Siemens' Scout 4.2 Can Be Planned With New Sizer Software

In conjunction with Sinamics drives, Simotion isthe scalable motion control system from Siemens for production machines and enablescentral machine concepts to be implemented with one central controller anddistributed concepts with distributed intelligence using several controllers. Theuser can choose between PC-based, controller-based or drive-based solutions. The system providesthe functionalities of configuring, programming, testing and commissioning ofthe application. With its integrated graphics-based programming methods, Scoutparticularly facilities system configuring for first-time users.

Interface to the drive
The most significant innovation of version 4.2. of the Simotion Scout engineering system is the greatly simplified interfacing to the Sinamics drive system.This feature provides the user with an essentially automated means ofintegrating drives and their components into Simotion. Using the new symbolicassignment of technology objects (TOs) and I/Os to drive objects, the user nolonger has to bother with communicating with message frames and addressesbecause the engineering system now takes care of this for him. Object-to-objectassignment takes place by way of a new interconnection dialog. In this dialog,all the compatible partners are listed hierarchically, and the symbolicconnection of the components to be interconnected takes place by simpleselection. In the dialog area, the Sinamics drives and components and terminalmodules with their corresponding I/Os are available for selection. Onlycompatible elements with symbolic identifiers are listed.

Comparison usinggraphics-based programming languages
The familiar possibilities of detailed comparison that are provided whenusing Structured Text (ST) are now also available in the graphics-basedprogramming languages ladder logic (LAD), function block diagram (FBD) and MotionControl Chart (MCC). The new function enables graphic comparisons of programs andshows you at a glance which structures and commands are identical and whichones are different by displaying them in different colors. The system displaysidentical places in the programs at the same level in order to provide maximumclarity. Individual program parts or commands can now be easily transferred toa reference project using this detailed comparison option. This option can alsobe used for other project configurations, such as I/Os, TO interconnections, TOalarms and CPU settings, in order to obtain an overall, detailed devicecomparison and to be able to align the differences. The merging of programs canalso be carried out easily.

System trace vianetworked Simotion controllers
An important innovation for analyzing or optimizing a system is the newsystem trace feature, which enables up to 128 signals from several Simotioncontrollers that are interlinked via Profinet to be traced synchronously. Here,the same trigger criteria are available as are used for tracing individualdevices, for instance, overshooting of a specific tag threshold value. This isdetected on a CPU and then tracing begins on all the configured devices. Thedata can then be analyzed graphically, enabling optimizations to be derived ormalfunctions to be located quickly. This is of particular importance in thecase of complex plants such as printing machines with several modularcontrollers and cross-device synchronous operation as it shortens the requiredcommissioning time and service callout times considerably.

Sizer software is an engineering tool for planning drive applications

The newVersion 3.4 of the Sizer engineering software can be plannedwith Sinamics Micromaster, Dynavert T and motor starter devices as wellas Sinumerik, Simotion. Sizer software offers a load-dependent energyconsumption calculation and adrive conversion program for automaticallygenerating energy-saving drive variants.

Theenergy analysis takes into account components such as the motor, power module,converter, line reactor, input reactor and output reactor as well as activeinterface modules. For the energy needs of the mechanical system the power required at the device is taken intoaccount. Friction and degrees of efficiency of the mechanics are included here.For the motors load-dependentlosses, such as copper and iron losses and losses due to friction andharmonics, are taken into account. For the power components current-dependent losses, such as conduction andswitching losses, are considered. A power-dependent loss due to the outputreactive power is also important and load-independent constant losses areincluded in the calculation. The total balance at an arbitrary operating point is the sum of theindividual power losses at the respective operating point.

The Sizer function for drive conversion can be used togenerate alternative drive systems with a more favorable energy balance from apreviously engineered drive system. On this basis a decision to select the mostefficient system can be made.