As automation systems become intelligent and autonomous for productibility, industrial networks (fieldbuses) and network-based devices are essential components of intelligent manufacturing systems. However, there are obstacles for the wide acceptance of the network-based devices such as smart sensor and network-based actuator. First, there exist numerous fieldbus protocols that a network-based devcie should be able to support. Second, the whole network-based device has to be replaced when only the sensor of the module fails. In order to overcome these obstacles, a smart sensor/actuator is implemented as two units; one responsible for network communication and the other for sensor/actuator operations using IEEE 1451.0 standard. This paper presents a structure of the 1451.0-based smart sensor with multiple connectivity function designed by CANopen.
