes up memory capacity, and on the other is often made more difficult by strict IT department specifications.
• Product data is up-to-date at all times. Software upgrades, updates, and servicing are no longer necessary.
• Users, developers, and designers who work intensively with multiple Weidmüller applications can now enter them through a single point of access. A uniform design and uniform operation make work simpler.
• The cloud platform allows multiple employees to collaborate: for example, the Engineering department can select a product or a configured terminal block. Then, the data is transmitted directly to Purchasing, which can request an offer without entering the data again, and trigger the order. Currently, easyConnect is expanding role and rights management, so that different tasks and roles can be mapped virtually in the future as well.
Configure OMNIMATE®4.0 PCB plug-in connectors in easyConnect
The first product group to be made available for the printed circuit boards in easyConnect are OMNIMATE®4.0 plug-in connectors. OMNIMATE®4.0 combines the fast connection technology SNAP IN, a modular, configurable product design for hybrid interfaces and the availability of individual products within three days.
The product design, consisting of individual discs, offers users a wide range of combination options, to transmit power, signals and data in a single connector.
The PCB plug-in connectors have all relevant approvals according to IEC61984 and UL1059 for industrial applications. Data transmission with Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) according to IEC 63171-2 is also already integrated as an independent module. Now, easyConnect makes it even easier to create the right, customised product from countless potential combinations. The online version offers the same scope of functions as the WMC.
The engineering data associated with the product for the further design-in process can be downloaded immediately. In this way, the drawings as well as 3D models and PCB layout data (EDA data) support and accelerate development activities.By integrating the OMNIMATE®4.0 configurator, easyConnect not only taps into data from the sensor to the cloud, but also offers usersadditional services closely associated with specific products throughout the entire product life cycle,