The product portfolio of Balluff GmbH, a leading sensor and automation specialist with more than 3,600 employees, ranges from innovative sensor, identification and network technologies to software for end-to-end system solutions. Besides the head office in Germany, the company also has production and development sites, branches and representatives throughout the world. This ensures rapid and global availability of its products, perfect service and high-quality advice directly on site. Balluff has chosen HANNOVER MESSE 2018 to unveil a whole raft of innovations.

The company is expanding its Smart Vision Solutions line with 16 compact industrial cameras (BVS CA), which are ideal for inspecting objects from several angles simultaneously. It is also using two new photoelectric sensors to show how state-of-the-art production concepts and Industry 4.0 can benefit from intelligent solutions. These extremely versatile units combine various measuring principles in a single device and communicate the switching signal via IO-Link along with information about sensor status and current ambient conditions. In fact, IO-Link features prominently throughout Balluff's activities, as it sees this communications interface as a key enabler of Industry 4.0. At HANNOVER MESSE, it’s demonstrating how easy it is to create intelligent diagnostics and parameterization concepts, for example, using IO-LINK. Other innovations on show include the expanded safety portfolio, including a new, TÜV-certified all-in-one I/O module with an actuator segment that can be shut off safely. Finally, Balluff is also focusing on the Internet of Things. Its IoT concept study - developed in collaboration with Lufthansa - uses Smart Mold-ID to produce an intelligent manufacturing solution. The concept shows how data can be generated, transported, processed and encrypted via OPC-UA or MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport) to a cloud-based application.