制造系统自动化

Optima wanted to create a seamless digital process chain, starting with product and machine design and continuing through the engineering right on to production automation and increase the production flexibility.

By network-enabling industrial automation equipment, important tasks such as uploading/downloading programs, communicating between controllers, and generating e-mail alerts become possible. Unfortunately, the resources needed to design a solution that can seamlessly tie together a wide diversity of network environments that are widely dispersed, plus rapildly deploy that solution, can present a costly challenge to many equipment manufacturers. Virtually all of Rockwell Automation’s customers have widely dispersed and disparate network environments with a mix of 10Mb and 100Mb Ethernet devices. Having connectivity that would seamlessly accommodate either Ethernet standard became a necessity. Therefore, the company determined that a 10/100Mb Ethernet auto switching capability was required for the ENI interface. Two significant challenges faced the Rockwell design team. First, the small “footprint” of the ENI packaging made the task of finding a networking solution that would fit into the product design very daunting. In addition, time-to-market was a driving factor. In a highly competitive market, Rockwell Automation needed to deliver their network enabled controller products as quickly as possible, and could not afford long development cycles to integrate networking capabilities.

Earth moving machines require an immense energy source to provide the power they need for use within civil engineering works. ‘Hydraulic Motors’ allow this power to be applied to enable the machines movement and in addition ‘Control Valves’ also provide the operator with the precise feel and control required to undertake the necessary tasks needed for such machines, including trenching, rock breaking and demolition. These same motors are also used in cranes, wheel loaders and general construction equipment. Though not a new product, the designs of such motors and control valves have been around a few decades, the overall method for manufacture has changed rapidly over the last few years to take account of the need for more modular designs, manufacture and just-in-time manufacturing. Kawasaki Precision Machinery (UK) Ltd based in Plymouth, UK is one of the leading manufacturers of such motors and pumps. They approached Industrial Vision Systems Ltd to come up with a solution to provide automated inspection of such pumps for their semi-automated assembly process. The pumps requiring inspection are at a sub-assembly stage when they are due for the inspection process to take place. Due to the highly modular nature of the construction each part of the pump can have many different derivatives which overall have a different effect on the pump in industrial use. It is therefore critical for the manufacturing process to check all components are the correct type and number for the construction of the pump to begin. Once built it is difficult and costly to rework such units if a fault is detected later in the manufacturing process, therefore automated visual inspection is critical for the success in building quality motors and pumps.