COVER STORY
Figure 2: Key technologies to accelerate higher value motion solutions with access to system insights
positioning. They typically have six axes that must be controlled in a coordinated manner. For added safety in cobots, there are added power and force limiting, as well as self-navigating, functionally-safe machine control with localised sensing and collision avoidance.
Higher-level requirements For higher levels of productivity and sustainability in smart manufacturing, there are several key intelligent motion control requirements: superior motion control, real- time connectivity, advanced sensing and robustness, safety and reliability. Superior motion control reduces the time it takes to complete a manufacturing step, thereby increasing throughput and manufacturing productivity while reducing energy consumption. Key requirements here are improved control loop performance, robust solutions for harsh industrial deployments and high levels of integration, enabled by low latency, low drift, multiphase current and position sensing and signal chains with high transient robustness and highly-integrated components. Robust, reliable solutions that extend the lifetime of assets are key to more sustainable smart manufacturing. By extending asset lifetimes, we signifi cantly reduce the consumption of raw materials and energy to build replacement assets. Power management solutions for both
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power regulation and power protection are key components to deliver more robust and reliable assets.
When it comes to real-time connectivity,
control timing is crucial. Requirements include precise, deterministic and time- critical solutions, with minimal end-to-end latency, especially as control cycle times get shorter and control algorithm complexity increases. High-performance applications require real-time connectivity with sub-ms network cycle time to control complex motion applications. Smart manufacturing uses vision systems alongside motion applications to monitor manufacturing quality and increase production safety. Industrial Ethernet networks must support the coexistence of both real-time deterministic motion control traffi c and best eff ort vision traffi c on the same network up to Gb bandwidth. The interoperability of devices and controllers connected to the networks is required to deliver seamless data fl ow throughout the manufacturing installation and ensures data transparency to the higher level management systems while making these networks more fl exible and scalable by reducing commissioning time. A converged (IT/OT) Ethernet network ensures seamless access of motion insights to the higher-level management software systems, for analysis, to optimise the manufacturing fl ow and accelerate digital transformation.
At the heart of those insights lie
advanced sensing solutions, used to optimise the manufacturing fl ow and detect early signs of failure. Advanced sensing is applied to real-time monitoring of assets’ health, which means they must be robust to fi t in the harsh industrial environments, accurate, precise, in many cases contactless, and ideally of high bandwidth and low maintenance.
Higher-value motion control A combination of technologies is required for the next generation of intelligent motion control solutions; see Figure 2. Complex motion control requires precision converter technologies for high-quality current feedback, utilising both isolated and non-isolated solutions for highly-accurate and fast-transient-response control loop performance. Current feedback is the fundamental building block to enhancing drive performance, and determines the overall control bandwidth and response time. Key requirements for current feedback include synchronised measurement with PWM cycle, isolated or high common- mode measurement, low off set drift to minimise torque ripple, and low-latency simultaneous sampling at 14- to 18-bit resolution to measure phase currents. Next-generation drives and motors that enable complex motion control require digital isolation technology to provide isolated data and isolated communications interfaces such as RS-485, USB and LVDS.
Automation | February 2022 9
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