Austin, TX USA, April 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FieldComm Group, the leading worldwide member organization for developers of process automation instrumentation, systems and services and owner of the HART® Communication Protocol, today announces the availability of a software, hardware and services development platform for HART-IP™ enabled instruments. With an installed base over 40 million instruments, HART® is by far the most dominant communications protocol used in process manufacturing facilities around the world.
HART® embraced Internet Protocol (IP) in 2009, shortly after the release of the WirelessHART® protocol. Now, as low-cost, 2-wire, Ethernet enabled solutions for field instrumentation get ready to enter the market, the time is right for HART-IP™ enabled wired instruments. Based on the popular Raspberry PI (3B+) system and using GitHub repositories, the HART-IP™ Developer Kit provides a path for process instrumentation manufacturers to prototype and demonstrate high speed HART-IP™ instruments with minimal engineering effort.
Initially configured to work with power-over-ethernet (PoE) solutions, the developer kit features a replaceable Ethernet module that will be upgraded to support 2-wire Ethernet-APL as components become available in the future. Planned upgrades also include incorporation of FieldComm Group’s OPC UA-centric Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM™), for interoperability with OPC UA based enterprise applications, as well as support for JSON and XML based DeviceInfo files for use with lightweight IIoT edge gateway solutions.
“FieldComm Group is committed to continued support of the vast installed base of HART® devices and the enhancement of the HART® protocol to migrate these assets in the age of digitalization. Over 375 FieldComm Group members, representing major suppliers to the process industry, can now leverage this development to build upon the value from field devices by extracting more data at the speed of internet. We are excited to show users a path that will lead them to an ethernet-based solution while protecting their investment and not impacting their reliability.”, claims Ted Masters, President and CEO of FieldComm Group.
Continuing, Mr. Masters states, “Device integration and seamless plant floor to cloud data transfer is a requirement for digital transformation since the ultimate goal is to provide data in a standard way across all suppliers and protocols. Combined with other technologies, such as Field Device Integration (FDI®), JSON and Process Automation Device Information Model (PA-DIM™), these technologies offer suppliers and users a well-defined path to realize this vision.”
Pricing and Availability
The HART-IP™ Developer Kit is currently available to both FieldComm Group members and non-members. The kit includes hardware, software access to a HART-IP™ server, HART-IP™ client and a sample EDD as well as instructions and four hours of technical support from FieldComm Group technical staff. Members can purchase the kit for $995, while non-members can purchase it for $1495 directly from FieldComm Group’s online store: go.fieldcommgroup.org/orderform.
About FieldComm Group
The FieldComm Group is a global standards-based organization consisting of leading process end users, manufacturers, universities and research organizations that work together to direct the development, incorporation and implementation of new and overlapping technologies and serves as the source for FDI technology. FieldComm Group’s mission is to develop, manage, and promote global standards for integrating digital devices to on-site, mobile, and cloud based systems; provide services for standards conformance and implementation of process automation devices and systems that enable and improve reliability and multi-vendor interoperability; lead the development of a unified information model of process automation field devices while building upon industry investment in the HART®, FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus and FDI™ standards. Membership is open to anyone interested in the use of the technologies. For more information, please visit www.fieldcommgroup.org