FEATURE MACHINE BUILDING, FRAMEWORKS & SAFETY
Connectivity and control in industrial automation
Warren Harvard, product marketing manager – Electric Automation at
Festo, discusses the demands faced by machine builders in meeting networking expectations, and the
tools available to help them achieve seamless connectivity
Right: Festo servo drives with a CMMT-AS controller and EMMT-AS motor integrated directly in Ethernet-based control solutions
T
he 4th Industrial Revolution is redefining manufacturing and
dismantling the classic automation control pyramid. The traditional central control system approach is increasingly moving towards a more decentralised model where components are closely interlinked, communicating directly with each other and exchanging data. Networked components require a high
level of compatibility and integration across all system participants. However, achieving the levels of connectivity required to make this decentralised model work in practice can be problematic. Connectivity in automation technology must be regarded as a whole, from the workpiece all the way up to the cloud. With this placing new demands on machine builders, Festo has developed a number of tools to help them achieve seamless connectivity.
Connectivity in automation technology must be regarded as a whole, from the workpiece all the way up to the cloud
DREAM MACHINES The objective of seamless connectivity is to make different interfaces as simple and easy to handle as possible, so that using them is more reliable and faster. Although it doesn’t reduce the complexity of a machine, using it becomes easier and conceptualisation, operation, design and commissioning become faster.
For mechanical and control systems,
an almost overwhelming number of products, components and solutions are available from thousands of manufacturers – all with their own interfaces, hardware solutions, programming languages, software systems, communication protocols, etc. This means that machine builders constantly have to spend time researching, combining and integrating them into their machines. Typical questions that arise are: how can a mechanical axis, a servo motor and a servo drive be easily combined so that they complement each other perfectly? And how can this electromechanical drive package be integrated quickly and easily into the controller? Series and bespoke machine builders
have quite different requirements when it comes to automation platforms and connectivity. Series machine builders standardise their drive solutions much more whilst bespoke machine builders require highly flexible solutions to enable them to respond to the highly individual wishes and requirements of their customers. They need to reconfigure each machine and commission it individually time and time again, in-line with their customers’ machine designs. They want to do this as simply and quickly as possible, without needing any training. For both types of machine builder, there
are convenient and simple solutions based on seamless connectivity that meet their respective requirements. For example, when Festo developed its automation platform, priority was placed on seamless connectivity from the outset. The mechanical system, the drive system with motor and controllers, as well as the software modules, were designed as one unit – this applies to the mechanical interfaces as well as to the electrical and intelligent interfaces. Compatibility with the many controller manufacturers was also key. The latest generation of servo drives
and servo motors from Festo, together with the intuitive commissioning software Festo Automation Suite, makes integration easier and speeds it up significantly. These components can be integrated virtually seamlessly into all commonly available, Ethernet-based external controllers, and users will not notice that the hardware manufacturers
10 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
are different. The PC-based Festo Automation Suite combines parameterisation, programming and maintenance in one program and enables the entire drive package – from the mechanical system to the controller – to be commissioned.
CONNECTIVITY Seamless connectivity from the workpiece to the cloud offers a solution to many of the challenges faced by today’s machine builders. Reducing the complexity of the automation task enables faster, more reliable build times, reduced work-in- progress and lower costs. Festo has invested intensively in this approach and developed a suite of software tools that reduce the ‘friction at the interfaces’ – i.e. make it easier mechanically, electrically and in programming software to connect automation devices such as electric servo drives into the complete machine environment. From the initial conceptualisation,
through the design phases to build, programming and commissioning, product data can be digitally collected, collated, processed and then re-used in the next phase without unnecessary double working or errors. This is a major benefit for machine builders today: it utilises many of the principles of Industry 4.0 and so becomes the Digital Twin, ready to be incorporated in the future into the complete digital system.
Festo
https://connectivity.festo.com/gb/en/
For further reading on connectivity and to download a whitepaper, visit the website.
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