Hilscher is aggressively expanding its presence in the industrial wireless communications market by introducing a new wireless center networking wireless master that can wirelessly connect up to 16 sensors and actuators, doubling the number of existing devices.

Hilscher announced today that it has introduced one of the first master solutions for wireless networking of actuators and industrial IO-Link sensors using its new netFIELD device IO-Link wireless master.

The new IO-Link wireless master is based on the existing IO-Link standard according to IEC 61131-9 and can connect a total of 16 sensors and actuators, which is twice as many as the existing wired IO-Link master. It is currently available as a master in PROFINET and EtherNet/IP networks, with a version for EtherCAT coming soon.

Headquartered in Hattersheim, Germany, Hilscher, in collaboration with CoreTigo (Hilscher's technology partner), a specialist in high-availability wireless industrial communication solutions, is developing a new way for machine builders and plant operators to easily transmit and use data generated during production in a flexible and reliable manner.