Hi All,

My question may be very simple and useless. But i have to clear my doubt. Sorry...

I have an actuator(Auma) - 4-20 mA control. and actuator controlled through Profibus. Is it possible to control this actuator from my laptop(With some interface cards) without PLC? 

What are the supporting devices required to have a control to the device?

Regards,

Hello List;

Your Auma valve actuator has both 4-20 mA and Profibus controls? And which interface do you wnat to command over a laptop?

For the 4-20 mA side, controlled through the PC, you could look at DAQ cards for PC, from Advantech or from Acces I/O; you will have to search for the software (offered by each company) that will include the drivers for the DAQ card and the control of the DAQ outputs:

https://accesio.com/?p=/cat/output.html

On the Profibus side, you would need:

1. an interface between the laptop and Profibus, probably a USB converter would be the easiest to work with.

2. drivers for that USB interface, so your software can communicate with it and the slaves on your network. Make sure the drivers match the Operating System on your laptop.

3. software that runs on the laptop, connects to the slave over the suggested USB interface and allows you to command te valve actuator over Profibus.

My suggestion in that case would be to look for a Profibus Master Simulator package that includes all these requirements. There are a few available on the market. You should make the evaluation of each offer to ensure the package will work with your laptop:

https://www.felser.ch/profibus-manual/simulatoren.html (offering links to Procentec simulators)

https://www.anybus.com/products/gateway-index/specific-gateways/master-simulators/detail/profibus-master-simulator

https://www.pepperl-fuchs.com/global/en/classid_216.htm?view=productdetails&prodid=3091

https://www.bihl-wiedemann.de/us/products/bus-couplersmaster-simulators/product-overview-bus-couplersmaster-simulators/l/bw1131.html

You might want to estimate the cost of the simulator packages and the work you will need to program and test them, compared to having a small PLC with a Profibus master interface, such as a CPU 313C-2DP that you can now find rather cheaply on EBay or with Siemens resellers.

Hope this helps,

Daniel Chartier