OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2012. Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that it will release the FieldMate™ R2.05 Versatile Device Management Wizard on August 6. FieldMate is a versatile software program for configuring, adjusting, and managing a wide variety of field sensors used in factories and other production sites.

With this upgraded version, German, French, and Russian support has been added, and new tools that facilitate the verification of AXF flowmeter integrity and the installation of new sensor models are available.
Development Background

Digital communications standards are playing an increasingly important role in communications between plant central control systems and field sensors. Unlike conventional field communications, where only measured values are sent from sensors to central control systems, digital communication technologies are also capable of transferring sensor settings and maintenance information to central control systems. They also allow a central control room or other control facility to be sited at a different location, from which operators can remotely monitor and adjust sensors.

As plants often have sensors from multiple vendors that rely on more than one communications standard, versatile software tools are required for device configuration, adjustment, and management. FieldMate, an open standard software package, is ideal for such requirements. FieldMate supports sensors from Yokogawa and other manufacturers, as well as major field communications technologies and standards such as FDT/DTM*. This upgraded version of FieldMate offers improved multi-language support as well as tools that facilitate flowmeter integrity verification and sensor replacement. Yokogawa will use this new version to expand its business in the device maintenance market.
* FDT/DTM

Field Device Tool (FDT) is a communications interface that links control systems with field sensors such as pressure transmitters and flowmeters. Device Type Manager (DTM) is an FDT-based device driver provided by a vendor of a device or control system.
Product Features

Improved multi-language support

 In addition to Japanese, English, and Chinese, support of German, French, and Russian has been added with this new version of FieldMate, better positioning this product to capture a larger share of the European market and the growing Russian market.

AXF verification tool (optional)

 A verification tool has been developed for checking the integrity of AXF electromagnetic flowmeters. With this tool, customers can inspect ADMAG AXF series magnetic flowmeters without having to disconnect them from the piping. Device maintenance information reports are automatically compiled and stored in a database for retrieval and printing out.

Convenient tool for sensor replacement

 A convenient tool has been developed that makes it easier to replace a sensor with one of a different model. This tool backs up the parameters of existing devices and restores them in new devices. It can be used with differential pressure/pressure transmitters, which are used in large numbers at all kinds of production sites.

Enhanced ISA100.11a support

 FieldMate can automatically configure, adjust, and manage ISA100.11a compliant wireless devices via the Yokogawa Field Wireless Management Station. A new version of this gateway device is scheduled to be released by the end of July. Through this new gateway device, FieldMate will be capable of connecting to up to 200 ISA100.11a field wireless devices, which compares to 50 devices with the previous gateway version. To operate efficiently with this increased number of devices, FieldMate’s device search function has been improved. And for improved usability, it will be possible to register maintenance information for groups of field wireless devices. (Until now, it had only been possible to register this information for one device at a time.)

Takashi Nishijima, Director and Senior Vice President, and Head of the Industrial Automation Platform Business Headquarters, comments, "With field digital technologies that make it easier to use field devices, Yokogawa is helping its customers realize the VigilantPlant concept. We believe that FieldMate R2.05 will bring about innovations in the maintenance and management of assets in our customers’ plants."