With the rapid development of computer and automation technology, the level of industrial automation has reached a new level. According to its characteristics and use direction, it is divided into process control automation, production and manufacturing-oriented automation and automated measurement systems. Through these industrial bus systems, each industrial equipment forms a decentralized and unified whole. At present, plastic optical fiber has been used in industrial control for more than 20 years, and is widely used in processing automation, building automation, process automation, power generation and transmission and distribution, and field bus, process control and digital control in industrial control. Many factory internal control networks connect controllers, equipment, and sensors to monitor data and provide simple control feedback to the production line.

Specific application of POF in industrial control

For POF, the industrial control bus system is one of its most stable and largest markets. With the Profibus, Interbus, ControlNet and SERCOS standards using plastic optical fiber in electromagnetic noise and demanding environments as a transmission medium, through the converter, the POF can be connected to standard protocol interfaces such as RS232, RS422, 100Mbps Ethernet, token network, etc. Therefore, it provides stable and reliable communication lines in the harsh industrial manufacturing environment, and transmits industrial control signals and instructions at high speed, avoiding the danger of communication interruption caused by electromagnetic interference using all-metal cable lines. Because of its outstanding electrical "noise" immunity, it has become a very competitive product to replace copper cables in industrial control bus systems for industrial applications.

POF requirements for industrial control systems

In industrial control systems, the environment is complex and changeable, so the requirements for pof optical cables are different from the common plastic optical cables used in indoor applications, such as consumer electronics and optical fiber to desktop applications. POF cables are required to be more tough, abrasion-resistant, oil-resistant, and flame-retardant, so the design of POF cables is particularly important. It is usually achieved by increasing the number of layers and thickness of the sheath, and selecting high-strength, good-toughness, oil-resistant, wear-resistant, and flame-retardant plastics. The plastic optical fiber used in the industrial control system is a pmma optical fiber core with a standard core diameter of 1000um. Sheath materials are PUR, nylon, flame-retardant TPU, etc. At the same time, tensile anti-stretching aromatic nylon fibers can be added to increase strength.

The product is compatible with plastic optical fiber (1mm diameter) and HCS® (Hard Clad Silica) hard-clad quartz fiber. 1mm diameter POF plastic optical fiber is usually used in cost-conscious solutions such as frequency conversion, power electronics control and industrial fieldbus. HCS optical fiber is Usually used at higher data rates and longer link distances, Avago offers connector options including connectorless, ST, SMA, and VL universal links (Versatile Link).