Ixarc Absolute Encoders Now with Io-Link Interface – Smart Absolute Rotary Encoder Ready for Industry 4.0

December 3, 2021

POSITAL has announced that its family of absolute rotary encoders has been expanded to include support for the popular IO-Link communications interface. Simplify your communications system, acheive magnetic multiturn sensing without gear or battery, get condition monitoring via temperature sensor and vibration (coming soon), use hardware I/O-Pin for preset, reset or cam switch, enjoy simple wiring reducing costs, and benefit form automatic parameterization after device replacement.

IO-Link is a low-cost, easy-to-implement communications system designed to simplify connections between large-scale fieldbus or industrial Ethernet networks and sensor or actuator devices located on the factory floor. On one side of an IO-Link master gateway device is an interface to the plant-wide network, while the other side has multiple point-to-point connections to individual sensor devices. The IO-Link interface for end devices is relatively simple, eliminating the need to support complex communications protocols at the sensor/actuator level. IO-Link supports a variety of data types, including measurement data, device configuration instructions and information about operating condition parameters such as temperature. Read more about POSITAL’s communication interfaces here.

Multi-turn models have several exciting new features, including 16 bit resolution, the ability to output rotation speed directly to the controller and the addition of electronic cam/preset/reset functionality (making use of binary digital signals transmitted through Pin 2 of the connector). There are also extended device diagnostics. Temperature and vibration sensors built into multi-turn encoders enables monitoring these condition parameters. Rotation counters on multi-turn models are powered by energy harvested from the rotation of the device’s shaft, ensuring that the rotation count is always up to date – even when movements occur when power to the device is unavailable. This eliminates the need for backup batteries and helps to reduce maintenance costs. Click here for singleturn and multiturn measurement principles.

Wide Variety, Easy to Select

Like other POSITAL IXARC encoders, the IO-Link connected sensors will be available with a wide range of housing materials, levels of environmental protection (up to IP69K), shaft type/diameter and mounting flanges. This means that customers can configure sensors that have exactly the right mechanical and performance characteristics for their application, quickly and at competitive costs. POSITAL makes it easy for customers to find the right IO-Link encoder for their specific application. The product finder tool enables a customer to specify the product features required for their project and quickly zero in on the most suitable products.

Find more information on all IO-Link Encoders here