10/31/2005 -- ODVA announced plans for a new project to develop a network targeted at simple sensors and actuators. This new network will leverage the CIP Advantage by using the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP), a single, media-independent protocol that provides the interoperability essential to open networks and systems. This new network technology, which is designed to complement and expand the CIP family of networks for automation, including DeviceNet and EtherNet/IP, is targeted at applications requiring large numbers of distributed sensors and actuators, including electrical assembly machines and conveyor systems. The result will be a new CIP Network that will enable manufacturers to transmit small packets of data quickly between controllers and sensors and actuators, and to connect these devices using cost-effective physical media that is simple to install. ODVA has named this new activity "Project CipNet SA."
OMRON Corporation, one of the founding members of ODVA, has developed the technology for this new network concept, and OMRON has granted ODVA the right to this technology to develop a new CIP Network standard.
Shingo Tokiwa, ARC Advisory Group, commented, "This new technology expands the options available to users of CIP Networks for sensor/actuator-centric applications requiring high-speed communications capability while lowering the cost of wiring."
