FUJI AS-Interface_What is AS-i?

Conventional FA control systems are comprised of a control panel with compact circuit breakers, switching and control devices, and control units, along with an array of sensors and actuators. With today's more advanced control data, more sophisticated control devices, and parallel wiring that has significantly increased the number of cables, the time required for wiring has been steadily increasing over the years. More wiring work has increased the number of errors as well.

The purpose of developing AS-i was not to produce a universal field bus suitable for automation across the board, but rather to come up with an economical and efficient system in just the lowest field level.
AS-i was developed in 1990 to minimize wiring work while reducing the cost of assembly, and is now widely used in a number of industries.
AS-i, which stands for actuator-sensor interface, is an open network for the actuator and sensor level at the bottom of the industrial network hierarchy.
Established in IEC 62026-2 and EN 50295, AS-i is well known as the global industrial standard for reduced-wiring networks. ^*1

The standard for AS-i was also established recently in China under GB/T 18858.2-2002 of their national standards.

In 1997, Fuji Electric became the first manufacturer in Japan to market the AS-Interface domestically. The interface revolutionized the Japanese market and is tremendously successful today among end users and device manufacturers in the automobile and other industries.
Fuji Electric has committed its AS-i engineers and expertise to helping customers achieve their goals in upgrading automation and reducing total costs.

The marketing group for AS-i is the AS-International Association headquartered in Germany. It was established in 1991 to “Promote Bus-capable Interfaces for Binary Sensors and Actuators.” The association has over 170 member companies, most of whom are top controller manufacturers from around the world. In Japan, the national user group is AS-i Japan. It was established in April 2001 and is currently ranked tenth in the world among AS-I user groups. Fuji Electric naturally is a key member responsible for public relations.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an international standards organization dealing with electrical, electronic, and related technologies. It is currently headquartered in Switzerland from which it issues IEC standards in the form of IEC Publications. The GATT code that went into force in 1980 established that IEC standards would be the basis for future JIS standards and that IEC standards are to be used unless otherwise specified.

The Europaische Norm (EN) are uniform standards for Europe. In the EU, EC Directives use the EN standards to establish compliance.