In 2013 at Euroblech, I asked a colleague from B&R who was then in charge of global CNC and robotics business how he viewed the future trend of automation in the machine tool industry. He simply said, "Simple, Simple, and Simple." At B&R (China), Dr. Xiao Weirong is also constantly promoting "simple" automation internally, including promoting global collaboration on mapp-modular application software and establishing a solutions research institute in China to standardize solutions. As Dr. Xiao Weirong often says, "No matter how powerful our system functions are, it must be easy for users to use—this is our mission."
In the book "Think Like an Engineer," the author also mentions how engineers can deconstruct problems—a core competency. Deconstruction is a core competency of engineering, which means simplifying a complex problem into multiple independent smaller problems, then developing, testing, and verifying each smaller problem, and then building it into a whole for testing and verification.
In development projects, the most important mindset for engineers is to "deconstruct" and then work under "constraints." These constraints may include CPU resources (of course, today's PLCs are no longer a topic of discussion in terms of processing power, memory, and network capabilities), materials, construction period, and the rigidity of machinery, among other factors, to find the "most economical" solution. Here, finding the most economical solution is a matter of "trade-offs" in terms of a solution.
Engineering differs from science; it deconstructs complex problems and, under objective constraints, completes projects as quickly and efficiently as possible with high quality. This is the core principle of engineering innovation.
Manufacturing, whether it is production or the manufacturing of the machines themselves, is a complex problem—because it is clearly an interdisciplinary integration problem. Every machine involves materials and their processes, mechanics and transmission, control and process issues, which creates great complexity—and includes both explainable and describable "uncertainty" and "interference" issues that cannot be explained or describable.
This article will use B&R's automation system to illustrate how simple automation can be achieved.
As we all know, the complexity of manufacturing lies in the complexity of materials and processes, including process methods, parameters, and procedures. This brings tens of thousands of possible combinations to the manufacturing of any product. Modeling complex processes and procedures and conducting early testing and verification through modeling and simulation tools is the only way to deal with complex problems in manufacturing. This is also what leading manufacturers in Europe and the United States are focusing on, which has led to the development of a large number of modeling software programs. At the same time, this is what we lack in our discussion of manufacturing today.
As an automation manufacturer, B&R naturally focuses on control models and algorithms. However, machines inevitably involve materials and processes. Therefore, when faced with complex changes, we need an interface to collaborate with other software. As early as 2008, B&R established an interface with Mathworks for the automatic generation and import of C code for Simulink PLCs. In its collaboration with MapleSim, it adopted a software collaboration interface based on the FMU/FMI interface. For production line design, it also connected with IndustrialPhysics. All of these enable rapid collaboration between machine design and electrical control to achieve rapid parameter calibration, early verification, and virtual debugging.
In 1968, the IT industry, facing increasing "software crises" such as unclear requirements, software changes, and non-standard code leading to software quality and delivery problems, defined the concept of "software engineering" at the NATO conference and promoted software engineering methodologies. In 1986, renowned expert Fred Brooks wrote in an article, "No Silver Bullet," to illustrate that there was no better way to solve the fundamental problem of software complexity.
In the era of traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for automation, an engineer could fully master the program of a machine, and there was basically no "software crisis" problem. However, today's PLCs are clearly different. As more objects (motion control, HMI, distributed I/O, edge control, networking) and tasks (simulation interfaces, process algorithms, testing, remote diagnostics and maintenance) are integrated into the entire machine and production line, the machine's software has become increasingly complex. Therefore, software engineering issues from the IT industry must also attract the attention of the automation industry, including OEMs and end-product manufacturers.
The essence of software is the "encapsulation" of industrial knowledge to achieve the purpose of "reuse". Modular component technology is an important method to achieve this goal. It encapsulates various processes, operations and procedures in the form of Apple's APP. Its design philosophy is based on the software engineering concept of "high cohesion and low coupling" to achieve standardization and reduce costs, while modularization enables flexibility, thus finding a balance between flexibility and economy.
Software is constantly shaping the core competitiveness of enterprises—through software, know-how can be encapsulated, enabling flexible organization of machine applications to cope with changes. Therefore, today, industrial software is receiving increasing attention from industries.
Of course, another way to solve the software crisis includes integrated development platforms—which are especially important for today's manufacturing industry because we need "integration"—between machines, between control and sensors, between motion control, and including the coordination of the entire task. Its main functions are manifested in several aspects:
👉The platform itself reduces complexity: tasks that traditionally required switching between multiple software programs become more convenient;
👉The platform itself also encapsulates various process modules;
👉Reduce human resource consumption in training and learning;
It's impractical to assign a college student to each machine used in on-site production. Therefore, the machines must be designed to be simple and easy to use. The younger generation lives in a touch-screen era and is accustomed to manual operations. To gain customer trust, machines must be simple and easy to operate, reducing training and the need for specialized personnel—both of which increase costs. For simplicity, it's best to leverage the rich control technologies and web technologies accumulated in the IT field. After all, the automation industry doesn't need to develop such software systems itself.
For many users, B&R's mappVIEW HMI is very appealing. It integrates open IT technologies, allowing users to design adaptive HMIs for various screens. It features a large number of beautifully designed controls that support Javascript, HTML5, and CSS, enabling operators to operate the machine in an intuitive and simple way. It is especially suitable for machine manufacturers to develop exquisite HMI screens.
Figure 8 shows a screen designed using mappVIEW. It's actually not complicated. If you like mappVIEW, you can refer to the previous article: The Art and Philosophical Thinking of HMI Design.
For engineers, learning is a continuous process. How to learn better, in a simple way, directly targeting key applications, and in an intuitive and interactive manner are naturally the best choices. These are also things that automation manufacturers must consider for their users.
B&R offers an interactive learning platform called Turtorials (as shown in Figure 9), which allows user engineers to learn in a less tedious way to develop basic applications independently. This platform enables users to quickly and effectively learn the basics and learn at any time without having to worry about a training schedule. At the same time, B&R also provides advanced training through remote labs, allowing users to learn how to develop innovative applications independently and effectively.
For more information on interactive learning, please refer to our previous article: How Engineers Can Learn Better—Interactive Courses
Digital twins are based on modeling and simulation, emphasizing dynamic two-way interaction and process simulation. B&R and modeling and simulation software companies such as Mathworks and MapleSim are working together to apply such technology to the efficient development of machines. Figure 10 shows the interaction between MATLAB/Simulink and Automation Studio, which can realize rapid modeling and simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
In numerous fields such as anti-sway systems for port quay cranes, wind turbine control, printing machinery, robotics, and injection molding machine control, B&R has adopted a development method based on MATLAB/Simulink modeling and simulation. Through its automatic code generation and interface with Automation Studio, the code can be directly compiled in Automation Studio and downloaded to the PLC for execution. This allows for arbitrary parameter testing and verification, continuous optimization, and the formation of an optimized control model.
The MAPP technology is developed based on the concept of "component technology and software reuse". The project was started at B&R headquarters in 2012 and was called MAP it at the time. Since 2016, B&R has changed MAP it to modular application and called it MAPP technology. It has been widely used in the development of many machine solutions provided by B&R.
We can see that the mappPLASTIC package includes hydraulics and temperature, and more detailed modules include software modules with lower granularity such as injection and mold opening and closing.
Figure 12 shows that temperature control, film tension, and unwinding control modules are also used in the development of blown film equipment. In the development of the printing press in Figure 11, these modules can be shared because the printing machinery also includes film tension and unwinding control.
As can be seen from Figure 11-13, the modules of mapp enable common control tasks across different industries. In addition, mapp also provides common modules for all machines for basic tasks such as electromechanical objects, document operations, and recipes.
The solution is based on existing hardware and software. With further repackaging, it can become a standard product—this is the case with B&R SmartMold 9. After decades of experience in the injection molding machine field, B&R has packaged various injection molding machine applications into mapp modules, allowing users to quickly configure a machine for different models without complex program development. The mapp technology can create unified software for various injection molding machines (hydraulic, all-electric, electro-hydraulic hybrid, two-platen, etc.). Users only need to "configure" to achieve rapid machine delivery. Furthermore, users can use CodeBox technology (an online programming method that does not require the Automation Studio environment) to modify the logic on-site.
Figure 14 shows that SmartMold 9 is a standardized hardware solution for the injection molding machine industry. It configures injection molding machines with hardware standards that are suitable for various models, reducing their costs, and designs operation buttons, installation methods, etc. according to the operating habits of the plastics industry.
As can be seen from Figure 15, the actual SmartMold 9 extensively uses various modules developed for plastic machinery, such as screw control, temperature/pressure control closed loop, injection, melting, mold opening and closing, mold locking, pressure holding, and ejection, and uses mappVIEW for HMI design.
Standardization of solutions is also a key step in enabling the rapid construction of complex machines.
In the field of remote maintenance, B&R has launched Secure Remote Connectivity, which utilizes today's ubiquitous cloud connectivity, LAN and other technologies to establish a secure remote desktop system. This allows electrical engineers from machine manufacturers to diagnose problems on remote machines locally, as well as perform maintenance services such as uploading and downloading programs, reducing travel costs and time consumption, and quickly locating and resolving problems.
Please refer to: Engineers' pain points and customers' concerns - How to perform safe remote maintenance?
The Solution Research Institute is a "special forces" unit within B&R, established in 2013. Composed of engineers specializing in electromechanical engineering, algorithms, software architecture, modeling, and other fields, its mission is to accomplish several things:
(1) Standardized packaging of solutions: integrating applications from various industries
(2) Design of solution architecture
(3) Provide testing and verification of new algorithms for application engineers.
(4) The integration of artificial intelligence with industrial applications: finding data-driven models other than mechanistic models to solve complex problems in applications;
The work of the Solution Research Institute is to integrate complex industry problems and solutions into a whole, turning them into reusable technologies, and then share them with the industry to provide users with the ability to maintain competitiveness.
B&R has always been committed to training "excellent engineers." Since 2012, it has launched the Engineering Camp, which trains engineers to integrate mechanical, electrical, software, and process technologies to solve problems for users. It is a high-intensity, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive engineer training program, with a full-time commitment of up to 3.5 months. Recently, in order to be more flexible and closely integrate engineers with practice, the training is conducted in a modular manner, with each phase lasting 1-2 weeks. In between, senior engineers lead training on actual engineering projects, forming a complete cycle of improvement.
EC's core training aims to quickly train engineers to become "standard and specification" engineers, teaching them how to deconstruct systems, develop and test modules, and adhere to code standards and specifications, making each engineering project easy to understand and reusable. These are all fundamental engineering skills training.
The Remote Lab is a training program launched by B&R in 2020 to address the new situation of personnel training. It is a more convenient personnel training program that enables online interactive classrooms to share machine and system development experience with users. Users can receive targeted training courses from professional trainers and senior industry application engineers locally.
For information on remote laboratories, please refer to: B&R Remote Laboratories—From Distance to Near
Making automation simple requires engineering thinking to deconstruct problems and make them simple and easy to handle. On the other hand, it requires thinking about problems from an economic perspective—constantly finding "more economical" solutions for customers, which is the mission of "engineering".
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding B&R's "Simple Automation," please leave a message in the WeChat message area, and our back-end service staff can provide you with technical consultation services.
Disclaimer: This article is a reprint. If it involves copyright issues, please contact us promptly for deletion (QQ: 2737591964). We apologize for any inconvenience.
