Plastic Optical Fiber Components for Industrial Control

June 2, 2005
Products based on plastic optical fiber (POF) support the emerging interface protocol Sercos.

Sercos is an open-standard digital interface for fiber-optic communication between digital controls, motor drives, I/Os, sensors, and actuators in CNC systems. The products also support future technologies that include glass optical fiber and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers.

The Sercos transmitter, for example, operates at a wavelength of 650 nm at data rates to 16 Mbps over 1-mm POF or 200-m hard-clad silica fiber. The receiver consists of a photodiode and an onboard digitizing IC with TTL-compatible output, operating on a single 5-Vdc supply. Both devices are packaged in TO-46 metal cans.

Sercos-enabled devices find use in assembly, material handling and robotics, metal-forming and welding machines, plastic molding machines, semiconductor processing equipment, packaging, converting, textile processing, fiber winding, and food-processing machinery.

TT Electronics, Optek Technology
1645 Wallace Dr.
Carrollton, TX, 75006
(972) 323-2200
www.optekinc.com

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