Effortless real-time control of 40 axles

Citation

(2006), "Effortless real-time control of 40 axles", Assembly Automation, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2006.03326dad.005

Effortless real-time control of 40 axles

Effortless real-time control of 40 axles

Keywords: Assembly, Automation

Fast set-up and commissioning of a production line is a predominant prerequisite of a company's competitiveness. Open and object- oriented programming with previously configured, yet variable, function modules is one of its keystones, also affecting the interface between the drive and the controller. Proprietary systems can certainly benefit from this interface being optimally adapted to their needs and abilities. But the marketplace also holds a large number of other drives which almost make it a must to choose the best-in-class performer. The drawback is its often considerable and time-consuming effort of integration. This is where PLCopen and its Motion Control Library come into join up with 3S' CoDeSys tool, for example, and make up a practical and tested basis of hardware-independent control of axles and drives and yet, they are ideal for PCs or embedded systems with floating point support only.

Plate 4 PC-based control and motion control

Therefore, to allow the integration of a clearly larger number of simple servodrives without much programming, KUHNKE has developed its own function blocks in excess of the 3S library (Plate 4). Such applications occur in the printing and packaging industries, in air-conditioning and ventilation technology or in wood processing. The new solution installs on the standard PLC and slot PLC of the Ventura control platform. It prevents the processor of industrial PCs from being slowed down by configurations with many drives. The intelligent circuitry has been moved to the drive controllers which, in turn, are actuated by the Motion Library. This real-time Motion Control approach yields perfect results with 40 drives and can be theoretically expanded to include as many as 80 drives. Since, the sets of axle parameters are not integrated via the library but the import function of CoDeSys, it takes users but little effort of programming to parameterise, test and position entire drive arrays via the familiar user interface of the CoDeSys environment. Adding an axle takes just a few steps: configure the PROFIBUS master, select the slaves, configure the axle and compile the diagram graphics. Then connect to the system, transfer the program and start the controller. Users are optimally supported by the Ventura control platform and its standard interfaces, CANopen, PROFIBUS and Ethernet 10/100 Base-T ports. The unit warrants effortless communication with other systems and is specifically dedicated to field-level applications.

Internet: www.kuhnke.com