ADVANCED MANUFACTURING NOW Modern Manufacturing Processes, Solutions & Strategies
Scott Hibbard
Vice President of Technology Bosch Rexroth Corp.
PROGRAMMING FREEDOM WITH OPEN CORE ENGINEERING
M
achines used in metalwork- ing and manufacturing rely on some of the most
complex automation platforms, employing advanced and powerful CNC and PLC systems to precisely control multiaxis interpolated motion sequences. There has been an ongo- ing effort to streamline the program- ming of these systems by developing programming languages and plat- forms that are more open and easier to use. These efforts are also being done to add more functionality to machine tools, such as more user- friendly operator interfaces (HMIs), visualization capabilities and real- time data capturing capabilities. While industry code programming
standards such as IEC 61131 have helped improve machine automation program- ming, “open” is a relative term. Many programmers—including those recently out of school, or with backgrounds in computers, networking, and Web applications—are well-versed in stan- dard programming languages like C++, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Java, or mobile platforms, such as Android and Apple iOS. However, when they start working in an industrial environment—either for an operation with multiple machine tools in use, or for a machine tool OEM—they must learn to program tool- ing applications using languages that are very specific to industrial controls, most often based on ladder logic. These programmers may have innova- tive ideas for new machine capabilities that can be created more easily with higher-level languages commonly used in the IT world.
36 Developing those applications using
traditional PLC programming tools can be difficult and time consuming. For ex- ample: a machine tool builder wants to offer his customer a tool and data man- agement HMI that operates on mobile devices so the operator can move freely between the toolroom and the ma- chines. A programmer might use a Java
operations. This is especially true for many ancillary machine tool functions, such as data gathering, remote diagnos- tics and real-time machining visualiza- tion without the use of cameras. While the power of the Open Core Engineering Interface allows it to be used to write an entire machine control program in a higher level language, the
THOSE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH MOBILE PLATFORMS AND SMARTPHONES WILL NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO BECOME EXPERTS IN IEC 61131 PLC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES.
or Android platform to author the appli- cation. However, it can be challenging to have that application communicate with the machine’s control platform. A new automation functionality de-
veloped by Bosch Rexroth called Open Core Engineering is helping address this need. Open Core Engineering is a fresh approach to machine automation pro- gramming that combines the previously separate environments of PLC and CNC platforms and IT programming into one comprehensive software portfolio. With Open Core, the controller’s
core PLC and CNC kernel is opened to enable programmers who use IT industry standard development tools, such as C++, VBA and Java to create automation functions and applications, as an alternative to utilizing IEC61131 programming environments. Open Core Engineering offers a port-
folio of software tools, function packag- es and support for higher-level languag- es. It helps streamline the automation engineering workflow, from initial ma- chine configuration to actual production
decision is entirely up to the program- mers. Open core can run along side of, or in place of, a traditional language control program. With this programming freedom, it will be easier to engineer and machine a new part. Rather than taking a tool offline, using Open Core Engineering capabilities, an external program can be used to enter data for a part, load the part parameters into the CNC via the Open Core Interface, cut the part and capture and visualize the toolpath data. Open Core Engineering opens up
a new range of possibilities for flexi- bility and productivity. It means more innovation, as software professionals and programmers experienced with technologies like mobile platforms and smartphones will not necessar- ily need to become experts in IEC 61131 PLC programming languages. The end result is that machine tool OEMs and end-users will have a wider range of programming capabilities to improve machining performance, versatility and productivity.
Spring 2016
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