Festo Upgrades VTUX Valve Terminal with Energy-Saving Features and Flexible Network Connectivity

Component suppliers are producing smarter automation components that can help manufacturers cut operating costs and increase flexibility as they strive to increase energy efficiency and simplify machine integration. Festo has enhanced its VTUX valve terminal with additional functions to reduce the amount of compressed air used and to enable multiple industrial communication protocols.

The VTUX valve terminal is typically used in a robotic end-effector to control vacuum, pressure control and sensor feedback in pick and place operations. The latest improvement is the introduction of the Eco functions which adjust the pressure to the actuator according to the load handled. It can cut by 20% to 40% the use of compressed air, thereby enabling manufacturers to boost their energy efficiency and product output without sacrificing performance, according to Festo.

The company has also launched the CTED communication module, which allows the valve terminal to communicate with any industrial Ethernet network such as EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, CC-Link and Modbus TCP and eliminates the need to change hardware. It provides more flexibility to machine builders with respect to equipment integration in various factory automation applications.

Industry context

Optimizing energy use in manufacturing has become a growing priority for industries aiming to boost their sustainability and cut operating costs, and one of the biggest consumers of energy in manufacturing is compressed air. In today’s automated world, intelligent pressure management and energy-efficient pneumatic components are increasingly vital standard components.

Simultaneously, the ever-increasing use of smart manufacturing leads to the growth of demand for automation devices that can connect easily with a variety of industrial networks. To simplify the deployment and gradually facilitate maintenance, producers are using modular, software-based hardware solutions instead of developing a variety of hardware solutions to meet different control system requirements.

The recent innovations of Festo in the VTUX area remain completely in line markets, combining efficiency and connectivity. Automation spare parts that will gain more and more importance are those allowing to save resources and connect different machine into flexible production systems and as factories will implement more and more Industry 4.0 technologies.