FDT Group, an independent, international, not-for-profit industry association supporting the evolution of FDT Technology, today announced the release of its updated developer tools, known as Common Components, supporting the latest FDT 2.1 standard. The automation supplier community uses Common Components to simplify FDT/DTM™ and FDT/FRAME™ development in compliance with the FDT 2.1 specification. Additionally, the tools greatly enhance interoperability while accelerating time to market.
The release of the FDT 2.1 specification in 2018 set the FDT Group’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) transformation path to connect and empower the intelligent enterprise based on industry-driven feedback across the process, hybrid and discrete manufacturing markets. “Because the FDT 2.1 standard is forward and backwards compatible, the technology is uniquely positioned to connect the current installed base with new IIoT assets,” said FDT Group Managing Director Glenn Schulz. “The latest version of the standard is focused on security, performance, ease of use and investment protection to allow automation suppliers and end-users to take advantage of FDT’s evolving open integration and information sharing architecture. These new features, embedded in suppliers’ system and device offerings, will elevate their product line to meet the digital transformation pathway demanded by the industrial sector.”
The Common Component development tool kit was first launched with the release of the FDT 2.0 standard in 2012 to simplify product development, saving countless engineering hours, while also allowing engineers to focus on value-added functionally to achieve a competitive advantage. These tool kits have served the market well for the many leading controls and instrumentation manufacturers that have developed and deployed FDT/FRAMEs, FDT/FRAME-enabled systems and DTMs. Today, FDT serves as the industry’s de-facto integration and information-sharing standard, adopted by millions of end-users around the world. With the launch of the new FDT 2.1 Common Components, automation vendors can now accelerate development of next-generation, FDT-based products and solutions.
FRAME Common Components create a library of routines to simplify the development of compliant FDT/FRAME applications providing an open, integrated, single access point to networks and installed assets. These robust tools can be used by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for development of an FDT/FRAME carrying company-specific branding by bundling the FRAME application with DTMs for distribution to customers as a complete turnkey solution for device parameterization.
Furthermore, the Common Components can be integrated with an engineering application, such as a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) programming tool, a Distributed Control System (DCS), an asset management application, or just about any other type of software application. The Common Component toolkit encapsulates the FDT specification, thus simplifying integration of FDT in existing and new applications. Developers can link their Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) with the components via defined software interfaces to give customers a familiar user experience, offering a native look and feel to their FDT/FRAME interface in an application. They can also focus on other application tasks without having to deal with implementing the FDT specification. This helps to avoid mistakes and reduces overall development time and effort.
DTM Common Components is the comprehensive tool kit for the development of an intelligent device FDT/DTM assuring compliance with the FDT standard. Common Components meet all basic low-level software coding requirements for instrument manufacturers developing FDT-based intelligent devices. These tools are essential to freeing up developer time to focus on unique differentiating features. They can be used for both simple and complex devices, allowing these instruments to seamlessly integrate with an FDT/FRAME-enabled system.
A key advantage of FDT Common Components is that they have been extensively tested with each other through a rigorous battery of regression tests. This ensures FRAME and DTM products built using the Common Components will interoperate more seamlessly when they arrive in the field. The use of these powerful toolkits also expedites testing through the certification process with FDT Group’s official dtmINSPECTOR certification tool. FDT-enabled solutions that employ Common Components are automatically green-lighted for a wide range of test cases that would otherwise need to be performed on an individual basis.
Common Components toolkits are available for purchase by both FDT Group members and non-members, with a discount granted to members. Current FDT Group members with a Common Components toolkit license will automatically receive a link to download the latest version.
To inquire about FDT Common Components, please email [email protected].
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