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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 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 their 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.
For example, Festo’s latest servo drives and servo motors, together with the intuitive commissioning software Festo Automation Suite, makes integration easier and quicker. These components can be integrated virtually seamlessly into all commonly available, Ethernet-based external controllers (as seen in Figure 2) and users will not notice that the hardware manufacturers 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.
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 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 PC-SEP19-VALVE KITS.qxp_Layout 1 30/08/2019 11:34 Page 1
INDUSTRY 4.0/IIOT
Figure 2: Servo drives with controller CMMT-AS and motor EMMT-AS integrated in Ethernet- based control solutions
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 and, as it utilises many of the principles of Industry 4.0, becomes the Digital Twin ready to be incorporated in the future into the complete digital system.
Festo
https://connectivity.festo.com/gb/en/
“We’re one lean, mean, mounting kit making machine”
Tel: 00 44 1623 440211 Email:
sales@valve-kits.co.uk
DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 | PROCESS & CONTROL 23
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