Asian motion control network makes strides in North America

Membership of The Mechatrolink Members Association (MMA) has reached the 900 member plateau, including 50 firms in North America. The MMA is a group of Mechatrolink product developers and users who promote the use of Mechatrolink, an industrial network optimised for motion control.

Mechatrolink is an industrial network optimised for motion control, and is the most popular motion control network in Asia. In fact, it’s getting to the point where, to sell machine controls and factory automation into the Asian market, a company’s best approach is to use Mechatrolink. It is an open fieldbus protocol originally developed by Yaskawa and now maintained by the MMA.

It is an independent non-profit organization that makes Mechatrolink specifications and operating parameters available to all. The organisation also works to ensure that products labeled as MMA-compatible meet the relevant specifications. The MMA is continually improving network performance and actively recruiting new members.

“Mechatrolink is the most widely used motion control network in Asia,” says Derek Lee, a representative of MMA North America, “We also welcome the relatively large number of North American companies to the MMA.”
 
Mechatrolink connects devices such as servo motors, servo amps and I/O to each other and to motion controllers such as PLCs, PACs and motion controllers. Mechatrolink is available in both RS-485 and Ethernet versions, operates at speeds up to 100 Mbps, and can support up to 62 simultaneous devices.

“It’s rapidly reaching the point where, to sell machine controls and factory automation into the Asian market, a company’s best approach is to use Mechatrolink,” says Lee.

North American members include Cleveland Motion Controls, National Instruments, Manufacturing Data Systems, Phoenix Contact, Red Lion Controls, Texas Instruments, Turck, Yaskawa and many others.

Over the last 20 years since Mechatrolink was established, more than 2 million Mechatrolink devices have been shipped, and more than 300 different products have been certified to Mechatrolink specifications. Device profiles for motion nodes have been clearly defined and proved effective over two decades of development and use.

MMA provides worldwide support for Mechatrolink with affiliates in Germany, Japan, China, Korea and the U.S.—and Mechatrolink is in the process of becoming an official international IEC standard for industrial communication networks.

See our Fieldbus Page for details of other fieldbus protocols