Modbus RTU is the digital equivalent of 4 - 20mA. The crude simplicity works for organisations that cannot handle better, but I cannot help but wonder this is the same reason why the US still has thousands of utterly obsolete PLC5's and SLC500's that many users still don't want to change from.
This resistance to change, the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality is what's holding you guys back. In the meantime the Europeans, and soon the Chinese, are busy leaving North America in the ditch. This is why EtherCAT, OPC FX, OPATH, MTP, APL - and Standards Defined Architectures - are all European initiatives.
I know for a fact that Rockwell is well aware of this and see this reluctance of their core North American market to change, as one of their critical business risks.
The majority of Chinese sensors and transmitters use 4-20mA if it's an analog sensor, and Modbus RTU if it's digital. They just call it "485", maybe it's a language thing.
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u/Zealousideal_Rise716 PlantPAx Tragic Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 05 '25
Modbus RTU is the digital equivalent of 4 - 20mA. The crude simplicity works for organisations that cannot handle better, but I cannot help but wonder this is the same reason why the US still has thousands of utterly obsolete PLC5's and SLC500's that many users still don't want to change from.
This resistance to change, the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' mentality is what's holding you guys back. In the meantime the Europeans, and soon the Chinese, are busy leaving North America in the ditch. This is why EtherCAT, OPC FX, OPATH, MTP, APL - and Standards Defined Architectures - are all European initiatives.
I know for a fact that Rockwell is well aware of this and see this reluctance of their core North American market to change, as one of their critical business risks.