As car drivers we all know that a motor is important. But how often do we think about modern high-performance motors as high-tech components manufactured with the latest technologies?
This story starts at the very beginning of the motor production - the molding of engine blocks. And the description begins right at the production of core assemblies for the molding. The challenge is to manufacture high precision parts and then to mount these parts in complete core assemblies.
Hottinger Maschinenbau GmbH uses RSView32 for visualisation of core manufacturing.
Hottinger Maschinenbau GmbH is the worldwide leading system supplier for core moulding. The company offers a variety of core shooters for the production of cores as well as turnkey plants for the fully automated production of core assemblies. For many years, the Swiss company bfa Berater und Ingenieure für Automatisierung has provided solutions for the automation of foundries. This application was only possible through the cooperation of these companies and their ability to easily integrate off-the-shelf solutions from Rockwell Automation.
Plant layout
The plant consists of several manufacturing cells. Each cell produces its own set of cores that combine to form the complete core assembly. Each manufacturing cell consists of a core shooter and the respective sand plant, a buffer for the intermediate storage of the manufactured pieces and at least two robots. These robots are used to unload the cores from the core shooters into the buffer and then to pick the cores from the buffer and mount them in a complete core assembly onto a car. These cars circulate from cell to cell until a complete core assembly has been mounted.
Each individual cell has its own control system consisting of a PLC 5/40, an SLC 5/04, and the robot controller. The controllers are connected via Data Highway Plus communications. PanelView serves as the human machine interface for local operation.
Connecting the cells - the central control system
First of all, a number of type-specific parameters must be administered and transferred to the individual cells synchronous with the process. Only authorised and qualified personnel have access to this password-protected data. In order to ensure a continuous tracking of operations, all changes must be logged in the database.
The acquisition of operational data ensures the identification of weak points that could endanger the quality or efficiency of the plant. This production data is collected and stored in a database. The data can be compiled for reports required by the users. Special time delay modules enable the user to find out whether individual production steps within the entire production process might delay the total production.
All alarms for the individual cells are centrally collected and stored in the database. Current alarms are displayed on the screen. Information regarding troubleshooting can be polled on demand through help screens. Alarm statistics allow the recognition and troubleshooting of main faults.
Visualisation of the plant
Each individual cell is locally controlled via RSView32 software. The central visualisation function of the system enables the operator to get an overall view of the core manufacturing and to overview the connections between cells. This is important when changing over production or tooling.
All cells are connected both with the server and the central operator terminal via a ControlNet open network. The two PC's in the control room communicate over Ethernet.
The main server acts as the data exchange with the individual cells. It also includes the database - Microsoft SQL Server. The cells communicate through RSLinx and proprietary bfa communication servers. The bfa alarm server is part of the main server as well.
The operator terminal also includes the 'Production Control' and 'bfa Alarm Client' functions. During implementation, special attention was paid to the seamless integration of these two functions in the RSView32 environment. Consequently, the operator works with a uniform and intuitive environment. This integration was a straightforward task in RSView32. The 'Production Control' function, which includes a variety of input masks, was realised with Visual Basic 6.0. The bfa Alarm Client is integrated as an Active X control.
Moreover, a link to a superior, plant-wide RTU system accessing the rational database via Ethernet is possible. The control system and all PLC systems of the cells are accessible by using a modem, which ensures that the client can rely on the system in case of faults.
Additional RSView32 Features:
- With VBA, you can create code with conditional branching, tie RSView32 data to other third-party applications, and control RSView32 from within a VBA sub-routine by issuing RSView32 commands.
- Use the RSView32 ActiveX and OLE container capabilities to take advantage of advanced technology.
- Integrate RSView32 easily with other Rockwell Software products including RSLogix 500, RSLogix 5, RSSql, and RSWire for a complete automation solution.
Summary
The key to this solution was being able to use off-the-shelf components and integrating them at very low costs to provide a harmonious system.
| Communication with cells:
|
Rockwell Software RS Linx
|
| Visualisation:
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Rockwell Software RSView32
|
| Database:
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Microsoft SQL Server
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| Communication server:
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proprietary bfa
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| Alarm server/client:
|
proprietary bfa
|
| Application control:
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Visual Basic application
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| Operating system:
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Microsoft Windows NT
|
