A Fully Programmable Industrial Networking Multi-Tool
On the weekends, hobbyists make use of communications protocols such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and UART to get their electronics talking to each other. But when Monday rolls around, more reliable technologies may be needed — especially in industrial settings. There, more robust protocols such as CAN and RS-422/485 are used to link equipment together. While these methods are known to be reliable when used over long distances in environments with lots of electrical noise, they are generally more difficult to work with.
Adapters that use a fixed-function bridge chip are most commonly used to interface these communications lines with a computer. This setup provides the user with a way to interact with the connected equipment, but only in a very rigid way that is limited by the capabilities of the bridge chip. Using a custom protocol timing, for instance, would be out of the question if the adapter’s hardware does...
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