The Fieldbus Foundation, a not-for-profit grouping of 120 of suppliers and end users of process control and automation products, has announced its new AT-446 H1 Starter Kit. The starter kit is described as ‘fast track’ to cost-effective automation solutions.
Bi-directional
‘H1’ Fieldbus is a digital, bi-directional communication system operating at 31.5kbps. The specification provides peer to peer communications between devices on the ‘control backbone’ avoiding dependencies on a central computer. A second level high speed Ethernet (HSE) protocol interconnects H1-linked devices to control systems.
Conklin
Joe Conklin, Fieldbus VP Marketing, said, ‘The Starter Kit is a valuable asset for controls and instrumentation companies that want to take advantage of the growing global demand for Foundation technology. Suppliers can ‘jump start’ their H1 product development programs and engage the expanding Fieldbus market.’
Tokenizer
The Starter Kit features a test environment for intermediate device developers. The kit contains a word-searchable CD of the most recent Fieldbus specifications, including the device function block specs, the Device Description Tokenizer, a one-year subscription to the Device Description Library and a test kit. Sixteen hours of consulting is included in the package, along with all the tools required for Fieldbus device development.
Windows
The Fieldbus Starter Kit runs on standard Wintel hardware and includes all of the development tools and documentation needed to develop H1-compliant devices. The H1 Starter Kit is available to Fieldbus members at an all-in price of $19,000—a 35% saving over individually purchased components.
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