Conveyor belts with all positions and manual controls marked.
author:
M. Malovrh - Bosio doo
D. Kovacic - Bosio doo
A. Romih - Bosio doo
K. Martinovic - Bosio doo
industry:
Consumer goods, industrial control/equipment/system products:
NI 9425, PPC-2115, NI 9211, NI 9476, cRIO-9074, NI 9203, LabVIEW
challenge:
Develop a reliable automated control system for industrial cleaning machine production lines that can easily achieve supervision and real-time alarm monitoring.
Solution:
Building an advanced real-time control and monitoring system using NI's CompactRIO hardware and LabVIEW software, ensuring the system is fully automated, easy to use, and highly reliable. An automotive parts manufacturer requires a real-time control and monitoring system on its industrial cleaning machine production line to remove grease and other impurities adhering to automotive parts. During the parts manufacturing process, every part, even its smallest details, needs to be cleaned before proceeding to the next stage of the production line. The proposed solution needs to be able to display reliable real-time data to the operator and provide an interface for communication with the user via a touchscreen computer.
"By using NI's technology, we developed an advanced, fully automated industrial cleaning line that is easy to use and maintain. The combined capabilities of the CompactRIO platform and LabVIEW helped us quickly solve complex problems, making it easier than using other products on the market."
System hardware and software
In the industrial sector, there is a range of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) with varying performance levels. However, after a comprehensive study of existing products, we selected CompactRIO and NI's C-series modules as our system development platform. This configuration provides a flexible, high-performance, and low-cost solution with the same or superior functionality as a PLC.
The research team selected the rugged NI cRIO-9074 integrated controller, which integrates a 400 MHz industrial real-time processor and a reconfigurable field-programmable gate array (FPGA) into a single baseboard, suitable for embedded machine control and monitoring applications. From a variety of I/O modules, the NI 9425 drain digital input module was chosen to detect photoelectric signals, pulse generator position, and limit switches. The NI 9476 source digital output module controls pneumatic valves, pneumatic-hydraulic cylinders, water and vacuum pumps, and ensures precise load movement. The NI 9203 data acquisition module measures the vacuum pressure inside the cleaning chamber, while the NI 9211 thermocouple input module measures water and air dryness, load, and chamber temperature.
Furthermore, the NI PPC-2115 industrial panel PC, with its built-in touchscreen, has proven to be the right choice for handling communication between machines and users. Utilizing industrial panel PC technology, we provide a user-friendly, highly controllable environment for displaying the status of the entire cleaning machine production line. This solution saves space and is ideal for large-scale HMI applications.
For the control system, we chose the graphical system design software LabVIEW because it is easy to use, portable, and scalable. Furthermore, the LabVIEW programming environment helps to significantly shorten development time.
Implementation of cleaning machine production line
The washing machine production line was designed and developed by Bosio doo, primarily based on two needs. First, the conveyor system ensures optimal use of line space by managing the movement of loaded baskets as they travel to the final free zone of the conveyor. Operators can load baskets and activate the conveyor belt at two locations within the washing machine's chamber. Before the baskets are transported into the washing machine, the system covers them and automatically removes them at the end of the process. Furthermore, automatic basket unloading is accomplished in two steps.
The main challenge in developing the conveyor system was ensuring both speed and reliability. The system uses millimeter-precise laser photodiodes to determine the basket's position and next steps. The operation of the basket lid during input/output also requires high precision. We determine the system's unloading speed by measuring its position using a pulse encoder. The processor detects the pulses originating from the encoder and converts them into appropriate units through mathematical calculations. The result provides the correct position of the unloading section.
The second factor is the washing process. It includes different stages of the washing cycle, ensuring the load is clean and dry throughout. The washing process requires proper configuration, involving a complex combination of mechanical, electrical, and programming requirements. Mechanical requirements include many different washing options to guarantee washing quality. The system can clean the load using a combination of water jetting, load circulation, compressed air bubbling, vacuuming, and heating. At this point, the system acquires and processes a large amount of data. Temperature, pressure, water level, and basket position need to be controlled. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller, providing accuracy and fast response time, accomplishes this task, ensuring consistent washing quality.
Using LabVIEW and NI's PPC-2115 industrial panel PC, operators can quickly check the status of data, including load errors, inactivity, location, and quantity. Users can monitor the status of motors, pumps, temperature, and pressure. Furthermore, due to the ease of use of LabVIEW, operators can easily write, rewrite, save, load, or draw cleaning machine flowcharts using the virtual keyboard. Error detection time has been significantly reduced due to continuous system monitoring of alarms.
in conclusion
Typically, complex machines designed by engineers are used daily by operators who lack advanced programming knowledge. These sophisticated systems must precisely manage all necessary operations, but they must also provide a clear and user-friendly interface so that technicians can easily operate and use them without the need for senior engineers.
Our solution involves providing users with a high-performance, complex system using NI products. It features a simple and user-friendly interface for communication, sophisticated functionalities, and accurate data analysis capabilities. Using NI technology, we developed an advanced, fully automated industrial cleaning line that is easy to use and maintain. The combination of the CompactRIO platform and LabVIEW's capabilities helped us quickly solve complex problems, making it easier than using other products on the market.
Author information:
M. Malovrh
Bosio doo
slovenia
