Factory Automation (FA), also known as shop floor automation, refers to the automatic completion of all or part of the manufacturing process of a product. The entire factory achieves comprehensive automation, which includes the automation of design, manufacturing, and processing processes, as well as the comprehensive automation of information flow, including internal management, market information processing, and inter-enterprise communication.
In recent years, China's long-standing labor advantage in the electronics manufacturing industry has been gradually disappearing. The vast, inexpensive workforce, once the driving force behind China's manufacturing development, is no longer as large or cheap as it once was, and companies are facing a worsening labor shortage. Therefore, for large-scale manufacturing companies aiming to compete globally, the only way to improve productivity is through technological upgrades and the introduction of automation and intelligent technologies. Automation is also an inevitable path for factory development.
Level 1 Automation: Using quick-clamping and positioning fixtures
Using quick-clamping and positioning fixtures is the first step for factories towards automation. By using a unified fixture reference across different machine tools and processes, the changing of workpieces and electrodes no longer requires manual dial indicator adjustments; the changing can be completed in seconds, with repeatability reaching a high precision of within 2μm.
• Reduce workpiece preparation time
• Increase production time
• Allows offline testing between production processes
Level 2 Automation: The machine tool integrates an automatic exchange device.
Based on the use of quick-clamping and positioning fixtures, the machine tool is equipped with an automatic electrode and workpiece changing device, thereby enabling automated machining for a longer period of time. However, the automated machining capability achieved by this automatic exchange device is very limited.
• Integrated economic design
• Less investment
Level 3 Automation: Configuring a workpiece/electrode composite system
By configuring a workpiece/electrode composite system, it can support a larger number of workpiece/electrode changes, handle various types of different pallet systems, and ensure high transparency of the processing flow through central preset data and CNC programs.
• Enhanced continuous automation capabilities
• High transparency of processing procedures
Level 4 Automation: Manufacturing Cell
A single processing device can serve multiple machine tools and equipment, enabling unattended processing through various machine tools and auxiliary equipment. The processing flow is highly transparent, allowing for real-time acquisition of workpiece and process data. Online measurement is achieved through a coordinate measuring machine to ensure high-quality production.
• Enable unattended processing
Level 5 Automation: Flexible Manufacturing System
A single processing device can serve multiple machine tools and equipment, connecting all machine tools and related data to achieve unified management of data flow and logistics. Furthermore, the number of devices can be expanded according to demand, making it suitable for mass production.
• The number of devices can be expanded according to needs.
When investing in automation, customers often worry about compatibility between different equipment. GF Machining Solutions' most significant advantage is its ability to provide a true one-stop solution. From providing machining equipment to developing automation solutions and applying automation software, GF meets all customer needs.
Ten standard features of automated production lines
In industrial production, automation and intelligence are becoming increasingly prevalent. Let's take a look at what the standard configuration of an automated factory is.
1. Controller
--The Brain of the Automated Factory
A controller is a command device that controls the starting, speed regulation, braking, and reversing of a motor by changing the wiring of the main circuit or control circuit and changing the resistance value in the circuit according to a predetermined sequence. It consists of a program counter, instruction register, instruction decoder, timing generator, and operation controller. It is the "decision-making body" that issues commands, that is, it coordinates and directs the operation of the entire computer system.
Commonly used controllers in automated factories include PLCs and industrial PCs .
A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) uses a type of programmable memory to store programs internally, execute user-oriented instructions such as logic operations, sequential control, timing, counting, and arithmetic operations, and control various types of machinery or production processes through digital or analog inputs/outputs.
2. Robot
--Executors of automated factories
A robot is a machine that performs tasks automatically. It can be directed by humans, run pre-programmed programs, or act according to principles established using artificial intelligence technology.
Its task is to assist or replace human workers in jobs such as manufacturing, construction, or hazardous work. Robots generally consist of actuators, drive mechanisms, detection devices, control systems, and complex mechanics.
3. Servo motor
--The muscles that power automated factories
A servo motor is a motor that controls the operation of mechanical components in a servo system; it is an auxiliary motor with indirect speed control. Servo motors enable highly accurate speed and position control, converting voltage signals into torque and speed to drive the controlled object.
Servo motor rotor speed is controlled by input signal and can respond quickly. In automatic control systems, it is used as an actuator and has characteristics such as small electromechanical time constant, high linearity, and low starting voltage. It can convert the received electrical signal into angular displacement or angular velocity output on the motor shaft.
Servo motors are divided into two main categories: DC and AC. Their main characteristic is that they do not rotate when the signal voltage is zero, and their speed decreases uniformly as the torque increases.
4. Sensors
--The Touch of an Automated Factory
A sensor (English name: transducer/sensor) is a detection device that can sense the information being measured and transform the sensed information into an electrical signal or other required form of information output according to a certain rule, so as to meet the requirements of information transmission, processing, storage, display, recording and control.
It is the primary link in realizing automatic detection and automatic control.
In modern industrial production, especially automated production, various sensors are used to monitor and control various parameters in the production process, ensuring that equipment operates in a normal or optimal state and that products achieve the best quality. Therefore, it can be said that without numerous high-quality sensors, modern production would lose its foundation.
5. Frequency converter
Switches in automated factories
A variable-frequency drive (VFD) is a power control device that uses frequency conversion technology and microelectronics to control an AC motor by changing the frequency of the motor's power supply.
A frequency converter mainly consists of a rectifier (AC to DC), a filter, an inverter (DC to AC), a braking unit, a drive unit, a detection unit, and a microprocessor unit.
Inverters adjust the voltage and frequency of the output power supply by switching the internal IGBTs, providing the required power voltage according to the actual needs of the motor, thereby achieving energy saving and speed regulation. In addition, inverters have many protection functions, such as overcurrent, overvoltage, and overload protection.
6. Solenoid valve
--Switches for automated factories
An electromagnetic valve is an industrial device controlled by electromagnetic force. It is a basic component of automation used to control fluids and belongs to the category of actuators, not limited to hydraulic or pneumatic systems.
Solenoid valves are used in industrial control systems to adjust the direction, flow rate, speed, and other parameters of the medium. They can be used with different circuits to achieve the desired control, while ensuring both precision and flexibility.
There are many types of solenoid valves, and different solenoid valves play different roles in different positions of the control system. The most commonly used ones are check valves, safety valves, directional control valves, and speed regulating valves.
7. Industrial cameras
--Eyeglasses in an automated factory
Industrial cameras are a key component of machine vision systems. Their most essential function is to convert light signals into ordered electrical signals.
Industrial cameras are typically installed on machine production lines to replace human eyes for measurement and judgment. They capture targets through digital images, convert them into image signals, and transmit them to a dedicated image processing system.
The image system performs various operations on these signals to extract the features of the target, and then controls the operation of the equipment on site based on the judgment results.
8. Instruments and Meters
--Control system of automated factory
Instrumentation refers to the tools or equipment used to detect, measure, observe, and calculate various physical quantities, material composition, and physical properties. Vacuum leak detectors, pressure gauges, length measuring instruments, microscopes, and multipliers are all examples of instruments.
Automated factories require the use of various instruments and meters, such as those used to measure parameters needed for controlling processes, including pressure, liquid level, flow rate, and temperature.
9. Automation software
--The heart of an automated factory
Automation Software, due to the trend of integrated management and control of industrial control systems (copyright of Control Engineering Network), enables industrial control systems to connect with traditional IT management systems and the Internet, and increasingly adopts general-purpose software, general-purpose hardware and general-purpose protocols internally.
A common example is SCADA automation software. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) automation systems are what we call data acquisition and monitoring systems. They are primarily supported by computer technology and are systems that automate the scheduling and control of various production processes.
SCADA automation software can automatically and accurately monitor production over long periods of time without human supervision, and extract effective information and data to provide powerful evaluation references for supervisors.
10. Control cabinet
--The central system of an automated factory
Control panels, or control cabinets, come in many types, including electrical control cabinets, frequency converter control cabinets, low-voltage control cabinets, high-voltage control cabinets, water pump control cabinets, power supply control cabinets, explosion-proof control cabinets, elevator control cabinets, PLC control cabinets, fire control cabinets, brick machine control cabinets, and so on.
Automated factories involve control cabinets for electrical components, frequency converters, power supplies, water pumps, etc. Different control cabinets are selected according to different needs to achieve different control functions.
