Steute Brings Continuous Information Transfer to LogiMAT – Product News

The steute business division "Wireless" will be exhibiting at LogiMAT – 8 –10 March, Stuttgart  – for the first time.

Steute develops and manufactures a wide range of switching devices, which communicate by radio instead of signal cables. This makes switchgear installation easier and means that components, which are often susceptible to wear and tear, such as cable carriers and slip rings, can be eliminated.

Communication between the switching device and receiver unit is taken care of by a very stable, yet low-energy wireless protocol on the universally accessible 868/915MHz waveband.

A typical application for wireless switchgear in material flow technology is a cable-free pull wire switch for opening and closing rolling gates from a forklift truck. Another example is wireless position switches and sensors used to detect the existence or removal of containers in "wireless kanban" systems set up to deliver parts to assembly workstations. Wireless switching devices are also used for communication between automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems and their surroundings, for example to control rapid action doors and other gates.

At LogiMAT, steute will be presenting a new wireless network, which eliminates the previous point-to-point connection between wireless switching devices and evaluation units. Instead, newly developed access points, which work similarly to a router, receive signals from the wireless devices, bundle them and transmit them to one or more application servers, via Ethernet or Wi-Fi for example.

The application server contains a database, provided by steute, which collects all information at field level and passes it on directly or via middleware to the customer IT platform (ERP, PDA, CMS, IMS) and if required also via web-services to multiple-site IT systems or to the Cloud. This guarantees continuous communication from individual switching devices in the warehouse, commissioning or production plants to the top of the company IT hierarchy.

Steute Wireless experts believe that sWave.NET represents the next logical step regarding the integration of switchgear in the industrial landscape. Customised network solutions, with their own applications servers and proprietary interfaces to company IT structures, provide new possibilities for information and data exchange beyond individual planes – within a variety of different branches and applications pertaining to material flow technology and logistics.