Source code for device manufacturers.

ProfiDRIVE Roadmap

To further advance PROFIdrive and to enable efficient implementation of the profile, development support in the form of source code will be made available to device manufacturers. The foundations for this were laid in a kickoff meeting of the Industrial NETworx Community hosted by Hilscher in Germany on January 27, 2011, and attended by representatives of 15 companies. PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International) welcomes this action because it will contribute greatly to the wide dissemination of the profile and of PROFIBUS and PROFINET in drive applications.

With the help of the tested source code, device manufacturers will be able to implement PROFIdrive in their products much more quickly and easily. The community will support interested device manufacturers as they integrate the source code by answering related questions and by providing a platform for exchanging experience with all aspects of PROFIdrive.

The PI working groups “Drives Marketing” and “PROFIdrive Profile” will actively support the Community's development activities. Device manufacturers will be supported on an individual basis in case of questions regarding the specification as well as during development and product certification activities.

First development results will be presented at this year’s the Hanover Fair (4/8 April). Initial products are anticipated at SPC/IPC/DRIVES 2011 (22/24 Nov 2011- Nuremberg D).

Besides device manufacturers, other participants at the kickoff meeting included companies offering technology components and development kits. These companies will integrate the source code for PROFIdrive in their technology components and development kits and thus also contribute to faster implementation of drive interfaces with PROFIdrive.

Interested parties in the field of drive engineering and communication are invited to register to receive information from the Community and to participate in the development of the source code.