Dennis Wylie, product manager for the ControlLogix Family of Controllers at Rockwell Automation, said:
Customers are looking for more capabilities and are also integrating more and different aspects of control into their systems. The focus is on providing total lower system costs, as well as the additional horsepower and capacity required for future generation products.
Wylie said condition monitoring is a market that Rockwell Automation is serving today, but these capabilities are not always part of systems users are implementing. Some companies are addressing condition monitoring, but it is often limited to specific applications such as large turbine systems, for example, where there are huge rotating devices and a failure could cause a catastrophic failure of the machine. Wylie told us:
Energy monitoring is also not a priority for most machine builders yet, but it is going to be a very important issue in the future. Network safety and OEE analysis are also areas where we see increasing interest and are focused to provide solutions for customers.
More than half of the 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, along with one controller for both machine control and operator interfaces (41.3 percent).
Muehlfellner added:
It's surprising that condition monitoring ranked highest on new capabilities but it shows a need for predictive maintenance to help reduce unscheduled downtime and maintenance costs. But the key to increased adoption of this technology is for the suppliers to make it simple.
The typical solutions used today are often too expensive and complicated. The goal now is to mask the technology and make it simple for the machine builders to implement these capabilities. The same is true for networked safety, energy monitoring, and OEE analysis.
New machine control hardware features that proved to be most appealing from the survey results showed a focus on standard Ethernet ports for lower-end controllers (68.7 percent) and support for multiple HMIs on machines (32.4 percent). Other ease-of-use features that were spotlighted included all software contained on removable solid state Flash memory (46.9 percent) and automatic recognition and configuration of replacement hardware (52 percent). Fewer respondents were interested in the availability of high-pressure, washdown, IP69K-rated operator panels (10.6 percent), and active (versus passive) power supplies for energy regeneration (15.6 percent).
One additional significant trend in machine control operator interfaces is increased interest in multi-touch technology for new panels. When asked what value these panels (similar to an iPad) would provide for machinery, respondents identified appealing to a new generation of workforce that’s growing up using these devices (32.4 percent); a more intuitive, flexible user experience (29.1 percent); keyboardless, mouseless operation (16.8 percent); faster navigation (12.3 percent); and ability to zoom in on graphics (9.5 percent), as key benefits.
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.
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.
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.
Yes, there is a clear generational shift here. I was surprised by the size of the pie that related to age when it came to HMI. That may be a function of a growing number of young engineers entering the workforce.
Yes, 32.3% is a big piece of the pie, and it's directly called out as a generational issue. You could also make a case that the other pieces of the pie -- ability to zoom, keyboardless, more intuitive -- are at least partially age-related issues, even though they're not called out as such.
Rob, Charles, I disagree that the "generational" aspect has to do with people.
This article used pie charts and bar graphs to relate information to us. Mr. Fresher also put those percentages into text form in his paragraphs. Which method for conveying information was more useful, more intuitive, more quickly absorbed? We're inherently visual animals, and can take in a situation with a single glance at an overall image. Text is serial, one piece of information at a time.
It's not because younger engineers necessarily expect such interfaces, but the fact that they are simply more useful, more efficient.
If we placed two identical manufacturing machines side by side, with only the HMI being different (one with a text-only interface, one with a rich graphical interface), which operator and machine would be more productive? Want to place a bet? The text-based interface will take up more of an operator's time.
Rob, I feel very strongly that this is so. I also think there is almost no adjustment time required.
A display with a bunch of numbers, all the same size, all indicating some feature of a machine or process is difficult to assimilate, even if you use it every single day.
A display that uses bar graphs, dial-type gauge indicators, can be so much more rapidly assimilated.
The gauges and bar graphs usually incorporate normal operating range indicators, so one can see in an instant that what is being indicated is "in the green".
Such graphical displays usually also incorporate the numeric value into the graphic which is used when the exact value is needed.
I agree with you, TJ. Having spent decades working for magazines, I'm well aware of the importantce of data presented visually. Chuck's pie chart itself is a good example.
Interesting conversational thread. It's hard to image a generation of machine operators flocking to equipment because they have a cool HMI. People are very adaptable and graphic presentations have a way of presenting very data rich information in way that is easy assimilated. A good (and efficient) thing for all generations.
Good point, Scott. I've heart anecdotal information about young engineers becoming more attracted to automation and control because of video-game-like presentations that make the idea of hanging out in a plant more attractive.
Interesting graph on the reasons why designers would want multi-touch. One of the big ones being for people who have grown up with those technologies. The thing is, I was doing HMI design with resistive touch prior to Apple's development. It was the old-timers that were tryint to slide switches or push two buttons at the same time (with, of course, some real interesting results).
Worked for a company building some specialized welding equiptment. Went from a keyboard type parameter entry to a HMI. At first it was thought that the operators would have a problem, but the operators all loved it. Advantage was the amount of data displayed and the ease of moving from parameter set to paramenter set.
The Touch Panel HMI's are very durable and hold up well in less than ideal environments. And the more expensive units are not necesarily the better ones. We used 2 different suppliers and the more expensive PLCs/HMIs did not give better performance.
It did require some re-design of the operator controls - We were able to replace potentiometers with a small CTS encoder through standard I/O (cut costs because we didn't need the analog inputs) and allowed us to save all weld parameters, The operator could turn an encoder or key in a number to change a setting.
Wish the touch panel were more available for PC's as it makes a really nice way to communicate with the machine.
The biggest problem with an HMI is the tendancy to put too much info and too much clutter on the display. A too busy screen is harder to use than a simpler, locgically arranged display. Too often the display has little relationship to what the process is, it was made to look pretty, not function pretty.
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