A new Design News reader survey confirms the trend that machine controllers are unifying different machine functions on a single controller and lowering overall total installed costs.
The study points out the likely, ongoing impact of multi-touch operator interfaces, leveraging the developments in today's consumer markets. But it also highlights a need for smoother, simpler software integration to make it easier for users to reap the benefits of additional functions such as condition monitoring, networked safety, OEE analysis, and simplified connections to ERP systems and factory databases.
When asked about the primary benefits that new machine controllers could bring to machine designs, more than half of survey respondents identified the ability for controllers to handle additional machine control functions (54.7 percent) and lower hardware costs (51.4 percent) as top priorities. These were followed by interest in using one controller for both machine control and the Human-Machine Interfaces (41.3 percent) on a machine, more availability of diagnostic and setup information without installing software (34.1 percent), and a broader suite of software solutions using common programming tools (32.4 percent). The least emphasized benefits were more controller processing power and memory capacity (31.3 percent) and smaller footprints (24.6 percent).
The survey showed users see key benefits in using multi-touch operator interface panels for the human-machine interfaces on machinery.
Robert Muehlfellner, director of Automation Technology for B&R Industrial Automation, said in an interview with Design News:
The results of the survey sums up two trends that we are seeing toward unifying different machine functions in a single CPU with motion, traditional PLC control, and HMI all integrated into a single controller. It is the same on the software side with all of the necessary functionality integrated into a single piece of software.
The ability of machine controllers to handle these additional functions is just a part of the overall bigger trends, along with lower hardware costs and smaller footprint controllers. What is enabling all of this is the trickle-down effect from the consumer PC market, and suppliers industrializing and leveraging that technology. "In the future, I think we will see ARM-based architectures currently used in smartphones deployed in machine control to increase the computing performance of low-end systems," Muehlfellner told us.
To explore interest in what machine controller functions users might be more likely to implement in new designs, the survey asked respondents how likely they would be to utilize specific new capabilities. The answers were not necessarily surprising but they did confirm recent initiatives to provide more tightly integrated solutions.
Condition monitoring (bearings and temperatures, for example) was mentioned by 24.6 percent of respondents as very likely to be adopted. Other functions very likely to be added in the future included newer capabilities in areas such as networked safety (20.1 percent), Overall Equipment Effectiveness analysis (15.6 percent), and energy monitoring (16.8 percent).
I find it very interesting the slice of the pie that relates to satisfying the needs and desires of a generation of engineers who grew up playing video games. We'll see more and more of this in coming years. Smart vendors will deliver HMI that fits the upcoming generation.
There is a move in machine control (via networking developments such as CIPenergy, PROFIenergy and SERCOS Energy) to more easily measure and control energy usage within manufacturing plants. One simple example of low hanging fruit is putting machines into a low power standby or sleep state during production pauses (lunch, breaks, etc.) which has been shown to reduce energy usage 20-30% during the pauses.
The question in the survey was intended to query users on how important reducing energy is perceived among users and machine builders. Basically one-third of the survey respondents identified energy as an area of potential improvement.
I think that Wylie's comment that focus on energy efficiency would be a growing factor is based on this technology moving forward and producing significant results.
Al, Denis Wylie mentions energy monitoring becoming more important in the future. The survey shows that it is not a major consideration today. The reality is that energy consumption in the US, and the developing world, is going down. Older coal fired plants, the ones that would cost a lot to bring into compliance, are being shut down and not replaced. Basically, each generation of machine, whether it be a refrigator or a computer, uses less energy than the last. Just the process of replacing worn out equipment over time brings down usage without any special consideration. We are becoming more energy efficient by default. There are lots of other issues with machine control than energy, as the survey shows.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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