Direct Modbus control of Rotork actuators by RS485 serial communications,
provides a simple and reliable control strategy for valve automation.
Control of the complete range of Rotork IQ, IQM, IQT, IQTM and
Q electric actuators is possible using a low cost RS485 network
and the very familiar Modbus RTU protocol, by fitting the Modbus
module to any of these actuators products.
Modbus features
The Modbus Module Mk2
gives the Rotork range of actuators the capability for
direct serial communication over an RS485 highway as
an RTU slave with the most popular data protocol in use
today.
Modbus has been used for data
communication since the 1980’s and has proved to
be one of the most reliable, easy to use and simple protocols
ever invented.
A truly open system, Modbus does not require the purchase
of any specialist components to allow its implementation.
The Rotork actuator has a simple RS485, 2 wire
connection and acts as a Modbus RTU slave on the data highway.
Data rates up to 115kbaud are supported. Full control,
including position control, and status feedback is provided
from the actuator to the host system.
Modbus module options include
single highway, dual highway for systems requiring redundancy
and single
highway with inbuilt repeater versions of the card.
In the IQ and IQT actuators, major parameters
are programmable by the infra-red data link and all parameters
can be set over the Modbus RS485 highway, including the
module address and communication baud rate.
