May 2010
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MICA(P) 154/07/2009 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/06/2010 (028221)
Photovoltaic:
Harnessing The Sun
Advanced Process Control:
Perfect Function
Packaging:
Machine, Heal Thyself!
Machine Vision Feature:
The
Third Dimension
10 Questions
Before Buying A System
MINIMISE MINIMISECOST COST ™™ WITH WITHPlantPAx PlantPAx Reducing Reducing costcost while while maintaining maintaining safety safety andand productivity productivity is ais challenge a challenge most most process process companies companies faceface today. today. With With a single a single plant-wide plant-wide control control system system youyou cancan signifi signifi cantly cantly reduce reduce integration integration costs costs withwith subsystems subsystems partpart of the of the control control platform, platform, improve improve productivity productivity through through realreal time time datadata reporting, reporting, reduce reduce maintenance maintenance costs costs withwith single single platform platform support support andand provide provide wide wide ranging ranging safety safety integrity integrity levels levels up up to SIL3. to SIL3. PlantPAx™ PlantPAx™ is the is the costcost effective effective investment investment which which protects protects youryour business, business, youryour employees employees andand youryour bottom bottom line.line. www.rockwellautomation.com/emea/plantpax www.rockwellautomation.com/emea/plantpax For For more more information information visit:visit:
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ENQUIRY NO. 118
contents May 2010
ISSUES & INSIGHTS
22 Refined Integration
The integration of an electrical control system into the process control system increases productivity and availability by permitting a single strategy in the areas of engineering, maintenance and operations. By Antonio Carvalho and Johan Hansson, ABB
CONTROL POINT
26 Perfect Function
Advanced Process Control function blocks are successfully applied to a wastewater treatment problem. Contributed by Celestine Lim, Rockwell Automation
Instrumentation & Measurement
28 The Third Dimension
Laser triangulation is currently the most popular 3D technology for industrial applications. By Yang Diming, Sick Application Centre Asia
Questions To Ask Before Buying 30 A10Machine Vision System
Finding a system that can perform the necessary vision tasks is not enough; other factors need to be considered to ensure a successful deployment. By Didier Lacroix, Cognex
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT
34 Machine, Heal Thyself!
Integrating diagnostics and predictive maintenance functions into the drive control gives packaging machines the ability to detect and prevent mechanical problems early. By Dan Throne, Bosch Rexroth
2 industrial automation asia | May 2010
ENERGY Automation 38 Robotic Meets Today’s
Packaging Challenges
Robotic automation can help to meet the packaging industry’s demand for flexibility, reliability, sustainability and adaptability. By James Cooper, director Strategic Alliances, Kuka Robotics
40 Photovoltaic: Harnessing The Sun
Taking advantage of solar energy to meet some of the world’s everincreasing energy needs is highly viable. By Royce Tan
ENQUIRY NO. 126
contents
z May 2010 IndustrialAutomationAsia May 2010
May 2010
New Tools & Technology For The Offshore Industry
48
Recipe For Quality
Anthony Arciaga of United Laboratories explains to IAA how Siemens is helping his company improve efficiency and enhance competitiveness in both the local and international arenas. By Derek Rodriguez
CAD: Complexity vs 50 3D Manufacturability
Plastic product design principles and the impact they have on the manufacturing and production processes. By Marc Freebrey, Vero Software
Advanced Process Control:
Perfect Function
Packaging:
Machine, Heal Thyself!
Machine Vision Feature:
The
THIRD DIMENSION
10
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RFID technology is gaining traction in the oilfield as companies develop hardware and software able to meet the industry’s demands and harsh environment. By Ian Binmore, Merrick Systems
Photovoltaic:
MICA(P) 154/07/2009 | ISSN 0219/5615 | PPS 1561/06/2010 (028221)
44
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Harnessing The Sun
FEATURES
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QUESTIONS Before Buying A System IAA May2010a.indd 1
4/27/10 5:44 PM
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EVENTS
58
CommunicAsia 2010 SPS - Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou
Hannover Messe 2010
Parting Shot 62
The Evolution Of Automation
The elephant’s trunk provides new impetus for green production.
Regulars 8 News
20 Profibus
16 CAN in Automation
54 Products & Services
17 Fieldbus Foundation
63 Calendar of Events
18 EtherCAT Technology Group
64A Product Enquiry Card
4 industrial automation asia | May 2010
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EDITOR’s PAGE
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Dark Cloud...
Last month saw the logistical nightmare that resulted from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. As volcanic ash clouds brought air traffic to and from Europe to a standstill, travellers and pre-ordered iPads going to Europe were caught in limbo. Industrial fair Hannover Messe, an event that usually attracts a global audience, was badly affected as exhibitors and visitors from outside Germany struggled to make their way there. Still, if statistics from the later half of the show are anything to go by, sign for those of us in the industry continue to be encouraging. As the economy continues on its path of recovery, automation systems will be on the shopping list for companies looking to invest in its benefits. In this issue of IAA, we focus in on the topic of Machine Vision. First up, we look at things to consider when buying a vision system and zero in on crucial factors to help guarantee its effectiveness. Like the latest Hollywood blockbusters, 3D vision technology has been gaining ground with laser triangulation a popular choice in recent times. On page 28, we take a closer look at the principles behind the technology, hopefully providing a better understanding of its merits. As we maintain our forward thinking approach, we consider Photovoltaics and its potential as an energy source. Although not the be all and end all when it comes to solving our energy needs, it certainly can have an important role to play. One advantage we have in automation is the ability to prediagnose a problem and remedy it before it takes effect. In a factory setting, we can monitor and be in total control of almost any situation. When it comes to mother nature however, the diagnosis is as far as in gets. For now anyway.
Managing Director
Kenneth Tan editor
Derek Rodriguez derekrodriguez@epl.com.sg Editorial Assistant
Aisyah Wong aisyahwong@epl.com.sg Senior Art Director/Studio Manager
Lawrence Lee lawrencelee@epl.com.sg Graphic DesignerS
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Adel Ng adelng@epl.com.sg Wayne Teow wayneteow@epl.com.sg CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE
Irene Tow irenetow@epl.com.sg Contributors
Antonio Carvalho, Johan Hansson, Celestine Lim Yang Diming, Didier Lacroix, Dan Throne James Cooper, Royce Tan, Ian Binmore, Marc Freebrey Editorial Consultants
Jim Pinto Industry Analyst
Alastair Ross Director, Codexx Associates Ltd supported by:
EASTERN HOLDINGS LTD executive Board Chairman
Stephen Tay GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Kenneth Tan Financial Controller
Robbin Lim
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Head Office & Mailing Address: Eastern Trade Media Pte Ltd 1100 Lower Delta Road #04-02 EPL Building Singapore 169206 Tel: (65) 6379 2888 • Fax: (65) 6379 2805 Website: www.iaasiaonline.com Email: iaa@epl.com.sg MICA (P) No. 154/07/2009 ISSN 0219/5615 PPS 1561/06/2010 (028221) Co Reg No. 199908196C Printer: Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd
6 industrial automation asia | May 2010
System 800xA. Total integration of process and power automation.
With over 100 years of experience in power generation and the largest installed base in the industry, ABB, as your reliable partner, can deliver systems that outperform any others in today‘s market. Our comprehensive portfolio of fully integrated instrumentation, control and electrical systems help you optimize unit performance, improve reliability, reduce generation costs and lower environmental impact. ABB‘s System 800xA provides a common operator interface and engineering tools for single-platform control of your plant. It provides electrical integration with IEC61850, superior fieldbus technology and advanced system security, ensuring power plant integrity for the next generation. www.abb.com/controlsystems
ENQUIRY NO. 078
Industry News Applied Materials Opens Global Hub In Singapore Singapore: Applied Materials has opened its Singapore Operations Centre, the company’s first facility in Asia for manufacturing its advanced semiconductor equipment. The 32,000 m2 centre, located in Changi North Industrial Park, will serve as a hub for the company’s semiconductor equipment manufacturing, as well as support its worldwide supply chain operations and other corporate functions. “The opening of our Singapore Operations Centre is a significant milestone for Applied, and will be especially important in meeting an expected multi-year increase in demand for our advanced semiconductor production technology,” said Mike Splinter, the company’s chairman and CEO. “With more than 70 percent of our semiconductor business in Asia, we expect 50 percent of our global semiconductor equipment supply to flow through this centre in the next few years, as we consolidate key parts of our manufacturing and various global and panAsian support functions here.” Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Lim Hng Kiang, who officiated the opening, said: “Singapore has been a top choice as an Asian base of operations for many leading semiconductor equipment manufacturers, who seek to be closer to their major suppliers and customers. Applied Materials’ decision to set up its Singapore operations centre is testament to our efforts to further strengthen our bid to become a global hub for complex equipment manufacturing.” “Singapore is an ideal location for this facility due to its proximity to many of our
L – R: Russell Tham, president, Southeast Asia, Applied Materials; Mike Splinter, chairman and CEO, Applied Materials; Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade & Industry, Singapore; Dr Randhir Thakur, executive VP - Silicon Systems, Applied Materials; Joe Flanagan, senior VP – Worldwide Operations and Supply Chain, Applied Materials
semiconductor customers and suppliers, solid business infrastructure and strong government support,” added Mr Splinter. “We are excited by the opportunity to participate in Singapore’s manufacturing ecosystem with its strong talent pool and local suppliers, while working more closely with our customers to advance technology and reduce costs.” Applied plans to double its workforce at the centre in the next few years to 800 employees, including positions for highly skilled workers. Designed to meet stringent environmental standards, the centre was
recently awarded Singapore’s highest environmental honour – the Green Mark Platinum award – by the Singapore Building and Construction Authority. The centre features the largest thin film solar system in Singapore, a 400 kilowatt peak system that annually generates 450 megawatt hours of electricity – enough energy to power more than 100 apartments for a year. This system uses 5.7 m2 PV solar panels. Other fixtures include low-e glass curtain walls and a rainwater recycling system. These and other features are expected to result in energy savings of up to 30 percent.
Euresys & A&B Software Announce Strategic Licensing Agreement Angleur, Belgium: A&B Software and Euresys have announced a licensing agreement that will provide Open eVision, an image processing software toolkit from Euresys, with universal drivers for GigE Vision and FireWire cameras. “ActiveGigE and ActiveDcam products from A&B Software 8 industrial automation asia | May 2010
feature a universal API to acquire images and control all GigE Vision and IIDC-1394 cameras,” said Marc Damhaut, senior VP product management at Euresys. “The specific versions that we are launching, benefit from a seamless integration into the development environment for machine vision based on Open eVision.”
Industry News
Daifuku To Revamp Forum Discussion To Promote China Subsidiaries Singapore-Taiwan Collaboration In India Osaka, Japan : Daifuku will establish a new operating structure in China starting on April 1, 2010, in which Daifuku (China) (DCL) will play a role in capturing growing demand for material handling systems, including transport, storage, and sorting. Based on these initiatives, the Daifuku Group is seeking to bolster orders in its all business segments. The group will also develop a stable business base by restructuring six affiliates in China that have been operating independently by businesses and regions, to create a corporate group that can respond effectively to the changing economic environment. Under the the group’s new three-year business plan, Material Handling and Beyond (from April 2010 to March 2013), the Group positions China as its largest market outside Japan, and it is committed to achieving sales of 15 billion yen (US$162 million) on a consolidated basis in three years time, in the fiscal year ending March 2013, and 20 billion yen in five years.
Alfa Laval Wins Cleantech Order In Malaysia Stockholm, Sweden: Alfa Laval has received an order for an evaporation system to a pulp and paper mill plant in Malaysia. The order value is about SEK 50 million (US$6.9 million) and delivery will be completed in 2011. The v evaporation system will be used in a process to concentrate black liquor, a by-product from the pulp and paper production, for further re-use as fuel in the plant. In addition the steam, which is the result from the concentration process, will be condensed and re-used as water in the process thus further reducing the environmental impact of the plant. “The new plant is designed to enable a higher concentration of the black liquor than industry average, which will result in a better quality of the fuel as well as more process water recovered for the plant. All in all, an environmentally sound solution”, says Lars Renström, president and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group.
Mike Johnson, Iowa, US
Singapore: International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) have co-organised their first forum to encourage collaboration between Singapore and Taiwanese companies to grow their business in India. The forum was held on April 14 at the Taipei International Convention Centre in Taiwan, and attracted more than 100 Taiwanese companies, mainly from the electronics industry. Singapore’s Trade Representative in Taipei, Stanley Loh, and TAITRA deputy chairman Wayne Wu gave the opening remarks at the forum. Three of Singapore’s successful companies in India – Ascendas, First Engineering and YCH Group – were invited to present on their experiences. The forum follows the opening of the Taiwan Trade Centre in Singapore in December 2009, and adds a new dimension to the steadily growing business interaction between Singapore and Taiwanese companies. India has seen an unprecedented rise of importance in the global consumer market over the years. In 2009, India grew by 7.3 percent despite the financial crisis and is expected to grow another 8.5 percent this year. It also is part of the BRIC countries that are set to become leading economies of the world. India is expected to become the world’s third largest economy by 2050, after mainland China and the US. Having helped Singapore companies to establish themselves in India, IE Singapore sees the next stage of their work as helping Singapore companies to broaden their customer base in India. Through this forum, IE Singapore hopes the capabilities of Singapore companies and their strengths in India will be better known to Taiwanese companies, leading to potential business collaboration between Singapore and Taiwanese companies in India. IE Singapore also encourages Taiwanese companies to use Singapore as a springboard into India. Taiwanese companies that set up in Singapore can immediately connect with some 4,000 Indian companies that are already in Singapore. With eight percent of Singapore’s population being ethnic Indians, Taiwanese companies can also tap on Singapore’s strong cultural familiarity with India. Most importantly, Taiwanese companies that set up in Singapore can leverage on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between Singapore and India, as well as the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area, to enjoy lower tariffs, investment protection, and avoid double taxation. May 2010 | industrial automation asia 9
Industry News
Partnership Between Missler Software & SimCon
France: Missler Software and SimCon have announced a technical and commercial partnership between the two companies who work respectively in the design and manufacture of molds and plastic simulation. Using simulation technology in the early stages of part and mould design allows companies to quickly evaluate the manufacturability of their designs, so they can achieve the highest quality at the lowest cost in the shortest manufacturing times. The direct link with the CadMould software allows TopSolid customers to directly benefit from the advantages of plastic simulation. This new partnership offers mold users an optimised tool for the design of plastic parts and can be used as a first step in determining the feasibility, quality and cost of designing their parts and injection molds.
WirelessHART: International Standard For Wireless Communication In Process Automation Texas, USA: The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has approved the WirelessHART specification as a full international standard (IEC 62591Ed. 1.0). The unanimous vote on March 26, 2010 by the IEC National Committees of 28 countries confirms the broad global support for WirelessHART technology as the international standard for wireless communication in process automation. “The overwhelming approval by IEC fulfills the request of users for a single international wireless communication standard that is supported by major automation suppliers,” says HART Communication Foundation executive director Ron Helson. “WirelessHART technology has been confirmed by both users and suppliers to be a technically sound, reliable and secure solution for wireless communication in process automation.” A growing number of WirelessHART compatible products are available today from major global suppliers. Released in September 2007, WirelessHART is an open and interoperable wireless communication standard designed to address the critical needs of industry for reliable, robust and secure wireless communication in real-time industrial process measurement and control applications. 10 industrial automation asia | May 2010
Fujitsu & Fuji Electric To Explore Smart Grid Partnership Tokyo, Japan: Fujitsu Limited, Fuji Electric Holdings and its subsidiary Fuji Electric Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin exploring a business partnership to jointly develop the smart grid business. The partnership would be aimed at merging the companies strengths to accelerate the development of smart gridrelated solutions and rapidly establish a competitive foothold in Japan and other markets around the world. By merging their capabilities, Fujitsu and Fuji Electric would aim to foster the smart grid solutions market. In addition, the companies would aim to accelerate the use of reusable energies and improve energy efficiency in order to contribute to the creation of a prosperous, low-carbon society. Under the MOU, both companies will consider how a partnership could be used for joint smart grid pilot projects and tracking efforts to create international standards, as well as how the companies could work together to jointly create technologies that become de facto standards in the market.
Metso Purchases Machine Vision Systems Business Helsinki, Finland: Metso has acquired Viconsys web inspection and web break system business. The acquired business, comprising around 30 people, will be affiliated to Metso’s Energy and Environmental Technology Segment. The target of the acquisition is to complement the company’s product and service offering to the paper and other process industry. The expanding product offering will fit well to it’s global sales and service network. Through this network, Metso is able to improve customer service for existing and new customers of acquired business.
Industry News
Singapore & Sweden Institutes Ink Research Collaboration On Environmental Technologies
BSK, Indonesia
Singapore: The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), have announced a collaboration with Sweden’s Linkoping University to pursue research on environmental technologies focusing on remanufacturing, clean production technology processes and industrial symbiosis. These three research areas represent the current research focus and strengths of the two parties. These technologies are promising to minimise the environmental impacts of the manufacturing industry and at the same time, increase value-add and reduce costs. The collaboration will facilitate the sharing of research expertise from both institutes in joint academic meetings, symposia, exchange of students and senior researchers as well as research projects to advance the development, implementation and commercialisation of environmental technologies which are broadly defined as technologies that reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and waste in manufacturing. Remanufacturing transforms end-
of-life products into new components or products, saving about 85 percent less embodied energy in production. The global remanufacturing industry has generated more than US$53 billion in annual sales and is considered a market with major potential. Remanufactured products can be commonly found in consumer, industrial, automotive and medical industries amongst others. It is one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly production processes. In remanufacturing, worn, defective or discarded products are disassembled in a manufacturing environment. All components are cleaned, checked, brought up to specification or replaced where applicable. When the product is reassembled and tested, it is close to its original condition, performing as new or even upgraded with the latest technology when possible. Technology advancements in environmental technologies are aligned to the Singapore government’s long term vision to help build a greener, more energy efficient and sustainable nation. The government committed US$692 million (S$1 billion) in April 2009 to implement Singapore’s blueprint for sustainable development to create new technologies and alternative sources of energy.
Mitsubishi Electric Announces Sixth Environmental Plan Tokyo, Japan: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has announced today its Sixth Environmental Plan, indicating its action plans for the next three years in order to achieve Environmental Vision 2021, the long-term environmental management vision of the Mitsubishi Electric Group. Since 1993, the group has set environmental plans every three years, specifically indicating its mid-term action targets and roadmaps in order to strengthen the company’s environmental management system. On October 22, 2007, Mitsubishi Electric announced Environmental Vision 2021, a framework for the Mitsubishi Electric
Group that defines long-term initiatives to realise a sustainable society. It sets 2021 as the target year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the company’s founding. Mitsubishi Electric has formulated its Sixth Environmental Plan based on the following items: • Targets and action plans regarding its environmental performance to achieve Environmental Vision 2021 • Responding to changes and demands in society regarding environmental issues • Contributing to the realisation of a sustainable society by expanding the company’s environment-related businesses
The principal initiatives of the Sixth Environmental Plan and main targets for FY2012 are: • Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from production and use of products in order to tackle climate change • Promoting 3R activities and making products smaller to achieve a recyclingbased society • Expanding environmental management globally to improve management standards • Expanding environmentrelated businesses • Fostering environmental awareness among employees
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 11
Industry News
Doosan Infracore Builds Diesel Engine Factory In China
South Korea: Doosan Infracore intends to jumpstart its future as a global diesel engine manufacturer with the commencement of work to build a diesel engine factory in China that is to have an annual production capacity of 100,000 units. On April 18, the company reported that it held the ceremony for the Xuzhou XCMG Doosan Engine Xuzhou factory in the Economic Development Zone, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, with 500 plus people in attendance, including Xuzhou Party secretary Cao Xinping, Xuzhou mayor Jing-Hua Zhang and Doosan Infracore president Han Gi-seon. A 50-50 joint venture between Doosan Infracore and the XCMG Group of China engaged in the production and sales of diesel engines for construction machinery, heavy duty trucks and power generators, Xuzhou Xuzhou XCMG Doosan Engine was established in September 2009 at a cost of around 680 million yuan (US$100 million). The 198,000 m2 sized factory will start manufacturing 6 litre/8 litre diesel engines for construction machinery from July 2011 and for other vehicles from 2013. By 2018, it will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 units. It is expected that by then the company will have joined the ranks of the world’s top 10 diesel engine factories, with a combined production capacity of 156,000 units a year, including those produced at its Incheon Factory. 12 industrial automation asia | May 2010
3M & Yushin Precision Equipment’s Agreement On Temporary Wafer Bonding Technology Minnesota, USA: 3M and Yushin Precision Equipment have agreed on an agreement to allow Yushin Precision Equipment to manufacture and sell equipment for temporary bonding of ultrathin wafers required for 3-D packaging. As part of this agreement, Yushin Precision Equipment becomes a 3M Authorised Equipment Supplier for equipment that is configured to use the company’s Wafer Support System (WSS) materials including 3M’s Liquid UVCurable Adhesive and Light-To-Heat Conversion coating. “The agreement ensures our joint customers access to Yushin supplied equipment that was previously sold under the 3M brand and builds on the successful relationship the two companies have had over several years,” said Mike Bowman, marketing development manager for 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division.
Smartphones Losing Ground To Ruggedised Handhelds Washington, USA: The results of a Harris Executive Omnibus survey of more than 300 Fortune 1000 executives revealed that companies are investing in ruggedised handhelds and going paperless to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Sixty percent of executives surveyed said their workforces are more mobile than ever before and 67 percent are interested in replacing their consumer PDAs, cell phones and smartphones with ruggedised handheld devices. With 94 percent of executives surveyed currently using PDA/smart phones, 72 percent using cell phones, and 23 percent using ruggedised handhelds, the findings reveal that a significant shift may soon occur in mobile workforces. The survey results also uncovered the fact that the executives surveyed are transitioning to paperless operations to reduce costs, improve productivity and environmental responsibility. Of those surveyed: 38 percent are already paperless, 29 percent are transitioning to paperless operations, and 15 percent plan on going paperless in the near term. “Eliminating dependencies on paper is just one of the many ways that a rugged mobile computer outperforms a consumer smartphone,” said Pat Byrne, president and CEO of Intermec. “Intermec rugged mobile computers provide the TCO and feature set that enables our customers to transform the way business is done.”
Vero Software Wins Queen’s Award For Enterprise 2010 Gloucestershire, UK: Vero Software, a provider of CAD/CAM/CAE solutions for the tooling industry has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2010. The awards are made each year by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is assisted by an independent Advisory Committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions. Vero Software has been rewarded for its continuous achievement in international trade over the last six years. The award has been granted in recognition of the company’s growing export earnings by 65 percent to over £12 million (US$18.5 million) in six years, with over 91 percent of its sales to markets in Europe, North America and the Far East.
Industry News
Economic Recovery Requires Level Playing Field & Stable Policies, Says Tillerson Texas, USA: The best way for government to kick-start the economy is to provide a level playing field for competition and create stable policies that will enable long-term investments, Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation (left), said. “Leaders in government and in business agree that we face an urgent need to revitalise our economy and spur job creation,” Mr Tillerson said in a speech to the Houston World Affairs Council. “To achieve these goals, we must unleash the extraordinary power of private citizens to seize new opportunities in free markets. Industry can achieve this by taking risks, investing in the future, hiring new workers, expanding operations and making our economy more competitive. But we can only achieve this when government creates a level playing field for competition and upholds a stable policy framework conducive to long-term investments.” Mr Tillerson said America’s businesses – both small and large – need to be able to plan for the future in order to make investments that will create badly needed jobs for the nearly one in 10 Americans who are unemployed and millions more who are underemployed or no longer seeking work. “Every business leader faces challenges in assessing the future, but in tough economic times government can help by keeping a steady hand on the rudder. If the private sector knows that government will stay the course and resist the temptation to over-regulate, it can invest with confidence.” According to recent studies, the oil and natural gas industry contributes more than US$1 trillion a year to the US economy and directly and indirectly supports more than nine million jobs. “These economic contributions are even more important in light of the global economic downturn and the slow job creation of the nascent recovery,” said Mr Tillerson. “I believe our industry can – and must – be part of our national efforts to achieve more robust economic growth.” He said much focus has been placed on the role small businesses play in job creation, but studies show that large corporations are also critical engines of job creation and employment. “As big businesses flourish, small businesses are created as the direct suppliers, contractors and providers of other services essential to the success of the larger businesses. With the right public policies, the energy industry and companies like ExxonMobil can lead the way back with our disciplined investments in new projects, new technologies, and new jobs.” Tillerson said that when government creates an environment where businesses can be creative, take risks, and grow, the private sector will repay that trust by creating millions of new jobs, but also through unequaled acts of private charity and corporate citizenship.
Invensys & ExxonMobil Sign Licensing Agreement
Singapore: Invensys Operations Management has entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) that allows Invensys to sub-license a suite of EMRE’s refinery process models to third parties. The suite of models will be delivered through Invensys Operations Management’s SimSci-Esscor optimisation software, using its ROMeo solution to enable clients to model and optimise process units. “With depressed demand, decreased margins and increased environmental mandates, refiners no longer have the option to simply operate at maximum throughput,” said Sudipta Bhattacharya, president and chief executive of Invensys Operations Management. “Over the course of the coming decade, we will see a drastic shift in the oil industry as refiners constantly optimise their operations in the face of changing feedstock and energy costs, product specs and margins. Refiners will increasingly rely on accurate modeling technologies to construct a refinery-wide picture and assess the financial impact of different operating scenarios. Our SimSci-Esscor optimisation software and ROMeo solution, combined with EMRE process models, enables refiners to make improved economic decisions throughout the refinery, from crude feed to final product blending.” May 2010 | industrial automation asia 13
Industry News
Singapore: A*Star and EDB will be holding a signing ceremony for the MicroElectro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) consortium. This brings together eight MNCs and local enterprises from the MEMS supply chain in public-private sector research collaboration to grow the MEMS industry in Singapore. The members include: Coventor, GlobalFoundries, NEC-Schott, Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co (SSMC), Intellisense Software Corp, EPCOS (A Group Company of TDK-EPC Corporation), Seiko Instruments and Tango Systems. Together with IME and the Institute of Materials and Research and Engineering (IMRE), the consortium has a wide spectrum of deep capabilities in research and development, wafer fabrication, integrated device manufacturing, assembly and test, design and computer-aided design, and equipment and materials. MEMS is a rapidly growing area, driven by many new applications in biomedical, wireless communication and consumer electronics. As such, this collaboration is an opportunity for global players to leverage on each other’s expertise, to help spur the electronics sector in Singapore.
Gazprom & OMV Signed A Framework Agreement Of Cooperation
Miroslav Saricka, Slovakia
Singapore MEMS Consortium Signing
Vienna, Austria: Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom management committee, and Dr Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, CEO and Chairman of the executive board of OMV signed a framework agreement of cooperation under the South Stream project on the territory of the Republic of Austria. The agreement sets forth conditions and deadlines for implementation by Gazprom and OMV of the Austrian section of South Stream and stipulates principles and mechanisms of the parties’ interaction at the pre-investment stage of the project. The agreement stipulates that in the near future the parties will set about developing a feasibility study of the Austrian section of South Stream. Gazprom and OMV will also set up on a parity basis a joint engineering company for design, financing, construction and operation of Austria’s section of South Stream with a minimum annual capacity of 5–10 billion cubic metres. It is assumed that within the implementation of the South Stream project on the territory of Austria OMV will be supplied on a long-term basis with additional 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas. “Through the South Stream Pipeline, OMV’s Baumgarten distribution node will further increase its importance as Central Europe’s major gas turntable. As for Central European Gas Hub, already one of the most important gas trading platforms in continental Europe, this additional liquidity at its main trading point will also provide strong momentum and clear support as it seeks to become the leading gas hub in continental Europe,” said Mr Ruttenstorfer.
Siemens Mobility To Equip Additional Metro Line In Delhi Erlangen, Germany: Siemens Mobility received an order from Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Limited (RMGL) to build a metro line to the urban business district of Gurgaon Cyber City. The 6.1 km line will link the new business and residential quarter about 30 km south of downtown Delhi with the capital’s metro rail network. This is the first time that the company implements a complete rail solution in India: From vehicles to complete electrification and signalling to system integration. The system will be handed over at the end of 2012. The company will supply five 3-car metro vehicles with aluminium design for the new line, which will run on the 14 industrial automation asia | May 2010
elevated track with standard gauge at an average speed of 30 km/h. The advanced signaling and automatic train control system from Siemens Mobility ensures that the requested headway of 90 seconds is achieved during peak hours. Due to this short headway, up to 30,000 passengers per hour can be transported. Safe and reliable operation is ensured by the electronic interlocking of the type Sicas ECC, the automatic train control system LZB 700 M with ATP (automatic train protection) and the ATS (automatic train supervision) system Vicos OC 501. Siemens succeeded in entering the Indian mass transit market in 2004: Back then, the company equipped the Line
three of the Delhi metro with the complete signaling and railway communications technology. All the extensions to Line three, which is now 60 km long, were fitted with instrumentation, control and safety systems. In May 2009, the next order was to supply the signaling, electrification and baggage logistics for the 23 km line of the Delhi Airport Rail Link, which will be commissioned in October of this year, in time for the Commonwealth Games. For the metro link to Gurgaon Cyber City, Siemens Mobility will, for the first time in India, supply not only subsystems but also assume responsibility for the key components and their integration, including the interfaces, for the construction of a complete system.
Industry News
SHI Wins The Green Ship Award Seoul, South Korea: Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had won the Green Ship Award, as its LNG-SRV, which it delivered to Norway in November 2009, was selected as the world’s best green ship at the 7th Green Ship Technology Conference, which was recently held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Green Ship Technology is the world’s largest environmental conference for the shipbuilding and marine transportation industries. This year’s event, held under the theme ‘Green Technological Trends’, was joined by more than 200 marine transportation companies and shipbuilders. A total of 2,600 ships built in 2009 by companies from around the world were reviewed at the conference. Key green ship technologies include a seawater discharge function, water pollution prevention technology, gas emissions reduction technology and noise and vibration reduction technology. The company’s LNG-SRV was recognised
as the best green ship, equipped with the largest number of green technologies. Unlike conventional LNG tankers, which transport liquefied natural gas from the production sites to consumption sites, the LNG-SRV of Samsung gasifies LNG at the marine sites, and directly supplies it to the ground locations through pipelines. It was also selected as a South Korea Best Technology in 2009 in recognition of its innovative concept. Unlike the conventional process, which results in the discharge of 20,000 sq m of frozen seawater per day, disrupting ecosystems, the LNGSRV discharges no seawater, reduces harmful gas emissions by 92 percent with its electricity-powered engine, prevents water pollution through the recirculation of cooling water, adopts an internal rainwater purification system, and introduces a design that minimises the effects of noise and vibrations on mammals living in the sea, like dolphins.
The LNG-SRV is equipped with a range of important green technologies. In addition to the electricity-powered LNG-SRV, SHI has recently completed the design of a gas-powered ship, the world’s first natural gas-powered ecofriendly ship. Currently, all oil tankers and container ships that are built and operated across the globe use diesel oil as fuel, but these are failing to meet the ever-tightening regulations requiring the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as they emit air pollutants. SHI’s gas-powered ship is an innovative product that can meet potentially tighter regulations, as it is capable of reducing CO2 emissions by 20 to 25 percent, nitrogenous compounds by 90 percent, and sulfur compounds and fine dust by over 99 percent compared to current ships. Even when stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions are eventually imposed, the ship will still be capable of compliance.
Gildemeister Expands Its Division Of Renewable Energy Bielefeld, Germany: The Gildemeister subsidiary, a+f based in Wurzburg, which specialises in renewable energy, is acquiring a majority holding (50.001 percent) in the Austrian company, Cellstrom, based in Eisenstadt near Vienna. As part of the transaction, a+f is also acquiring a five percent holding in the parent company, Younicos, Berlin. Through this, a+f is paving the way for its entry into the future market of energy storage; the Cellstrom large battery is based on vanadium redox flow technology. Cellstrom specialises in innovative storage solutions – especially for solar plants. The powerful, long-lasting and low maintenance vanadium redox flow battery solves the problem of energy storage. With the joint know-how of the companies, the storage technology business is expected to reach double-digit sales figures in the millions from 2011 on. In future, customers will be able to use their electricity independently and
flexibly at any time. The use of the storage system as a solar filling station is also of interest. Using a large battery, eight electric cars can be ‘re-fueled’ up to 80
percent simultaneously in less than 10 minutes, or 80 four-person households can be supplied with electricity for an entire night. May 2010 | industrial automation asia 15
Newsdesk
Additional Application Layer Functions Finalised The CiA (CAN in Automation) organisation has released the last part of the reviewed CiA 302 series of additional application layer functions. This part 3 specifies the configuration manager and the program download via the CANopen network. The other parts of CiA 302 have been released earlier. They specify the network management including the NMT flying master (part 2), the network variables and the process image (part 4), the SDO manager (part 5), bus-line (network) redundancy (part 6), and multi-level networking (part 7). “The completion of the CiA 302 version 4.1 is an important milestone,” said Holger Zeltwanger, CiA managing director. “The new version will enable the CANopen device and system designer to improve their products and solutions.” In particular, the program download is a very important additional application layer function. The specification provides also hints for boot-loader persistence, access protection, and compatibility checks. ENQUIRY NO. 3101
16 industrial automation asia | May 2010 2009
CANopen Product Guide 2010 Available CiA has published the CANopen Product Guide 2010 on the Internet and on CD-ROM. A total of 287 CANopen-specific entries are listed and provide a comprehensive overview of CANopen products. Devices are listed by the application-specific employability and by their functionality (eg controller and display, sensor and actuator, gateway). The product entries, which also include CANopen software, literature and services, can be looked up by their product name or by their manufacturer’s name. As a special service they are additionally listed by their conformance to the CiA device and application profiles. Extensive information on worldwide sales and technical company contacts are included in a company-specific section. Ample information on CANopen, the standardised embedded network, and on the CiA device and application profiles is provided as well. In addition, the CANopen Product Guide will be distributed on CDROM at the international CiA training events as well as on national and international fairs and exhibitions. ENQUIRY NO. 3102
Board Of Directors Re-Elected At the annual general assembly the three CiA directors have been re-elected: Arnulf Lockmann (Janz), Heinz-Juergen Oertel (Port), and Holger Zeltwanger. They have led the non-profit association since 2005. The CiA members also nominated the technical committee and business committee delegates (esd, Janz, Port, Schneider, Vector, and Wachendorff). The CiA international users’ and manufacturers’ group, supporting the international standardised Controller Area Network (CAN) serial communication system (ISO 11898 series) has more than 500 members worldwide. “The members requested activities to improve the standardisation of CANopen device descriptions in order to simplify the selection of products,” said Holger Zeltwanger, the old and new MD. “This could lead to a data base, in which the system designer may search for specific device functionalities.” ENQUIRY NO. 3103
Hungarian University
Certified Under Foundation Certified Training Program The University of Miskolc, H u n g a r y, a n d t h e F i e l d b u s Foundation have signed a license agreement that recognises the University of Miskolc as a certified training centre that is undergoing the process of auditing its educational curriculum and instructors in order to achieve full certified training centre status. Once successful in the complete accreditation process, the university will become the preferred site for Fieldbus Foundation training for the Central and Eastern Europe region. Dr Károly Jónap, department head, University of Miskolc, commented: “I’m pleased that my team is one step nearer to offering certified Foundation training to end users in Hungary and the neighbouring area. We are looking forward to successfully completing our audit in the next few weeks and to a mutually beneficial partnership with the Fieldbus Foundation.” The certified training program establishes uniform standards for fieldbus educational curriculum around the globe, and defines acceptable levels of learning for students of the technology. It is intended to raise the visibility and prestige of institutions offering certified Foundation fieldbus training to a new and exclusive level. Educational facilities that successfully complete a multistage certification process can issue certificates showing the Fieldbus Foundation accredits their courses.
The procedures that educational institutions must follow in order to gain certified training site status, together with certified course instructors and certified curriculum, are rigorous. Certified training centres are required to maintain multiple hosts and devices onsite in order to demonstrate competence with fieldbus technology. They must also satisfy the auditors that their course material adheres to set instructional standards covering fieldbus segment limits; device replacements; commands, icons, menus and screen designs of different software packages; and communication, scheduling and function block assignments enabling configuration. In addition, certified instructors are audited to see if they have achieved specified Fieldbus Foundation training goals. Instructors must demonstrate expertise in areas such as HumanMachine Interface (HMI) tools, fieldbus troubleshooting, simple device configuration, and device deployment and functionality
across a fieldbus network. Jürgen George, chairman of the Fieldbus Foundation Central and Eastern Europe Marketing Committee (FFCEEMC), is looking forward to the prospect of a fully certified training centre in the CEE region. “One of the key objectives of the FFCEEMC is to provide technical training, support and information about Foundation technology and its applications to users and potential users throughout the CEE region at a local venue and, where possible, in a local language,” he said. “To have a registered training centre in Hungary that can support the region’s technical training needs will be a great achievement for all those involved.” Worldwide, there are several training centres participating in the Foundation Certified Training Program, including EMEA-based STC Brielle, The Netherlands, BIS Prozesstechni, Germany, and the University of Miskolc, Hungary.
ENQUIRY NO. 3104 May 2010 | industrial automation asia 17
Asia Vendor Independent API & Configuration Of EtherCAT Gateways Industrial Ethernet technologies and especially EtherCAT are in the forefront of the global industrial automation market. Established classical fieldbus systems continue to play an important role on this market, too. EtherCAT completes such technologies and challenges them today. Thus there is a need of easy to configure and standardised communication solutions between the two worlds. Existing technologies have to be integrated into new and faster systems with the possibility of flexible and fast data exchange. This can be realised via gateways which are often being used in industrial automation today. The configuration of such gateways is often proprietary and thus system integration is complex and cost-intensive. The EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) has
addressed this issue and has defined a standard interface for fieldbus gateways, based on the EtherCAT ‘Modular Device Profile’ (MDP). This ensures future-proof integration of fieldbus gateways into an EtherCAT network due to a standardised mapping of classical fieldbus systems (eg: Profibus, CANopen, IO-Link) according to this profile. Fastest Industrial Ethernet EtherCAT is the fastest Industrial Ethernet technology. It uses standard IEEE 802.3 Ethernet frames and physical layers. But the functional principle of EtherCAT – avoiding stack delays and optimising bandwidth by processing the Ethernet frames on the fly – not only increases the performance, but also provides for a maximum flexibility of topology variants.
EtherCAT Gateways For the EtherCAT master an EtherCAT gateway is being considered as a standard EtherCAT slave device (Figure 1). Thus the underlying subsystem is not affecting the realtime capability of the EtherCAT network and a standardised view of all data is given. The EtherCAT master can exchange data with devices connected to an EtherCAT gateway directly. Precise synchronisation is possible within an EtherCAT network via Distributed Clocks. This functionality can be used also for any connected fieldbus, if supported (eg CANopen). An EtherCAT gateway consists of three parts: EtherCAT Slave, Gateway Function and Fieldbus Master / Slave. On the fieldbus side the gateway is typically implemented as master to control connected devices like sensors, actors or I/Os.
Figure 1: Flexible Integration of EtherCAT Gateways
Figure 2: Object dictionary of a Modular Device (example) 18 industrial automation asia | May 2010
Table 1: Existing Module Profile Numbers for EtherCAT
Using the MPD allows one to transparently access process data and acyclic (parameter) data from devices connected to a gateway. The parameter set (the so called ‘object dictionary’) of a modular device is shown in Figure 2. The MDP definitions ensure a standardised structure of the object dictionary, independent from the type of gateway connected. Fieldbus slaves connected to the MDP device (gateway) are represented as modules. Each module consists of each 16 objects for output entries, input entries, configuration parameter and information parameter. Thus up to 255 modules can be connected to a gateway. If the MDP is recognised during development of an EtherCAT configuration tool or EtherCAT master, then both can be used for standardised configuration of EtherCAT gateways. Thanks to the easy configuration of EtherCAT by sending startup commands from an EtherCAT master to the gateway which is done over the CoE protocol (CAN application protocol over EtherCAT). Table 1 shows all module profiles defined for EtherCAT so far. Further fieldbus and/or Industrial Ethernet variants can be mapped to EtherCAT quite simply – this has to be done only once for a communication system and can be used afterwards with every EtherCAT master or configuration tool supporting MDP.
Conclusion The open Modular Device Profile (MDP) simplifies the handling and integration of fieldbus gateways into a network. Thus it is possible to configure gateways within an EtherCAT network with vendor independent configuration tools as well as operation by any EtherCAT master due to the standardised mapping of the connected modules
according to the MDP. Not only end users benefit from the standardised access of several connected fieldbus, also vendors of EtherCAT master and configuration tools can save time and money while developing only one tool for configuring and operating such gateways. ENQUIRY NO. 3105
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ENQUIRY NO. 119
Modular Device Profile (MDP) For EtherCAT the open MDP offers a standardised and vendor independent configuration of a modular EtherCAT device and is particularly suitable for EtherCAT gateways. The MDP describes: • the modelling of structures within a device. • the application of devices ranging from very simple ones to complex sub-structured ones. • an easy way for master and configuration devices to handle the device.
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 19
Industry Updates Successful Start Of RPAs In India & Spain
Successful start for PI organisation in India
In order to answer the growing demand for one-stop support for Profibus and Profinet in important global economic regions, PI (Profibus & Profinet International) has established regional organisations in India and Spain. PI Competence Centers are currently being established in both countries to provide support for technical issues. As a result, 27 national representatives will be supporting the interests of members in their respective countries around the world. When establishing the dense international network, special attention is given to the proximity to future growth markets. “India offers both short-term and long-term
growth forecasts for automation technology”, according to Jörg Freitag, PI chairman. Based on information of the Zentralverband Elektrotechnik und Elektronikindustrie ZVEI eV (the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association), India’s importance to the electrical industry has increased significantly in recent years. As a result, the volume of the electrical market in India has reached more than €37 billion (US$50 billion). The Indian RPA will be overseen by the UL Group located in Pune. “We are pleased that we have found an extremely competent partner in the UL Group that will support our efforts to disseminate our technologies in
India,” explained Mr Freitag. The company has established technical experts available onsite as well as branch offices in the most important trade centers in India. “The interests of Indian companies in Profibus and Profinet technologies is extremely high,” confirmed Dileep Miskin, director of the UL Group and responsible for the new RPA India. With the RPA in Spain, PI is opening up a very important country in the European economic region. New members of the RPA include both Spanish subsidiaries of international firms as well as Spanish automation engineering companies. In particular, small- and mediumsized companies are benefiting from membership, as they are supported by local partners in carrying out marketing activities within Spain, thus enabling direct and straightfor ward contact with customers. The new RPA in Spain welcomed 17 industry representatives at its inaugural meeting. The statutes for the new organisation are currently being drawn up for approval at the first General Meeting in June 2010. ENQUIRY NO. 3106
Profinet: Open Technology Profinet is the open, vendorneutral Industrial Ethernet standard for all applications in industrial automation. PI is pushing the standardisation of Profinet technology at high speed while offering comprehensive support through its member companies, ranging from consulting to hardware and firmware integration and to certification. 20 industrial automation asia | May 2010
In order for any company to implement Profinet in the simplest and most cost- and time-efficient way possible, a comprehensive offer from a wide range of providers is available: firmware based on Standard Ethernet interface, Profinet ASICs, and ready-to-install modules. The brochure ‘The Easy Way to Profinet Technology’ published by PI and available for download on the Internet.
With the release of the TPS1 (TIGER ASIC) by Phoenix Contact, another Profinet ASIC is now available, which has been designed especially for compact devices, e.g. compact IOs or drives. Based on this single chip solution, device manufacturers can implement Profinet into their devices quickly and easily. ENQUIRY NO. 3107
ENQUIRY NO. 123
issues & insights
Refined Integration E The integration of an electrical control system into the process control system increases productivity and availability by permitting a single strategy in the areas of engineering, maintenance and operations. By Antonio Carvalho and Johan Hansson, ABB
Separate process and power automation systems using hardwired integration 22  industrial automation asia | May 2010
lectrical integration is not a new concept. Low-, medium- and high voltage devices have been integrated into process control systems (PCSs) for many years. Traditionally, the systems that serve process automation and power distribution within the same plant are separate, but are coupled by extensive hardwired interfaces. Due to cabling and engineering costs, the bandwidth and cost efficiency of this approach is very limited. The introduction of intelligent electrical devices (IEDs) and serial interfaces permitted much more information from the electrical system to be utilised. This approach is commonly used today in industrial and power generation applications. A large variety of protocols and standards are used in substation automation, including IEC60870-510x, DNP 3.0, Modbus and various legacy protocols.
The multitude of interfaces required lead to a broad variety of engineering tools, protocol converters and gateways, and hence additional hardware, maintenance and increased engineering costs. This could result in solutions having to be implemented on a project-by-project or even a device-by-device basis. Figure 1 illustrates a scenario that has different serial protocols for communication with the IEDs, as well as a hardwired interface between the electrical and process control system.
refineries owned by Petrobras on Brazilian territory, ABB has installed the PMS in nine of them and the process control system in seven. Three years ago, as part of their strategic growth plan, Petrobras decided to invest in increasing its production and in improving the quality of its products – mainly in the areas of diesel and gasoline – through
the addition of new production units and the modernisation of others in existing refineries. In February 2008, Petrobras thus signed a frame agreement with ABB for the supply of PMS and PCS. The agreement covered the supply of hardware, software and technical services including specialised training.
Power Management For Petrobras ABB has a large installed base of power management systems in Petrobras refineries. Of the 12
ENQUIRY NO. 098
IEC 61850 The 2004 introduction of the global IEC 61850 standard for substation automation represented a huge step forward in simplifying the integration of IEDs. The standard ensures the interoperability between devices and is capable of replacing all the various protocols in the substationautomation domain. At the core of the IEC 61850 standard is a complete objectoriented model of the IED, its data and supported communication services. These are modeled in a form that is consistent across all types and brands of IEC 61850 compliant IEDs. Interoperability is further supported by the use of a common XML-based substation configuration description language (SCL). ABB’s System 800xA is the first process control system on the market to support the IEC 61850 standard. The implementation is shown in Figure 2. Both vertical communication (using the full MMS stack) and horizontal communication (using GOOSE1) are supported. The vertical integration is implemented using an IEC 61850 OPC server2), which transfers the MMS data to System 800xA in the form of regular OPC data items.
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 23 CE ad 111x183mm path.indd 1
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issues & insights
The contract forecast implementation of around 70 projects on nine refineries in which ABB has installed base. The scale of the modernisation program is immense. In addition to building new units for hydro treatment, cooking, desulfurisation and other processes, Petrobras is constructing 50 new substations and modernising communiabout 40 others using the IEC 61850 standard. Repar Project The Repar refinery is one of Pe t robra s’ mo st i mp or ta nt downstream production units. It is located in Brazil’s Parana state, one of the most industrialised and most populated regions of the country. Consequently, Repar is among the refineries to receive a larger investment in the Petrobras strategic plan. The implementation of the growth plan of the Repar refinery included the installation of the new PMS. This encompassed several new substations including a 230 kV intake substation, a 69 kV GIS3) distribution substation and 12 process substations as well as two new turbo generators. The project almost tripled the energy available for the Repar refinery from 26 MW to 76 MW and included the building of a new power house and 12 new substations and the modernisation of eight existing substations. The Repar refinery adopted the IEC 61850 standard as the communication technology for its substation automation and PMS. The new PMS was required to integrate the functionality of its predecessor system in terms of using the same database of key control features such as loadshedding responses and reactivepower control in a single and centralised solution. The old PMS thus saw its Advant stations upgraded to System 800xA, while retaining its Advant Master 24 industrial automation asia | May 2010
PMS Repar simplified architecture integrated with existent system
controllers. The new substations use System 800xA from the start. The new substations use redundant AC800M controllers that have IEC 61850 interfaces and PROFIBUS DP fieldbus networks to connect to intelligent MCC4) and drives. The IEC 61850 network is used in the following voltage levels: 69.0 kV GIS substation, 13.8 kV switchgear, 2.4 kV medium-voltage distribution-center panels and 0.48 kV distribution-center panels. Thus ABB’s PMS is used to control all voltage levels of the electrical system of the refinery. The operation of System 800xA is supported by ABB’s PMS Library. When this project is complete, System 800x A will have 16 re du nda nt ly f it te d AC800M controllers installed in 10 substations interfacing with around 460 IEDs in total. For the operation of the new PMS and PCS, Repar built a new centralised control room where a total of 56 System 800xA operator stations are being installed. Four of them will be exclusively used for the monitoring of electrical operations. The Benefits Some of the benefits for
Petrobas are: • Standardisation The adoption of IEC 61850 te c h n o l o g y a n d Sy s te m 800xA permitted Petrobras to standardise various procedures in substation configuration, control logic, control libraries and operation procedures. These translated into savings in commissioning time and configuration. The object orientation of IEC 61850 supports standardised device models using names instead of object/register numbers and indexes. System 800xA, through its IEC 61850 compliance, was able to fully support this standardisation. • Lower investment cost The use of IEC 61850 combined with System 800xA PMS brought simplicity to many phases of the project implementation. This was noticed in the definition, design and engineering phases through the common user environment, use of the Ethernet standard, the single tool for the engineering integration of all devices, less wiring and more advanced
• Lower life-cycle costs One of the main benefits delivered to Repar was optimal life-cycle management and low life-cycle cost through the use of a future-proof system with IEC 61850 interoperability. The reuse of engineering data and the use of a standard language for programming highlighted the power of IEC 61850 for Repar projects and the associated costs savings through less need for training and reduced staff requirements. • Integrated process and power automation A unified system for process and power automation was used to combine power management, process electrification and process control into a single control environment in the Repar Refinery. Benefits that Repar already valued with its existent PMS, such as reduced energy costs through power management, were transferred into the new system a nd streng thened through the implementation of a fully integrated system. The control of drives, intelligent M C C ’s , m e d i u m v o l t a g e switchgear, protection and control IEDs were all integrated on the same system. Improvements directly perceivable by Repar include increased visibility of the process, the possibility of asset management of electrical devices, improved interface with process control and improvements in operation procedures. • Reliability and availability The Repar Project is based on redunda nt AC8 0 0M
cont rol le r s, a re du nda nt control network, a redundant I EC 618 5 0 OPC inter face, and other arrangements in which System 8 0 0 x A wa s tailored to meet Petrobras specifications. This and other mechanisms of availability improvements helped deliver a system to Repar
that reduced unscheduled downtime. A digital system integrated with a powerful IEC 61850 network allowed use of remote maintenance tools, access to device diagnostics and reporting, increasing system reliability. ENQUIRY NO. 3201
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ENQUIRY NO. 121
protection capabilities thanks to the use of horizontal GOOSE messaging for direct exchange of data between devices.
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 25
control point
T
Perfect Function
Advanced Process Control function blocks are successfully applied to a wastewater treatment problem. Contributed by Celestine Lim, Rockwell Automation
Coordinated Control Function Block
BISULFATE_CC Final_Residual_Chlorine
Final_Residual_Chlorine_SP DO2 Basin_Chlorine_Residual
0.07
0.06 11.2 0.3
CC Coordinated Control PV
CV1EU
SPProg
CV1Auto
CV2Prog
CV2Auto
CV3Prog
CV3Auto CV1Manual CV2Manual CV3Manual
26  industrial automation asia | May 2010
43.0 BISULFATE_OUTPUT
h e c o n t ro l o f c h l o r i n e concentration in the disinfection process and the injection of sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3) to remove residual chlorine from treated wastewater is challenging because of very long deadtimes, flow-dependent dynamics, and constantly changing load (waste concentrations) in treated water. In this situation, the wastewater is disinfected with chlorine, and then continues through filters and onto a final-weir point, where the de-chlorination process is completed. Four pumps are used to inject the bisulfite. The desired chlorine setpoint needs to be as close to zero as possible, without over-dosing with bisulfite. Over-dosing can be detected by measuring the dissolved oxygen (DO2) at the final weir point. The facility processes 60 million gallons per day. Initial Situation Before the Advanced Process Control function block based solution was deployed, the chlorination and dechlorination process was a combination of manual and traditional PID control. This typical control approach was not effective in controlling the outfall residual chlorine level due to the ever-changing water flows, loadings, and the long intervals between bisulfite injection and the outfall sensing point. Wide variations in residual chlorine were experienced. In an attempt to achieve de-chlorination and to avoid chlorine violations, bisulfite injections were often excessive.
0 0 0 0 0 0
Advanced Process Control Function Block Solution The Advanced Process Control function blocks were successfully applied to this wastewater treatment problem. The heart of the solution was the Coordinated
Control (CC) function block. It was used to replaced the traditional PID control for bisulfite injection. The CC function block uses Internal Model Control technology that is superior to PID control in situations with long deadtimes. Since residence time is needed for the bisulfite to mix with the water before chlorine residuals can be accurately measured, large wastewater plants inherently have long deadtimes between the bisulfite injection point and the outfall sensing point. The Advanced Process Control function blocks compensate for this deadtime by basing control decisions on the model of the process, as opposed to the traditional PID algorithm. The target value of the residual chlorine of the final plant effluent outfall is between 0.05 and 0.08 ppm of chlorine. The residual
chlorine measurement provides no quantitative indication of bisulfite over-dosing, since overdosing will cause the chlorine measurement to saturate at zero ppm chlorine. The CC block utilises up to three process models. In this application, the first process model relates bisulfate flow to the final residual chlorine. The other two models were used as feedworward signals. The first feedforward process model relates Dissolved Oxygen (DO2) at the outfall to the final residual chlorine. A low DO2 reading indicates that over-dosing of the bisulfite is occurring, and the feedforward bias reduces the controller’s output to reduce the amount of over-dosing. The second feedfor ward process model relates the Basin
Chlorine Residual to the final residual chlorine. The Basin Chlorine Residual reflects changes to the upstream flow and chlorine levels that will eventually impact the dechlorination process. Most feedforward control schemes simply add to the signal of the controller output to compensate for upstream changes. With the CC function block, the feedforward signal is modeled to account for the process dynamics and compensate for deadtime. This makes the feedforward action more effective at reacting to process disturbances. The benefits of the implementation of the APC function block application are tighter bisulfite control, reduced chemical usage, and reduced operator interventions. ENQUIRY NO. 3301
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10/100 Mbps Ethernet Interface Supports Modbus/TCP Protocol Supports UDP Protocol for Real-time Application by Event Triggering/Data Streaming Functions Complete I/O in a Single Module Built-in HTTP Server Modbus/TCP OPC Server Available
PC-based SoftLogic Programmable Controller
© 2010 Advantech Co. Singapore Pte Ltd
www.advantech.com
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16-bit 80188 Processor 40MHz Flash Memory 1.5MB and RAM 640KB DOS Operating System 1 x 10/100Mbps Ethernet Interface 4 x RS-232/485 COM Port 8 x Slot for I/O Modules Built-in Modbus/RTU Master/Slave and Modbus/TPC Server/Client Protocol Supports 5-standard IEC 61131-3
Singapore (South Asia Pacific Headquarters) Tel: 65-6442 1000 Email: sg@advantech.com Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur Toll-free: 00-800-9898 8998 Email: sales@advantech.com.my Penang Tel: 60-4-397 3788 Email: sales@advantech.com.my Thailand: Bangkok Tel: 66-2-248 3140 Email: sales@advantech.co.th Australia: Melbourne Tel: 61-3-9797 0100 Email: info@advantech.net.au Sydney Tel: 61-2-9482 2999 Email: info@advantech.net.au
ENQUIRY NO. 122
ADAM-5000 Series: ADAM-5510EKW/TP
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instrumentation & Measurement
camera when an object is present · An encoder to ensure that the profiles are grabbed at a constant distance · An image processing unit – either built-in (smart camera) or external (PC) – to collect profiles into an image and to analyse the result
The
Dimension Laser triangulation is currently the most popular 3D technology for industrial applications. By Yang Diming, senior vision application engineer, Sick Application Centre Asia
M
any people may have watched the film Avatar, which broke several box office records during its release late last year and has been claimed as the highestgrossing film of all time in the world. Different people may have different interests in this film. However, most of the people must have gone to watch it to satisfy their curiosity in a whole new 3D experience. This film’s success highlights a trend that people are not satisfied with 2D images anymore, and fascinated with a 3D virtual world. In the same vein, 2D machine vision products are hardly under the spotlight in today’s market because there are so many of them, while 3D machine vision products are attracting more and more attention from machine vision system integrators and end users alike. Few In The Market Currently, there are a few 3D vision technologies available in the market, such as laser triangulation, vision
28 industrial automation asia | May 2010
stereo and some shape from shading technologies. Due to its simple principle, less intensive computation required, and potentially high range resolution, however, laser triangulation is the most popular 3D technology for industrial applications at present. 3D vision products based on this technology have been widely used in various industrial sectors, such as solder paste inspection, BGA co-planarity inspection, solar cell warpage inspection, bin picking and robot guidance, to name a few. The principle of laser triangulation is fairly easy to understand, as illustrated in the figure below. A typical laser triangulation setup consists of: · A laser to project a laser line onto the object · A camera to capture the laser line, which is normally referred to as height profile · A conveyor to move the object under the camera · A photo switch to enable the
As shown in the image, a 3D vision camera is essentially a 2D camera, which captures the scene with the laser line and the object inside. Because of laser-camera triangulation geometry, the laser line reflects a sectional contour of the object, often termed as a profile of the object. At a certain position, the camera captures a single profile from the object. With the help of a relative movement between the camera-laser assembly and the object, the camera can collect a number of profiles, which composes an image with x-axis being the x-axis of the camera’s FOV (field of view) and y-axis being the motion axis. Furthermore, the x-resolution of a 3D image is determined by the x-resolution of the camera, while the y-resolution is determined by the encoder resolution. Two Factors To Consider Although the principle of laser triangulation is fairly simple, there are at least two things to consider when building up a reliable 3D vision system based on this technology. How to make it accurate: This involves calibration and rectification. Calibration is to convert pixel readings to values in a metric unit. For a 2D camera, calibration is only done in x and y dimensions. For a 3D camera, the height dimension, ie z dimension, has to be added as well. In addition to calibration, rectification may also be needed because what the 3D vision system thinks it sees is most of the time
processing algorithms, height profiles are located fast and with high repeatability. M e e t i n g t h e a b ov e t wo requirements can only help to generate good 3D images. Then, there is a question: what do we do with the 3D images? Of course, a skilled programmer can process and analyse the image and generate a result accordingly. For most of industrial users, however, lack of skills and time is a major issue. In response to that, some smart 3D cameras such as IVC3D from Sick integrate a number of tools in the cameras. These tools normally include image processing tools, mathematic tools, communication tools, and input/output tools etc. Moreover, these cameras are factory calibrated and include lighting and lensing, and in order to interface with PLCs, robots and
control systems, these cameras support OPC and Ethernet/IP. Ready For Liftoff Not long ago, Ramon Palli, general manager at Aqsense, a 3D software company in Europe, said: “3D vision technology is still at the threshold – ready to really take off”. Indeed, compared to 2D vision, which has been well accepted in various industries, 3D vision is still something new to many customers. However, it is really ready to take off, at least in Europe and North America. In Asia, according to our observations, the breakthrough is very likely to take place in electronics industry first. In fact, there have been a few success stories of using 3D vision in solder paste inspection and solar wafer inspection applications. ENQUIRY NO. 3401
ENQUIRY NO. 131
not what the actual 3D object is. This is due to camera perspective distortion and artefacts introduced by the laser-camera triangulation geometry. Therefore, rectification is to transform the 3D image to actual 3D shape. How to make it run fast: It is easy to think that a 2D camera, a laser and a moving table can build a 3D vision system. This is true to some extent, but when implemented in a real industrial application, it often becomes obvious that the scanning and processing speed of the 3D vision system is not up to the customer’s requirements. In fact, 3D camera manufacturers always have proprietary imaging se n sors wh ich i ncor p orate image sensing and low-level image processing algorithms on a single substrate. Thanks to the proprietary low-level image
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The vision system should enable easy configuration of these and other facets of your application without coding in Visual Basic or a proprietary script-based language. Network management tools should be included in the software to simplify remote administration of multiple systems including tasks such as backup, image playback, firmware upgrades and context sensitive help documentation. If maximum ease of use and affordability are priorities, you should ask vision system providers if they offer a ‘plug-and-go’ solution. This enables even novice users to set up, deploy and monitor vision applications using a simple touch-screen operator display panel with no PC required.
Before Buying A Machine Vision System Finding a system that can perform the necessary vision tasks is not enough; other factors need to be considered to ensure a successful deployment. By Didier Lacroix, senior VP, International Sales & Services, Cognex
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e are now in a time where companies need to optimise their productivity without compromising their production quality – while still keeping to their tight budgets. Here is where machine vision systems come in – to ensure quality management and at the same time, help you to save costs. By detecting process errors and defects early in products and their packaging, machine vision helps minimise waste and reduces the cost of recalls, as well as the trouble of having to scrap defected products. Finding the right vision system can be daunting with the wide range of vision systems available today. Simply finding a system that can perform the necessary vision tasks is not enough; other factors such as variations in lighting conditions, networking and communications capabilities, accessories and product support options as well as ongoing post-deployment support need to be considered to ensure a successful deployment. This article will guide you through the vision system selection process, providing answers to ten critical questions for evaluating specific product features. 1. Does the vision system make it easy to set up applications, create custom operator interfaces and administer vision system networks? Vision applications mostly do not require elaborate runtime interfaces, but operators typically need to interact with the vision system during part changeovers to change tolerance parameters and to determine the cause of part failures.
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2. What is the importance of part location tools, and how can I assess their performance? Part location software tools find the part within the camera’s field of view. Typically the first step in any vision application, from the simplest robot pick-and-place operation to the most complex assembly verification task, it is also the most critical step as it often determines the success or failure of an application. Vision systems are trained to recognise parts based on a ‘model’ image, but even the most tightly controlled manufacturing processes allow some variability in the way a part appears to the vision system. Therefore, the vision system’s part location tools must be intelligent enough to quickly compare model images to the actual objects moving down a production line, regardless of which side of the part faces the camera, its distance from the camera, shadows, reflections, line speed, and normal variations in appearance. 3. Does the vision system have a complete set of image pre-processing tools? Image pre-processing tools alter the raw image to emphasise desired features while minimising undesirable features. This prepares the image for optimal performance by more powerful vision tools and can significantly improve the accuracy and robustness of the overall system. Pre-processing tools also increase the contrast between the part and its background, mask insignificant and potentially confusing image features, eliminate ‘hot spots’ reflecting off the part surface, and smooth rough surface textures. A complete set of image pre-processing tools should be included with the vision system chosen. 4. What should I look for in character reading and verification capabilities? Whether you are reading stamped alphanumeric codes on automotive parts or verifying date and lot code information
5. How can I determine the repeatability of a vision system’s gauging tools? For applications involving critical dimensional measurements, the vision system’s gauging tools must be accurate and perform with a very high degree of repeatability. The vision system should have a full suite of gauging tools to choose from to fit the requirements of your measurement application without having to write custom scripts or functions. 6. How do I evaluate industrial code reading tools and what are some specific features to look for? Industrial environments demand a vision system that can read 2D Data Matrix codes that are degraded, poorly marked, or vary in position from part to part. The vision system should perform well regardless of the part material (such as metal, glass, ceramic, and plastic) and the type of part marking method employed (such as dot peen, etching, hot stamping, and inkjet). Beyond these criteria, there are specific code reading features worth inquiring about such as code quality verification and reading speed. Code quality verification: Look for products that can verify code quality to established standards. This informs you how well the marking process is working.
Innovative Sensor Solutions Sensor Solutions ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Photoelectric sensors Inductive sensors Capacitive sensors Ultrasonic sensors Magnetic sensors Vision sensors Precision switches My-Com
Motion Control ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Encoders Resolvers Speed switches Tachogenerators Counters Tachometers Process displays Spindle positioning systems Actuators and positioning drives Angle measuring systems Accelerations sensors Inclination sensors
Vision Technologies ■
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Digital cameras Intelligent cameras Camera modules Smart vision sensors Optical inspection systems OCR- and code identification
Process Instrumentation ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Pressure sensors Temperature sensors Level sensors Instruments for process analysis Force and strain sensors
Baumer (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Blk 21 Kallang Avenue · #04-173, Kallang Basin Industrial Estate, Singapore 339412 Phone +65 6396 4131 · Fax +65 6396 5091 sales.sg@baumer.com · www.baumer.com
ENQUIRY NO. 097
on medicine bottles or packages, there are several capabilities to look for when evaluating character reading and verification tools such as statistical font training, image pre-processing tools and instant image recall. Statistical font training builds a font by learning models of characters that appear in a series of images. The images should include multiple instances of each character and span the full range of quality likely to occur in production. The resulting font will be highly tolerant of normal variations in print quality, whether due to poor contrast, variable locations, degradations, or variations in stroke widths. Unless it is known that every code will be marked with the same quality in the reference images used to learn the character models, statistical font training can be crucial for the success of your reading or verification application. Image pre-processing tools optimise a trained model by sharpening the edge contrast of characters and filtering out extraneous background in the image. Optimised models maximise the reliability and repeatability of the vision system. Instant image recall enables line operators and technicians to quickly and easily view failed images on a display. Whether the failure is caused by a camera jarred out of position or a damaged label, it is important to immediately know the cause of failure for corrective action to be taken.
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Reading speed: Depending on your production line speed and throughput requirements, you may need a very high-speed reader. The fastest vision systems available today can read more than 7200 codes per minute. 7. What networking and communications features should I look for? Networking is essential to many vision applications as a means to share data, support decision-making, and enable highly-efficient integrated processes. For example, networking enables vision systems to transmit pass/fail results to PCs for analysis, or communicate directly with PLCs, robots, and other factory automation devices in an integrated process control system. A system that supports the complete set of standard networking protocols should be chosen for vision systems that need to be linked to PCs at the enterprise level. • TCP/IP client/server enables vision systems to easily share results data with other vision systems and control devices over Ethernet without code development. • SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) enables you to immediately receive an e-mail on your PC or cell phone when a problem occurs on the production line. • FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows inspection images to be stored on the network for later analysis. • Telnet is an Internet standard protocol that enables remote login and connection from host devices. • DHCP(DynamicHostConfigurationProtocol)allowsa vision system to automatically receive its network IP address from a server, enabling true plug-and-play performance. • DNS (Domain Name Service) allows you to assign each vision system a meaningful name, such as ‘Bottling Line System 1’, instead of having to use a numeric IP address. To integrate a vision system with the PLCs, robots and other automation devices in the plant, the system chosen must also support the following: • Industrial Ethernet protocols such as EtherNet/ IP, Profinet, MC Protocol and Modbus TCP. These enable vision systems to be linked to the most popular PLCs and other devices over a single Ethernet cable, eliminating the need for complex wiring schemes and costly network gateways. 32 industrial automation asia | May 2010
• Fieldbus networks, including CC-Link, DeviceNet, and Profibus. A protocol gateway accessory is usually needed to add a vision system to a Fieldbus network. • RS-232 and RS-495 serial protocols, needed to communicate with most robot controllers. Finally, as more vision systems are used throughout the manufacturing process, the need for a centralised way of managing them becomes increasingly important. Make sure the vision system chosen comes with software that allows easy control and monitoring of the operation of all vision systems remotely over the network from any location, on or off the plant floor. 8. What should I know about vision system accessories? Too often, much attention is given to evaluating the vision system that accessory products are almost an afterthought. But the choice of accessories can go a long way towards ensuring trouble-free system integration and in the case of lighting, can even make or break the application. For quick and painless integration of the vision system, it is wise to buy from a vendor that offers a complete family of compatible accessories. This gives the assurance of knowing that every accessory has been tested and confirmed to be compatible with the vision system. Accessories to look for include: • Lights: No two production areas have the same ambient light conditions, and parts can exhibit a wide range of surface characteristics. Nearly every machine vision solution requires a unique lighting approach to meet its objectives and optimise performance. Vision system vendors should offer a variety of lighting options, including: ring lights, which provide soft, even illumination from all directions; back lights, which create maximum contrast between a part and its background; and dark field lights, which provide low-angle illumination for imaging of part surface irregularities. • Communications modules: Ensure that your chosen vendor offers commu nicat ions peripherals such as I/O modules and network gateway modules that support quick and easy connectivity between the vision system and PLCs, robots, and other factory automation devices and networks. • Operator interface panels: A networked operator interface panel allows easy plug-and-go set-up and deployment, plus ongoing monitoring and control of vision systems without a PC. When selecting
• Camera enclosures: Some vision systems are assembled into rugged, IP and NEMA-rated metal cases to withstand dust and moisture without requiring a separate enclosure accessory. However, if the environment in your plant is especially harsh or requires frequent wash down of equipment, ask your prospective supplier if they offer external enclosures pre-qualified for use with the system. 9. Does the vision system require a PC? While some vision applications are complex and require more robust capabilities, many of them may be addressed with an affordable, standalone solution. For those applications, vendors should offer a standalone vision system that does not require a PC – during configuration or in production mode. The system should offer true plug-and-go performance that enables quick configuration of the application, from start to finish, right out of the box. Also, the vision system should not require a PC to be
rolled onto the factory floor every time changes to the application need to be made. Finally, a true standalone vision system should enable hooking up a monitor for live image display without a PC. 10. Does the vision system supplier provide the support and learning services I need? Even the highest performance vision system is only as good as the suppliers who stand behind it. Whether you buy your vision system from a distributor, a systems integrator, or direct from the manufacturer, it is important to know beforehand the full range of support services available. Note that your chosen vision supplier understands your unique support requirements and provides you with all the resources needed during every phase of the project, from application development and systems integration, to deployment and beyond. One more thing to note is that the best suppliers don’t merely try to sell a product—they take the time to carefully understand and evaluate all of your requirements before proposing a solution. ENQUIRY NO. 3402
ENQUIRY NO. 125
an operator interface panel, look for one with an intuitive, touch-screen interface.
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sector spotlight
Heal Machine,
Thyself!
Integrating diagnostics and predictive maintenance functions into the drive control gives packaging machines the ability to detect and prevent mechanical problems early. By Dan Throne, sales and marketing manager, Bosch Rexroth
H
uman protective reflexes are triggered by the central nervous system, bypassing conscious thought and operating with extraordinary speed. This distributed ‘nervous system’ concept can be transferred to automation: integrating diagnostics a nd predictive ma intena nce functions into the drive control gives packaging machines the ability to detect and prevent mechanical problems at an early stage before a costly breakdown. In recent ye a rs, moder n pharmaceutical packaging machines have become ever more intelligent, and in some ways also more ‘human’. They are incorporating more decentralised intelligence in order to utilise, as humans do, a comprehensive nervous system. 34 industrial automation asia | May 2010
For machines, that means sensors. With decentralised intelligence, it is possible to protect the machine from expensive breakdown situations using quick reflexes (error diagnostics and reactions) without any detour through the control. With today’s generation of intelligent servo drives, predictive maintenance functionality is now built into the electronics. Predictive maintenance monitors machine performa nce a nd maintenance thresholds (the ‘nerves’), providing drive-based automated diagnostic and motion control functions that protect the machine throughout its entire life cycle (the ‘reflexes’). For pha r m ace ut ic a l a nd healthcare packaging operations,
predictive maintenance can prove highly valuable. The industry demands high levels of machine reliability, availability, throughput and packaging precision. Operations that package pharmaceuticals, surgical instruments and medical devices (pacemakers, earphones, etc) are typically optimised for 24/7 operation. The products themselves have a high-dollar value, so extremely accurate, low-waste, high-throughput packaging is standard practice. In this environment, if machines require frequent adjustment and constant, disruptive repair work, they waste time and money. Predictive maintenance helps prevent this, through an approach built around early detection and healing of ‘machine illnesses’. If damage is developing inside the machine, similar to illnesses or injuries in people, drive-based intelligent functions detect the problem early and appropriate re me d ie s a re i mple me nte d before significant damage occurs, frequently on an automatic, or ‘selfhealing’ basis. Immediate Protection A wide range of pharmaceutical packaging machines can benefit from predictive maintenance. This includes vial-filling machines for liquid injectable medications, capsule filling machines and blister packaging for solid medicines, and tray packing, cartoning and casepacking machines for surgical kits, medical devices and other products. Drive -based predictive maintenance works best by streamlining the information exchange between the packaging machine controller and the drive actuators/sensors. That is why optimising data exchange between the drive and control is given a high priority during the development of a predictive maintenance system. Drive -based predictive m a i n te n a n c e c a n m o n i to r
For example: In a liquid filling machine, 10 vials are being moved down a single conveyor and need to be positioned under 10 nozzles for filling. The machine lowers the nozzles into the containers, fills them, then lifts them out and re-positions the nozzles for the next set of 10 vials. This highly repetitive ‘walking beam’ motion sequence – down to fill, over to the right, up, back to the left, down – has extremely tight tolerances for accuracy and throughput. If a belt on the conveyor or a gearbox on the filler axis slips, machine synchronisation is lost – which could lead to a crash, or improper filling, leading to wasted product. Since this slippage affects motor performance, and the drive detects the variations in the pre-set values, the deviations can then be used for monitoring or analysis of the axis.
PCA2010 MagAd(IndAuto)rev(p) 4/16/10 4:51 PM Page 1
Preventing Fatal Errors Not all reactions of a machine or a human being can be left to the control or the brain. If the brain were responsible for the appropriate response to touching a hot stove, this would occur with such a delay that there would not be sufficient protection from burns. To prevent this, the flinch response bypasses the brain in a so-called reflex circuit. It is exactly the same in automation. The detection of a fatal error in the drive must lead to the proper reaction at the drive. For the electric drive itself, this is the current state of technology. With predictive maintenance, this protection is extended further to the connected axis mechanics, where additional ‘reflexes’ have been included to protect the mechanical system or the entire axis. Again, consider the vial-filling line. Once the
ENQUIRY NO. 129
mechanical characteristics such as backlash, belt stiffness, tension, load variation and other conditions that are critical to the packaging machine’s operation. The intelligent drive monitors itself and the feedback it gets from the motor it is driving: motor torque, speed, acceleration and other parameters can be tracked. If these characteristics fall outside of the tolerance bands for that axis, the drive recognises that something is wrong, and takes the appropriate action – the same way our reflexes ‘automate’ our response if we bang our knee or touch a hot stove. To keep the data exchange between the drive and its control to a minimum, the performance thresholds are pre-set in the drive and fixed corresponding target values are transmitted to the controller.
May 2010| industrial automation asia 35
sector spotlight
Bottle-filling sequences require tight tolerances, which can be monitored, analysed and flagged by the drive automatically before costly errors occur
vial is filled and capped, a pick and place application inserts the vial into a container, along with a pamphlet containing prescribing information for the physician. If there is a jam-up in the carton loading – the pamphlet insertion gets out of synch with the vial insertion – the vial or the carton could be damaged, forcing a shutdown of the cartoner. Drive -based predictive maintenance can prevent these slips from growing into significant problems. It does this by monitoring t he b ac k la sh b e t we e n t he servomotor and the axis mechanics the motor moves. The performance of the motor is directly related to the performance of the mechanics the motor moves. The drive monitors how the motor responds to the amount of play in the gears or the belt; if it falls outside the tolerances you set for that axis, the drive intelligence can do one of several things: • Generate a warning message to the controller or operator. • Modify the drive current to compensate for the change in the mechanics. 36 industrial automation asia | May 2010
• Initiate a safe shutdown, to prevent machine and product damage before the situation gets critical. Reflexes like breathing mean the preservation of life for humans. Similarly, a servomotor will not turn or fulfill its intended function if drives did not have something like reflexes. Intelligent drives can stabilise the disturbance [noise] of all types using the control loops found in the drive. Quick and direct real-time access to all drive parameters is what makes faster reflexes possible. Sometimes, a reaction in the drive can be triggered by multiple ‘unhealthy’ or risky conditions. These can include an extreme condition signal, like setting an input or initiating a command - a reverse movement after a collision, for example - or the targeted initialisation of an analysis function in the drive to detect the detailed axis status. Similar to the human nervous system, complex information is prepared in the drive and translated into a simple diagnostic for the controller; this replaces sending all the complex information to the controller, and taxing cycle times to
have the PLC do the diagnosis. It is a more efficient controls architecture, since the communication required between the control and the axes is automatically reduced. Extended Diagnostics Even machines can feel ‘ill’. Then, they act like people; they diminish their productivity until reaching a complete breakdown. And like humans, proper care on a regular basis, is the best medicine for long-term machine health and productivity. We a r- re l a te d m ac h i ne breakdowns make themselves k now n a he ad of t i me , a nd ex tended diagnostics makes preventive measures possible. With its IndraDrive, Rexroth ha s structured preventive ma intena nce into three key diagnostic functions: • Maintenance Planner: Tracks time-specific maintenance intervals defined in the drive, to issue a warning, remind about upcoming maintenance activities or execute a selfanalysis. • Monitoring Function: provides expanded diagnostics, runs during operation and enables constant monitoring of the total axis status, including the attached mechanics. It can also indicate a subsequent system analysis that needs to be performed. • Analysis Function: Expanded mechanical analysis and comparison with ‘zero-hourrecord’ - the performance tolerances set in the machine at start-up. In a separate test run, while using expanded analysis methods, a correlation between the error location and cause can often be determined.
On this machine, using extended diagnostics: • The Maintenance Planner has a pre-set schedule calling for maintenance of belt tension every 100 hours; • The Monitor Function will be set to monitor belt stiffness, based on motor feedback, to detect if a belt is getting loose; • And the Analysis Function co m p a r e s t h a t a x i s’ performance to the zero hour record in the drive; if it falls outside the tolerance band for that motor, the situation calls for maintenance intervention to protect the machine and production. Diagnostic messages can be displayed on the drive display, PC, control or handheld units. To keep the communication requirement as low as possible while continuing to transmit the established standard communication mechanisms, the information related to signal processing is taken care of in the drive and therefore highly compressed. ‘Zero Hour’ Baseline People who are concerned about maintaining good health usually get a yearly checkup – not because anything is wrong, but by having an annual baseline of their health, if an illness or chronic condition
begins to develop, it can be checked against their original condition. The same principle is true for mac h i ne he a lt h. D r ive based predictive maintenance must be built on capturing and loading into the drives the optimal performance of each axis at it’s healthiest: zero hour when the machine is completed commissioning, but before it’s released for production. S o m e to o l b u i l d e r s a n d manufacturers hesitate to invest the time and effort to accomplish this – but it is investment that will protect machine performance and practically guarantees to extend the machine’s operating life. This investment is especially valuable for synchronised multiaxis lines. For example: in a robotic pick and place application – for example, placing needles in a tray
–12 robots operate over a single conveyor (a row of six robots on both sides of a conveyor.) Each robot is assigned an operating zone; if one robot slips a gear tooth, an out of position situation could develop. Unless the drive has the ‘zero hour’ tolerance band for that axis, it can’t recognise that the one little gear tooth slip could jeopardise the entire line. If the drive is monitoring the backlash, it ‘feels’ when the tight coupling between the motor shaft and the gearbox shaft is malfunctioning. The drive’s ‘reflex’ is whatever you define: initiate an error message to the machine controller, or perform a safe shutdown, to prevent damage to product or other parts of the machine. ENQUIRY NO. 3501
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In our cartoning example, a motor is hooked up to a belt, which drives a pusher loading the vial and pamphlet into the package. The belt is a toothed belt, run on a toothed gear driven by a servomotor. If excess wear and tear, or high accelerations, or poor lubrication causes a tooth to jump on the belt, the vial and pamphlet won’t be fully inserted in the package – setting up a potential jam situation.
May 2010| industrial automation asia 37 Ad_apr2010_111x122_portrait.indd 1
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sector spotlight
Robotic Automation Meets Today’s Stephen Wong, Hong Kong
Packaging Challenges
Robotic automation can help to meet the packaging industry’s demand for flexibility, reliability, sustainability and adaptability. By James Cooper, director Strategic Alliances, Kuka Robotics
Flexibility In Demand Consumer demand for a greater number of unique package shapes, sizes and configurations continues to increase. Since the number of new SKUs has more than doubled in the last 10 years and continues to increase, there is an unprecedented need for flexibility in packaging lines. 38 industrial automation asia | May 2010
Asif Akbar, India
T
he packaging industry’s demand for flexibility, reliability, sustainability and adaptability have outpaced the capabilities of traditional fixed automation. By understanding the advantages of robotic automation, manufacturers can assess how the technology enables them to meet ever-changing packaging trends and demands. Although the marketplace is beginning to recognise that robots are no more expensive than traditional automation, it is often not aware that the ‘value-based price’ of a robot continues to decrease. A robot purchased today has significantly more payload, speed and processing power than a robot purchased for the same price 10 years ago. As a result, manufacturers have an opportunity to meet their packaging challenges with a sophisticated, costeffective solution.
The growth in the number of package configurations is largely the result of the influence of club stores, which are demanding larger quantities, multi-flavour and multiproduct packs. The stores are also asking their suppliers to provide more ‘shopable’ and ‘end of aisle’ display pallets, which enable customers to reach any product, any flavour, from any side of the pallet. Robotic automation gives manufacturers the flexibility they need to respond to changing market demands. Not only can it provide the capability to accommodate a wide range of products and sizes, but it is also better suited than fixed automation to be used with several types of products simultaneously. Additionally, product changeovers can be as quick and easy as changing a programming code. Reliability Is Critical To ensure that time-to-market delivery demands are met, reliable packaging lines are critical to manufacturers. Unlike the multi-component complexity of traditional
Sustainability In Manufacturing Sustainability and total cost of ownership have become increasingly more important to manufacturers. As manufacturers reduce product weight and carbon footprint by changing to thinner wall glass and plastic, and larger containers, they are finding that traditional fixed automation cannot palletise or handle the products. For example, if a bottled water producer shrink wraps a bundle of bottles instead of putting the bottles in cases, traditional palletisng equipment may have difficulty handling those products because of their softer walls. Many manufacturers, striving to reduce their carbon footprint are reducing their use of secondary packaging materials to protect and contain the product and moving from corrugate to shrink wrap. Since some of the traditional equipment used on packaging lines has difficulty handling the new product packaging, robotic automation’s ability to provide ease of damage free product manipulation has increasingly been the only viable solution. As an example, the use of ‘bump turning’ to reorient products on traditional palletisers, are now being replaced by robotics, which offer a more flexible and reliable solution. Additionally, the ‘robotic layer forming’ solution is now being increasingly incorporated on upstream robotic layer palletisers. Adapt To Survive Since how products are being packaged and how packages are configured for shipment and display is and will continue to change quickly, adaptability is critical to manufacturers’ packaging processes. With robotic automation, manufacturers have a resource with infinite flexibility. It enables users to make modifications and as a result redeploy their assets to meet changing needs without a significant new capital investment. Changes in product or production volume can be accommodated with only a programming change.
As future environmentally responsible packaging material solutions and products are developed, manufacturers will continue to need the flexibility of robotic automation to make ongoing, cost-effective and profitable changes. Robotic technology gives them a tool that makes changing from handling one package style to another simple and economical. The influence of club stores will continue to have a significant impact on manufacturers’ packaging requirements. Many of the stores’ demands, including multi-flavour packs, rainbow pallets and end of aisle display pallets, can only be met by robots. Currently many producers ship products to a copacker to have them broken down and repackaged to meet club store requirements. With the growth of manufacturers’ business with club stores, many of them are recognising that on site robotic automation would enable them to eliminate the expense of using a co-packer. Adapting to ongoing market trend changes, from package shape, size and configuration, to escalating emphasis on sustainability and club store requirements have exceeded the capabilities of traditional fixed automation. With robotic automation, manufacturers have a redeployable resource that provides a flexible, reliable, sustainable and adaptable packaging solution. SG-741-E2-000 85x114 30.04.2008 16:36 Uhr 1 SI-492-CF Vielfalt 85x114NEW 18.01.2006 9:14Seite ENQUIRY NO. 3502Uhr Se
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fixed automation equipment, robotic solutions tend to have far fewer components. For example, one manufacturer’s traditional palletiser had 14 separate drive and servo motor units, which were replaced by a robotic solution that had only four. With fewer mechanisms, there are fewer opportunities for equipment failure and less need for maintenance. This results in higher uptime, increased productivity and profitability. In addition to being less mechanically complex than traditional fixed automation, robotic automation usually requires less floor space. With fewer motors, drives and electro-mechanical components, it also typically uses less power, making it more economical as well as environmentally responsible solution.
May 2010| industrial automation asia 39
energy
Photovoltaic:
Harnessing
Sun The
Taking advantage of solar energy to meet some of the world’s everincreasing energy needs is highly viable. By Royce Tan
G
lobal warming along with climate change is nothing new any longer to the man on the street since scientists and non- governmental organisations began campaigning the cause in the 1980s on a large-scale basis. The need to effectively reduce green house gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide, is not lost on the developed and developing countries worldwide alike. Given the climate changes that have been demonstrated all over the world now, climate change is now no longer a granted possibility but a given reality. The need to stem the rate of global warming so as to prevent serious climate change the world all over has never been more urgent than now. The need to turn to forms of alternative energy such as renewable energy is now more important than ever. Renewable Energy Renewable energy refers to energy that replenishes itself. It refers to energy that can never be exhausted nor used up unlike various forms of non-renewable energy such as petroleum, coal and natural gas. Some examples of renewable energy would be solar energy, wind energy, tide energy, and geothermal energy. 40  industrial automation asia | May 2010
Christa Richert, Germany
Of these various forms of renewable energy, the harnessing of solar energy to meet our energy needs would seem highly viable and fruitful. Consider this fact for example: The total solar energy absorbed by the earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year. Comparing with the total energy used by the world in 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world used in one year. With respects to the harnessing and use of solar energy, there are two forms. One would be active while the other passive. Active harnessing of solar energy would refer to the harnessing of solar energy through means and techniques such as the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors.
manufactured. At the end of 2008, the cumulative global PV installations reached 15,200 Megawatts (MW). Around 90 percent of this generative capacity consists of grid-tied electrical systems.
Active solar energy harnessing usually require an energy conversion of solar energy into other forms of energy usually electrical energy, or heat energy in the case of solar thermal collectors. Passive solar harnessing techniques usually refers to either orientating buildings to the sun, and selectively using materials of good thermal mass which means materials that have a high heat absorbing capacity on building so as to collect, store and use the infra-red radiation from the sun to warm or keep the entire building warm, or to create a system of air circulation in the building. PV, The Green Technology Photovoltaics is one form of green technology known for its minimal impact on the environment. Solar cells are a form of technology that converts solar energy or light from the sun into electrical energy, usually DC, direct current, though with the use of an inverter, DC generated by photovoltaics modules can be converted to alternating current, AC that electrical grids can use to supply electricity to energy consumers. Individual photovoltaic cells or solar cells are normally electrically connected and assembled into what is termed photovoltaic modules. A single module would have the capacity to power an emergency telephone. However in order to power a house or a power plant for example, these photovoltaic modules would have to be arranged in multiples known as photovoltaic arrays so that a larger capacity of energy can be generated thus making the use of such photovoltaic modules and arrays commercially viable. The underlying scientific principle behind the photovoltaic cell is known as the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic production have been doubling every two years since 2002, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year, making it the world most rapidly growing energy technology. Spurred by technological advances and innovation, the costs of photovoltaics have been on a steady decline since the very first solar cells were
ENQUIRY NO. 093
John Ridley, US
Applications Of Photovoltaics Photovoltaics have numerous applications. These include photovoltaic power plants or powerstations, applications in buildings using building integrated photovoltaics as a principal or ancillary source of electrical power, in transport such as boats and cars again on an ancillary capacity, on standalone devices such as parking meters, emergency telephones, temporary traffic signs and remote guard posts and signals. The constant development and improvements of solar race-cars completely powered by solar energy, have reaffirmed engineers and scientist that the day will come when photovoltaics technologies will allow cars and other forms of land transport vehicles, and boats and planes as well to be principally powered by solar energy. Principally solar powered desalination plants are being tested in Australia and Saudi Arabia. With regard to photovoltaics power stations, as of October 2009, the largest photovoltaic power plants in the world are the Olmedilla Photovoltaic
May 2010 | industrial automation asia  41
energy
Johan Bolhuis, Netherlands
The need to turn to forms of alternative energy such as renewable energy is now more important than ever
park in Spain with a power generating capacity of 60 MW, the Strasskirchen Solar Park in Germany, with 54 MW of power generating capacity, the Lieberose Photovoltaic Park in Germany with 53 MW, the Puertollano Photovoltaic Park in Spain with a power generative capacity of 50 MW, the Moura Photovoltaic power station in Portugal with 46 MW and the Waldpolenz Solar Park in Germany, with 40 MW. Measured in the same year, the largest photovoltaic power plant in North America is the 25 MW Desoto Next Generation Solar Energy Centre in Florida. The plant consists of over 90,000 solar panels. The Topaz Solar Farm is a proposed 550 MW solar photovoltaic power plant which is to be built in the northwest of California Valley in the USA at a cost of over US$1 billion dollars. Utilising thin film PV panels designed an manufactured by the solar cell company OptiSolar in Hayward and Sacramento, the project is expected to take up 25 square kilometres of ranchland and is expected to deliver 1,100 gigawatt-hour annually of renewable energy. It begins construction in 2010 and is expected to become fully operational in 2013. Photovoltaics also find themselves used in the service of developing rural electrification in developing countries where many villages are so often more than 5 kilometres away from grid power. Countries like India and Cuba are seriously exploring the viability of providing such off grid rural electrification to citizens who live in villages far away from grid power-stations. Unfortunately, due to lack of a good business model 42  industrial automation asia | May 2010
by which companies seeking to offer such energy solutions to the rural poor can use, such activities are usually bound to be relegated to humanitarian goals as opposed to business activities. Environmental Impact Unlike fossil fuel based technologies, solar power does not create any harmful emissions during operations. However the production of photovoltaic panels does lead to some form and amount of pollution. The way various technologies are rated for their environmental friendliness and benefits or environmental harm is by the energy input and output ratio. This is a ratio whereby if the energy input to produce that technology is higher than the energy output of that energy technology, then the energy technology in concern is considered to be more harmful and beneficial. With photovoltaic panels, we have to consider the very first step in its production that is in the mining of the silicon that the vast majority of photovoltaic cells and modules are made of. Metallurgical grade silicon is made in large quantities for the steel industry, with a fraction of it going to as material input to the semiconductor industry. With regard to the mining operations, we have to take in consideration the health hazards to the miners and the inputs of diesel fuel to run the mining machinery. The major emission produced in the making metallurgical silicon is silica dust which can be a major health hazard as it causes lung diseases. There is also a substantial energy input required for its production.
is relatively small at 5-10g/m2. With proper emission control techniques, cadmium emissions from module production can be almost zero. Current PV technologies lead to cadmium emissions of 0.3-0.9 microgram/kWh over the whole life cycle of the PV modules. The final solution to this problem would be to use electricity produced from PV panels to manufacture PV modules instead of electricity from burning coal. The result would be cadmium emission could be reduced to zero. A Viable Solution The EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) Advanced Scenario shows that by the year 2030, PV systems could be generating approximately 1,800 TWh of electricity around the world. This means that, assuming that a serious commitment is made to energy efficiency, enough solar power would be produced globally in twenty five years’ time to satisfy the electricity needs of almost 9.5 percent of the world’s population. That by any measure is quite an encouraging figure. There may be hope for our planet’s climate change woes after all. And it lies in this highly viable and increasingly economically sustainable technology that the field of Photovoltaics is. SG-741-E2-000 85x114
30.04.2008 16:36 Uhr Seite 1 ENQUIRY NO. 3601
A snappy solution. E2/000 Mounted in no time. Adapted in no time. Ready to go. Open on the left and right.
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The next step of purifying the silicon involves hazardous materials such as silane. The doping of the silicon involves toxic chemicals the likes of diorane and phosphine, although only in small quantities diluted in inert gas. Then follows the construction process of the Photovoltaic systems, which involves materials such as steel, and aluminum and concrete which by their own production have industrial hazards associated with them. The energy used in manufacturing the PV modules and other components of the photovoltaic system is derived from the fuel mix of energy system and it is thus associated with emissions of greenhouse gases and acidic gases which can lead to forestry destructing acid rain as well. Thus we can see that photovoltaics are not without a negative environmental impact. The solution would be to use energy generated from photovoltaic power systems to produce and manufacture photovoltaics modules. This would result in zero pollution to wards the environment, and zero greenhouse gas emissions. That has already been done in some sectors. BP solar for example owns two factories built by Solarex, one in Maryland, and the other in Virginia in which all the energy used to manufacture solar panels is produced by solar panels. There are however various components to environmental impact that regards environmental pollutants, and they are: exhaustion of raw materials, energy consumption, global warming (CO 2), acidification, and solid waste produced. A photovoltaic energy generation system using crystalline silicon semiconductors at 12 percent energy efficiency operating on a small scale would produce 400 Kilotonnes per GW year while one using the same crystalline silicon semiconductor operating on a large scale at 16 percent energy efficiency would produce 150 Kilotonnes per GW year. Compare this with the CO2 output from the most modern and efficient coal-fired plant of 9 million tonnes of CO2 produced per GW year and you will realise that despite a small negative impact on the environment that photovoltaics power systems have, they are still very much greener than coal or oil power plants. The final environmental issue that relates to the use of photovoltaics is the issue of cadmium. There are a few types of PV panels that uses cadmium in cadmium telluride in solar cells. Cadmium in its metallic form is a toxic substance. It tends to accumulate in ecological food chains. It is due to the production and manufacturing of solar modules using coal and lignite combustions that leads to cadmium emissions, though these emissions are generally pretty low. The amount of cadmium used in thin flim PV modules
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 43
features
New Tools & Technology For The Offshore Industry
RFID technology is gaining traction in the oilfield as companies develop hardware and software able to meet the industry’s demands and harsh environment. By Ian Binmore, Merrick Systems
R
adio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology provides a non-optical, non-contact method to get in-depth information about virtually any asset, from drill pipes through surface equipment up to and including personnel. RFID uses attached to or embedded electronic modules which respond to a radio transceiver with an identifier number. The electronic modules are packaged in different ways (most commonly as tags), to mount or embed into various assets and to survive a variety of environmental conditions. The identifier number of each tag can be associated with any type of collected and electronically stored data, like location, use history, maintenance, inspection records, etc. Traditional asset tracking methods (bar code, stenciling, and RFID tags originally developed for retail or transportation industries) work for tracking assets not subject to harsh conditions, but fail when deployed to track assets in drilling and subsea operations where tracking does not survive the extreme temperatures, pressures, vibrations, and abrasives. 44 industrial automation asia | May 2010
A new generation of rugged RFID technology, specifically developed in recent years to meet the unique needs of the oil and gas industry, is designed to survive extreme conditions. Driven by high-temperature/high-pressure (HT/HP) demands in deepwater operations, certain tags have rated sustained temperature and pressure survivability to 400°F (204°C) and 30,000 psi (207 MPa). The largest potential return on investment (ROI) for RFID technology in oil and gas is in component-level identification of surface, subsea, and downhole assets used in drilling and production operations. Industry estimates that positive ROI for this technology ranges from three months to two years from deployment. Saving Time, Costs In Routine Operations The time needed to identify, measure, and document components use or movement, or to research the inspection history or other asset information, is expensive. Much of this time is spent measuring a piece of equipment and documenting the key dimensions with each use. More field personnel time per component
New RFID tags are built to withstand high temperature, high pressure, and subsurface matter. Data can be picked up from the tags even in scans through thick mud, paint, and other substances.
Reducing Human Error One area of value can be realised by eliminating the human error found in traditional asset tracking methods that use recording and transcribing of identification numbers from equipment, logs, tally books, reports, and tracking systems. Incorrect identifiers can initiate an expensive and high-risk sequence of errors that can be difficult to find and correct. These errors may result in operational downtime due to apparent lack of availability of necessary assets, lost or misplaced records, or equipment failure. Impact Of Corrosion, Erosion Subsea risers worth US$40,000 – US$700,000 each typically are identified using bar codes, stenciling, and standard
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ENQUIRY NO. 893
is required if one needs to identify or investigate the status of the equipment or its traceability. These routine tasks often are repeated hundreds of times over the life of each asset. Industry estimates for the cost of equipment management are between US$6 and US$40 per piece each time the asset is used or inspected. Total upfront costs of US$20 to US$200 per asset generally are required to deploy RFID-based technology, including tagging of assets and related support systems. This cost varies, depending on the type of the equipment tagged, number and type of tags used, field applications deployed, and the chosen back-end support system. Using the same support system across a broader range of assets can bring economies of scale to help reduce the cost per asset. A well-designed back-end system generally is modular and can handle various field deployment strategies. Moreover, it should be able also to manage low-cost consumables and light-use surface equipment tagged with low-cost industrial quality bar codes and nonrugged RFID tags to further reduce the implementation cost per asset.
non-rugged tags. These methods are subject to heavy corrosion and erosion, as assets are exposed to extreme temperatures, pressures, abrasives, and vibrations. During a recent project to tag subsea risers for an offshore drilling company, one task was to install new RFID tags and associate them with existing asset identifiers. A list of riser identifications was provided by the local riser inspection and certification personnel. Upon checking the existing identifiers etched onto the risers, 25 percent of them did not correspond accurately to the risers they were supposed to reference. It was determined that corrosion and erosion lead to the wear of the etched identifiers and made them difficult to read. In another instance, an offshore diving and remediation company in Louisiana implemented an integrated system based on both RFID and bar code to track assets. After a successful implementation, the company uses only barcode to identify assets within its warehouse facility. However, high-value assets deployed in the field or used subsea have rugged ATEX-certified RFID tags attached. Field operations are equipped only with rugged, intrinsically safe RFID systems but have full access to inspection and use history information and
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 45
features
RFID allows for the automation of maintenance and inspections, lessening the chance for damaged components, and pipe fatigue and cutting down on associated man hours
databases via mobile RFID identification and information access tools. When items return to the warehouse, the check-in area has both bar-code and RFID systems to allow scanning the RFID code and producing a new bar-code label on demand to affix to the item for warehouse operations. The integrated system allows the company to manage its assets efficiently. The two different methods, each optimised for a specific environment, work together seamlessly and share one database to allow access to vital asset information across the company, regardless of location. Asset Management Specific tracking of the use of individual components can mitigate the effects of fatigue and wear on equipment. RFID technology provides access to information regarding the status and use history of each asset, including cumulative use in high fatigue or H2S zones, maximum applied torque, or any other trackable condition that may affect the service life or safety rating of the equipment. Additionally, actual use information can trigger inspections based on the asset condition instead of arbitrarily scheduled periodic inspections unrelated to actual use. Inspections usually entail handling costs (pick-up, lay-down, transportation, and field deployment of trained specialists) as well as the cost of operational down time. Performing use-based inspections can reduce non-productive downtime, expenses, and lower the risk of asset failure. Using RFID systems, asset locations can be updated automatically or verified each time an asset is manually or automatically scanned. Accurate location and availability information can improve asset utilisation to save on inventory costs and to reduce operational downtime related to equipment access and availability. Maintenance requirements, engineering and 46 industrial automation asia | May 2010
performance specifications, traceability, or inspection information can be accessed locally or at the corporate level to monitor assets and operations. Real-Time Support Using information transfer standards such as Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML) enables integration of electronically available asset information with third-party engineering applications. This supports real-time management of torque and drag, fluid hydraulics, and equipment fatigue. Sharing electronic data in near real time can save time and also enable collaboration and remote help to the field via engineering centres. RFID technology also can track and ensure that inspectors, logistics, or operations personnel have physically inspected each piece of equipment indicated ‘as inspected’. This also helps with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Custom Made For Success An RFID-based asset tracking system can enable secure gathering and sharing of information in near real time. It can create greater operational efficiencies, reduce risk, and provide cost savings to operators, contractors, service companies, and manufacturers. One key to a successful implementation lies in understanding that for RFID, ‘one tag does not fit all’. Past failures to adopt RFID in oil and gas resulted in from attempts to convert standard RFID tags from other industries, disregarding the different environmental conditions of drilling operations. In order to perform well in extreme conditions, the tags must be specifically developed for this use, using appropriate elements of design, materials, and manufacturing processes. ENQUIRY NO. 3701
New Perspectives with SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Control System Exceeding the Requirements of the Process Automation Market: SIMATIC PCS 7 – more than just a process control system INTERNET
Web Client – Bedienen und Beobachten – Maintenance
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ENQUIRY NO. 133
features
Recipe For
uality
Anthony Arciaga of United Laboratories explains to IAA how Siemens is helping his company improve efficiency and enhance competitiveness in both the local and international arenas. By Derek Rodriguez n 1945, a small drugstore opened shop in a street corner in war-torn downtown Manila, Philippines. The drugstore grew into a pharmaceutical company, United Laboratories (Unilab), with a simple manufacturing setup and a modest marketing force. By the end of the 1950s, Unilab had become a major pharmaceutical company in the country. At the same time, its presence in Southeast Asia started to take shape, with the creation of marketing and manufacturing 48 industrial automation asia | May 2010
relationships in the region. Today, the Unilab Group has become one of the strongest Asean-based healthcare groups. A nt hony A rcia ga , AV P – Engineering Services, Central Engineering Team, Manufacturing Division is in charge of network engineering at Unilab. He oversees the engineering functions of all the company’s plants in the Philippines, and directly manages a plant in Mandaluyong City. Amherst Laboratories is a subsidiary of Unilab.
Mr Arciaga looks after expansion projects involving the construction of facilities in the Philippines and extends technical assistance to facilities that are located in other countries. IAA: How large is your company? Anthony Arciaga: At present, the Unilab Group operates in 10 countries in the Asia Pacific Region with over 6,000 employees and 12 manufacturing facilities in China, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. It markets some 350 brands of affordable high-quality prescription and consumer health products, and its sales volume has already reached US$900 million. In the Philippines where its main operation is based, Unilab currently owns over 20 percent of the local market share. With our new A mherst Laboratories Liquids Plant in
Laguna, Philippines that was completed in October 2009, our existing production capabilities for oral dosage liquid products have doubled. The size of the investment for the facility is about US$30 million. The plant produces syrups for cough medications, multivitamins and analgesics. While ou r pr ima r y ma rket is t he Philippines, we also export around 10 percent of our products to Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. IAA: What prompted the decision to build the new facility? A A: Our liquids pla nt in Mandaluyong is now operating at full capacity and we need the new plant to support the robust growth in demand. The new plant also gave us the opportunity to apply the latest available technologies to further enhance and sustain the tr usted high qua lity of our products. With this goal in mind, we need a reliable distributed control system that will facilitate the control of production via operator stations which is distributed in every process areas and workstations. This is the reason why we chose Simatic PCS 7 process control system. The main function of the system is to facilitate ‘Recipe-driven Production’ in accorda nce to pha r ma’s stringent GMP requirements. ‘Recipe- driven Production’ means the recipes of each of our more than 70 products are configured into the system. Using Simatic PCS 7, the operator is guided through the production sequence, where he has to confirm each step to ensure that the process is strictly adhered to. The plant in Laguna also has reactor-type tanks that allow processing in a vacuum or inert gas environment.
Fixed pipelines with automatic valves and proximity sensors are used to facilitate pipe routing. The automation system provided by Siemens enables us to cope with the increased plant size and capacity, and simplifies the operation of the complex system. IAA: Tell us more about the automated system. AA: The new plant houses more than 38 process vessels. These vessels need to be cleaned ‘in place’. The automated Cleanin-Place (CIP) feature facilitates this, which also accounts for the bulk of the automation system implementation. With the Siemens implementation, the recipe is already programmed into the system. The operator just needs to confirm each step via the Simatic HMI before proceeding to the next – this allows us to enforce tighter process controls. We will also be installing a raw materials barcode identification system to ensure that the correct materials are introduced at the required stages in the process. The centralised automation process offers features such as access controls and data logging. E ach proce ss is a lso time stamped. These features cut down the possibility of human error and wastage. One of the requirements of this project is to comply with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements which include computer systems validation. Computer systems validation and documentation is included in Siemens’ scope. The documentation serves as ‘evidence’ that the plant has been set up according to the correct procedures, and that it is capable of consistently producing high quality products according to specifications.
IAA: What are your future expansion plans? AA: Unilab will continue to invest on improving capacity and efficiency so we can sustain offering high quality products to the markets that we serve. We are working with Siemens to extend our plant floor automation to enterprise level, via a Manufacturing Execution
Anthony Arciaga, AVP – Engineering Services, Central Engineering Team, Manufacturing Division
System (MES). At the initial stage, we are looking at using the MES for our dispensing system and for the management of materials. Process orders are generated from our SAP system and are communicated to the MES and the process control system. The MES will also be linked to the materials identification system. The MES should be able to convey information from the warehouse – ie, the raw materials that have been weighed and prepared – to the production area. It should also be able to keep track of information pertaining to materials that have been consumed on the production lines. All these efforts to consistently upgrade our efficiency and capacity are deliberate action steps not only to boost our capabilities, but more so to deliver quality and affordable products that consumers deserve. ENQUIRY NO. 3702
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 49
features
Point X coord. 12.3954 Y coord. 87.2681 Z coord. 9.4302 Absolute X coord. 12.3954 Y coord. 87.2681 Z coord. 9.4302 Geometric data Minimum radius: Infinite Maximum radius: Infinite Draft angle: 0°30' (-0.5) Surface data Surface type: Plane Surface feature Ruled: Yes: Colour: R: 253 G: 183 B: 83
3D CAD:
Complexity Manufacturability Plastic product design principles and the impact they have on the manufacturing and production processes. By Marc Freebrey, Vero Software
T
he rapid development of modern 3D CAD systems have facilitated the evolution of product design, and as a result, a move to more organic forms and ever increasing geometry complexity. Just think about the change in design from the conventional box shaped vacuum cleaner to the modern Dyson. The aim of this column is to focus on design fundamentals and the impact they have on the manufacturing and production processes. Consistent Wall Thickness Design engineers need to try and maintain a consistent wall thick-ness throughout the entire model. Any major change in part thickness can cause major moulding issues such internal voids, surface sink
marks, unpredictable shrink rates and ultimately, longer cycle times. If a wall thickness change is necessary, it should be a smooth transition to ensure ease of material flow preventing critical stress points which may cause part failure during product testing and result in an updated part design or additional tooling costs. Detecting manufacturability issues at the design stage will prevent costly reworking and save valuable time during later production stages. Rib Design When creating rib patterns, it is important to remember that ribs are only there to increase part rigidity and should not be compromised for aesthetical
Excess material accumulation may lead to voids or sink marks
50  industrial automation asia | May 2010
Corner bosses with orthogonal flanges are a preferred corner design
reasons. Design engineers typically follow standard guidelines for rib design. If possible, a combination of thin and thick ribs should be avoided. Some of the most common design guide-lines are listed below: 1 Rib thickness should be 60 – 80 percent of the nominal wall thickness. 2 Maximum rib height should not exceed 3X the nominal wall thickness. To increase product rigidity, it is better to increase the number of ribs rather than the rib height. 3 Minimum spacing between ribs should be 2X the nominal wall thickness. 4 Fillet radii applied to ribs should be no greater than 50 percent of the rib thickness. 5 Extra thick ribs should be cored out. 6 Cross ribbed patterns are preferred (if the design allows) as they offer greater loading permutations and ensure uniform stress distribution. Bosses Bosses are a fundamental component in plastic part design as they offer strengthening properties and provide alignment during assembly. Similar to rib design, it is important to consider the wall thickness when designing bosses. The design guidelines listed below will help avoid surface imperfections such as internal voids, surface sink marks and unpredictable shrink rates. i) The boss thickness should be 60 percent of the nominal wall thickness. If the part thickness is greater than 4 mm, the boss thickness can be reduced to 40 percent of the nominal wall thickness. ii) The boss height should not e xce e d 2 . 5x t he diameter of the hole in the boss. iii) Corner bosses integral to side walls will result in excess material accumulation. Fillet radii should be applied at the base of a rib or
Draft Angle The need to add draft angle to a model is well understood, but often ignored during the design stage. While this may seem like a trivial task, if the taper is not added at the right point within the history tree (if applicable) or complex fillets are subsequently added, this task becomes a great deal more complex.
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24 Jurong Port Road, #03-05 Office Block, CWT Distripark Singapore 619097 Tel: +65 6305 7400 • Fax: +65 6305 7401 • URL: www.hitachi.com.sg • Email: ice@has.hitachi.com.sg
Tel: +81 3 4345 6063
ENQUIRY NO. 079
Corner bosses integral to side walls will result in excess material accumulation
boss to allow better stress distribution. If no fillets are applied, high stress concentrations peaks occur and this will often lead to cracking and part failure. Please note however, that if the fillet radii applied is too large, excess material accumulation can occur which may lead to voids or sink marks during the moulding cycle. This same principle is also true where a rib or boss meets the edge of the component. Fortunately, CAD systems are beginning to introduce analysis tools to calculate and display the thickness of a CAD model and help identify potential problem zones. Typically, two methods are available – The first is based on the largest sphere that can be placed within the model without intersecting any other face. The second is the more traditional shooting ray method which shoots a ray through the model along the surface normal until it hits a second face.
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 51
features
2.2621045113
1.9793414896
1.6965784679
1.4138154462
1.1310524245
0.8482894028
0.5655263811
Sphere radius: 2.262077 Sphere touched point distance: 4.524153 Ray distance: 4.524153
0.2827633594
Part thickness analysis will enable designers to identify potential model problems and move more quickly to prototyping and production stages 2.1304347515
1.86413041
1.5978260684
1.3315217269
1.0652173854
0.7989130438
0.5326087023
0.2663043608
The effect on part thickness when draft is added over the total length of a rib is clearly visible
Draft angle is an important feature that allows a moulded part to be extracted from a mould cavity without issue. The high pressures of injection moulding and material contraction means that it is often difficult to remove the part. While it is possible to mould parts with zero draft (or even negative draft) using side cores, lifters or twostage ejection, these features dramatically influence the complexity and cost of the tool. Although no exact formula exists for defining the correct draft angle for a certain part, there are many factors that have an impact on the optimum value. Generally, thin-walled parts that undergo highpressure injection moulding need more draft as the material is forced in which results in a tighter grip on the cavity. Equally, parts that are subjected to lowerpressure moulding can have less draft. For smooth surfaces, generally a minimum of 0.5 degree draft per side is recommended although experience has shown that a draft angle of 1 degree per side provides easy ejection for most surfaces. Textured surfaces are slightly different as the non uniform texture will drag and scuff, ruining the required effect if the draft angle is not sufficient. As a general guideline, a minimum of 1.5 degrees per 0.025 mm depth of texture needs to be allowed for 52 industrial automation asia | May 2010
in addition to the normal draft amount. The depth of draw (deep ribs) is a very important consideration because as the distance of draft becomes greater, ejection becomes easier but the thickness of the geometry also becomes thicker, and, as we have already learnt, dramatic changes in model thickness may cause internal voids, surface sink marks and unpredictable warpage. As an example, a draft angle of 1 degree over a drop of 100 mm would increase part thickness by 1.75 mm per side. Although at the product design stage, the moulding polymer may not be know, this can have an effect of the required draft angle. For example, materials with fillers (glass filled) tend to have a reduced shrinkage value and will therefore not move away from the cavity wall. In this case, greater draft angles are required. Holes are easy to produce in moulded parts and are typically created using core pins. However, blind holes with zero draft often create a vacuum effect at the top of the core pin during ejection (more prone to parts with a polished finish). In this case, a small draft angle will break the seal and improve ejection. Ultimately, the easier it is to remove the part from the mould, the fewer the number of ejector pins required. Part Radii A significant number of plastic parts fail due to sharp corners or insufficient radius. Sharp corners create localised stress concentrations which will promote crack initiation and cause pre-mature part failure. The addition of fillet radii to all sharp corners will not only reduce stresses, but also improve plastic flow. As a general rule, at corners, the inside radius is 0.5 x material thickness and the outside radius should be 1 x material thickness plus the part thickness – a larger radius should be used if the part design allows it. Mould Tool Design – Gate Position It is often preferred to gate onto the thickest section of the component to reduce the possibility of sinking due to insufficient material packing. Fixing the gate location ultimately determines the filling behaviour, weld lines, shrinkage, warpage and surface quality of the moulded part. Weld lines are lines where two plastic flow fronts meet and form a relatively weak bond. These are the area’s most likely to fail when the part is under stress. Complex mouldings will always contain weld lines and if the number cannot be reduced, they should be moved to non-critical areas of the component. This is typically achieved by moving the gate location or if the design allows, changing the part wall thickness. ENQUIRY NO. 3703
ENQUIRY NO. 132
products & Services Ansul:
Baldor:
Ansul R-102 Fire Suppression Systems discharge Ansulex Liquid Fire Suppressant to quickly subdue and knock down flames, while generating a tough vapour securing blanket that helps prevent reflash. With its nearly neutral pH, the Ansulex agent is exceptionally gentle on cooking equipment, and cleans up easily with soap and water. Featuring fully automatic fuse link detection, remote manual pull station, electric or gas appliance shut-down, and an aesthetically pleasing stainless steel enclosure, the easily expandable Ansul R-102 systems are also UL300, ULC, MEA, ABS and CE approved and listed.
Offering economic and space-saving solutions for many common singleaxis automation requirements, Baldor Electric’s smart drives also feature an Ethernet interface compatible with the deterministic Ethernet-compatible motion control standard, Powerlink. The programming capability - Mint Lite - is now being fitted without charge on all of Baldor’s MicroFlex e100 and MotiFlex e100 single- and three-phase drive ranges. These drives are available in a broad choice of power ratings up to 33.5 A - with higher ratings coming soon. The versatile drives may be used to control rotary and linear servo motors, linear motors, closed-loop vector motors, and in V/Hz control modes.
Fire Suppression Systems
Smart Ethernet Drives
Enquiry no. 3801
Enquiry no. 3802
Banner:
Basler:
Banner Engineering’s WorldBeam QS18 Adjustable-Field Foreground Suppression Sensors are designed to r elia bl y d e t e c t o bje c t s regardless of colour, reflectivity, sur face irregularities or background conditions. The sensors universal mounting design makes installation quick and easy, while a simple screwdriver adjustment allows for precise setup of sensing range. With a compact and IP67-rated sealed housing, the QS18 adjustablefield sensors deliver an exceptional sensing solution for small or difficult-to-reach areas. The QS18 Adjustable-Field Foreground Suppression Sensors operate in diffuse mode, detecting light returned by the background, but ignoring light returned by the object.
Basler Vision Technologies has started series production of the first four models in the ace series of compact area scan cameras. Basler’s ace is currently the smallest GigE camera in its class with Power over Ethernet (PoE). The ace models include both mono and color versions of the Sony ICX618 VGA and ICX445 1.3 MP CCD sensors, running at 100 frames per second and 30 frames per second respectively. Basler ace cameras are 29 x 29 x 42 mm in size and offer a variety of sophisticated features such as Power over Ethernet, opto-isolated digital inputs and outputs, a 60 MB on-board image buffer, and user sets for storing parameters.
Foreground Suppression Sensors
Enquiry no. 3803 54 industrial automation asia | May 2010
Ultra-Compact GigE Camera Series
Enquiry no. 3804
products & Services
Baumer:
Cognex:
Baumer complements its line sensor family ParCon with a new long-range version for distances of up to 200 mm. With the ParCon line sensors web edges in the packaging, textile, or paper industry can be measured precisely and therefore positioned exactly. Additionally, object widths can be determined, regardless of the objects’ position within the measuring field. The result is issued as an analog value (4…20 mA) that can be processed easily. Thanks to the high measuring frequency of up to 1 kHz, it is possible to measure even rapidly moving objects precisely. At the same time the sensor operates with a resolution of up to 0.1 mm.
Cognex’s In-Sight Track and Trace is an add-on software package for Cognex In-Sight vision systems. It delivers a ready-to-deploy data capture and verification solution designed to help pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers achieve unit-level product traceability. It combines powerful Cognex code reading and verification software with a pre-configured job file and HMI interface that reduces setup time and makes it easy to exchange data with third party systems as needed for a full serialisation solution. Because it can be combined with a variety of third party products, users have the flexibility to customise and scale their serialisation solutions to best suit their budgets and needs.
Line Sensors
Track & Trace Solution
Enquiry no. 3805
Enquiry no. 3806
Cox:
Digi:
Turbine flowmeters from Cox Instruments now come with ceramic ball bearings, making it less susceptible to fluid particulates and making it more wear resistant than standard 440C stainless steel and journal bearings. While high-friction journal bearings required for water applications may shorten the meter’s linear flow range of operation, ceramic ball bearings have a low coefficient of friction and exhibit excellent wear-resistant characteristics. They are also best suited for high-temperature applications of up to 425˚C (800˚F), and are ideal for water and cryogenic applications that possess little to no lubricating properties.
The ConnectPort X2 Smart Energy Gateway from Zigbee connects, controls, or gathers data from Zigbee Smart Energy devices before or with smart meter deployments. The gateway makes meter information immediately available to any energy management application with the presence of a smart meter, and can be used to integrate thermostats, smart meters, in-home displays, load controllers, and smart energy devices into complete energy management systems. With Ethernet and ZigBee connectivity, ConnectPort X2 employs local customisable scripting standards via Python, allowing customers to leverage the in-home processing capability of the gateway to optimise their energy service offerings.
Turbine Flowmeters
Enquiry no. 3807
Smart Energy Gateway
Enquiry no. 3808 May 2010 | industrial automation asia 55
products & Services
Harting:
HMS:
Harting’s har-speed M12 connectors meet the demanding requirements profiles stipulated by Cat. 6A. For the first time, an M12-cabling system can now be deployed for higher data performance scenarios. The connectors are optimal for applications with high bandwidths in machine and plant engineerring where rapid and safe data transmission beyond Cat 5 are increasingly called for. This recent development is based on the new PAS 610762-10x, which defines a uniform mating face for 8-pole M12 connectors. The mating face performs two tasks: shielding in the connector area (shielded wire pairs) and the coding of the mating face, while ensuring failsafe plugging with other 8-pole M12 connectors.
HMS Industrial Networks has extended its Anybus-IC family with the addition of the AnybusIC for CANopen. The module is a tiny but powerful embedded single-chip CANopen interface, which is certified by the CAN user organisation for conformance to the CANopen standard. The new component extends HMS´ Anybus-IC family which already includes interchangeable solutions for Profibus, Profinet, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP and Modbus-TCP. In a single housing of only 8cm2 in size, the Anybus-IC contains the HMS NP30 microprocessor with its integrated CAN controller and a full featured CANopen slave software stack. The IC reduces the development efforts needed to design a CANopen interface by up to 70 percent.
M12 Connectors
Single Chip CANopen Interface
Enquiry no. 3809
Enquiry no. 3810
Jetter:
Opto 22:
The JetMove 108 has especially been developed for the voltage range from 12 to 48 VDC. At a rated current of 8 A the maximum power is 384 W. Thanks to its small dimensions of 136 mm x 96 mm x 26 mm (H x D x W) the housing is very compact. It allows you to run mos t common motor t ypes, such as ser vo motors, direct drives, 2- and 3-phase stepper motors, asynchronous or DC motors. It has got the same characteristic feature as all other JetMove motion controllers. All of them have transparently been integrated into the JetControl controllers and they are programmed and commissioned by means of the programming software JetSym.
Opto 22’s SNAP-AIRTD-10 is a two-channel analog input module used to monitor temperature via connection to copper resistance temperature detectors (RTDs). It provides two channels of analog temperature input from 10-ohm copper RTDs, which makes it well-suited for deployment in older installations. The module has an input range of -180 to +260 °C (-292 to +500° F) and can also be used for 0-25 ohms resistance measurements. With its wide input temperature range, high over range limits for RTD input, and small footprint, the module will prove most useful in water treatment, refrigeration, thermoforming, curing, autoclaving, refining, PID loop control, welding, and other temperature monitoring applications that require high resolution measurements with minimal drift.
Compact Motion Controller
Enquiry no. 3811 56 industrial automation asia | May 2010
RTD Temperature Sensing I/O Module
Enquiry no. 3812
products & Services products & Services
STMicroelectronics:
Sick:
Dual-Interface EEPROM
Vision Sensor The inspector I40 offers complete production control and performs part inspection tasks like a smart camera. It is designed with a high resolution VGA imager (640 X 480 pixels), which provides improved image quality and enables inspection at higher accuracy or on wider areas without compromising speed. The I40 offers pattern inspection tool to ensure robust differentiation on small details or pattern. In addition, the I40 also supports PLC control over Ethernet/IP, with support for reading out detailed results and control the configuration set-up. Moreover, it supports storage of images to FTP, an extended arm to the image log that makes it unrestricted in memory capacity.
1 0 1 0 1 0 1
(((((
1 0 1 0 1
The M24LR64 is an EEPROM memory with a standard I2C serial interface, providing communication with most microcontrollers or ASICs, and also a standard ISO15693 RF (radio frequency) interface for wireless communications with RFID readers. The ISO15693 standard is passive RFID technology, which gathers both the energy and the data from the RF system. No power is required to operate the M24LR64 in RF mode, which enables onboard energy savings and provides easy and convenient remote access to electronic product parameters. Based on two industry-standard interfaces, the new dualinterface product line provides a link between the operation of electronic devices and the RFID world.
Enquiry no. 3813
Enquiry no. 3814
Turck:
Witte:
Turck’s line of rugged, harsh duty Ethernet switches has been updated to include unmanaged models that will support either 4- or 8-pin M12 twisted pair cable, as well as 4- and 5-pin 7/816UN power cable. The 4-pin switch is suitable for EtherNet/IP applications with both managed and unmanaged options, while the 8-pin switch is suitable for standard Ethernet applications. The switches support 10/100 Base-T with twisted pair Ethernet cable. The unmanaged switches are available with 5 or 9 ports, while the managed switch is available with 9 ports, one of which is used as a RS-232 configuration port.
A special milling machine was recently developed for fast and accurate machining of large surface sandwich type plates ie plywood, plastics or fibre materials. Previously this process was done manually with electrical saws. The machine was equipped with a Flip Pod vacuum system from Witte. This system is characterised by high holding forces and is suitable for applications on large machines as well as for machining processes on wood and plastic work pieces. Beyond that the seals are designed and developed in such a way those natural fibre materials and rough or uneven surfaces can also be clamped.
Rugged Ethernet Switches
Enquiry no. 3815
Flip-Pod Vacuum-System
Enquiry no. 3816 May 2010 | industrial automation asia  57
EVENT PREVIEW
CommunicAsia2010
C o m m u n i c A s i a 2 01 0 , a n established infocomm technology (ICT) event in Asia, will be held at the Singapore Expo from June 15 – 18, 2010. Co -located with Broadcast Asia2010, the events are expected to boast at least 58,000 sq m of exhibition space. Visitors to the shows this year will get to witness the latest technology innovations demonstrated by 2,000 multin a t i o n a l co r p o r a t i o n s a n d small and medium enterprises. Thirty-three international group pavilions will be spread across the show floor, reflecting the push by governments and industry bodies to expand their footprint into Asia. First time participants include a group from Bangladesh and another led by India’s Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC). This event brings the most comprehensive showca se of convergent technologies for the infocomm, media and broadcasting industries to Asia. “ T he u n ique co - lo c at ion o f C o m m u n i c A si a 2 010 a n d
58 industrial automation asia | May 2010
BroadcastAsia2010 presents a platform that addresses the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting and brings to ge t he r bu si ne s s le ade r s, government officials and trade professionals to network, discuss critical industry issues and explore opportunities for growth,” said Victor Wong, project director of Communications Events from show o r ga n i s e r, S i n ga p o re Exhibition Services. Event Highlights In tandem with current market trends, this year’s CommunicAsia, with support of the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP), will have a new Developer Pavilion fe atu r ing t he late st mobile applications and WIPJam sessions - interactive discussions that open up the mobile ecosystem and connect developers with industry experts and decision makers. Further new highlights to be added to the CommunicAsia2010 exhibition show floor are two other new technology clusters – FTTx and Sustainable ICT – to address
new growth opportunities in Asia. Armed with support from the FTTH Council Asia Pacific, the FTTx cluster will be devoted to examining the latest fibre deployments and services. The Sustainable ICT cluster will demonstrate how pioneering technologies and unique sustainable ICT projects can enable businesses to effectively contribute to a low carbon economy. At the CommunicAsia2010 Summit, new conference sessions such as Mobile Value Added Services (VAS), Cloud Computing, Ma rketing through Socia l Networking and Green IT will be introduced to drive active discussions on topics and issues relevant to industry players. EnterpriseIT2010, will once again be held in conjunction with CommunicAsia2010 to address the convergence of technology and showcase innovative enterprise solutions that meet the evolving needs of businesses. June 15 – 18, 2010 Singapore Expo Singapore
ENQUIRY NO. 3901
EVENT review
China’s demand for automation and drives technologies was one step closer to being fulfilled following the successful launch of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou. The show held at the China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex from March 8 – 11 2010 attracted 16,715 trade visitors from 40 countries and regions. These key industry players had flocked to Guangzhou to source the latest technology and obtain up-to-date market news from the 317 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions that had participated in the show. The fair also featured a variety of fringe events aimed at different industry sectors. These included the Guangdong Industrial Robotic Summit, Seminar on ‘European l a te s t S e n s o r Te c h n o l o g y, Application and Development’, the High-end Forum for the Pearl River
Delta’s Equipment Manufacturing Industry & Automation Technology Application 2010, and the Green Industrial Innovation Forum. At the Robotic Summit, Wang Tianmiao, team leader of the National 863 Plan Robotics Technology Theme Group, Sun Lining, deputy director of National Key Laboratory of Robotics Technology and System and Liu Yihua, chairman of Guangdong Association of Automation discussed the development and outlook of industrial robotics. The summit revealed that the technology of industrial robotics i s now t he b e nc h ma rk for measuring a country’s manufacturing standard and technology level. The summit attracted a full house of over 300 attendees. T he ne x t e dit ion of SPS – Industrial Automation Fair Guangzhou will be held from March 9 – 11 2011 at the China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex.
SPS
– Industrial Automation Fair
Guangzhou
March 8 – 11, 2010 China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex Guangzhou, China ENQUIRY NO. 3902
May 2010 | industrial automation asia 59
EVENT review
Hannover Messe 2010 Hannover Messe 2010 has given a further boost to economic recovery, with benefits set to flow through to the industrial sector over the next few months. Exhibitors are feeling upbeat about their future prospects: “The mood at Hannover Messe is always a good indicator of industry sentiment, so we can now confidently speak of an upswing,” commented Deutsche Messe Managing Board chairman Wolfram von Fritsch at the end-ofshow press conference. “Exhibitors have reported many promising talks on projects, investment plans and deals which will contribute to enhanced utilisation of capacity over the weeks and months to come,” he added. “Last year people came here in need of orientation; this year they came strictly to do business. The strengths of Hannover Messe were leveraged to good advantage in this phase of the cycle, giving a real boost to business activity.” Travel Plans Up In Smoke Major travel limitations resulting from the international flight embargo impacted both exhibitor participation and visitor attendance, but Deutsche Messe was quick to launch a series of measures to ease the situation, chartering a fleet of buses to bring several hundred exhibitors from across Europe to the show. The closing of European airports put the brakes on international air travel to Hannover and Europe in general, which naturally had a negative impact on attendance. 60 industrial automation asia | May 2010
“Flight bans and several days of uncertainty did put a major dent in attendance on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we were not able to catch up by the end of the event,” Mr von Fritsch explained. Attendance from outside Germany was down by about half. The total visitor count of 150,000 was roughly 20 percent below the previous year’s figure. Attendance from Asia and North America suffered the most.
“The performance of Hannover Messe 2010 certainly cannot be gauged in terms of the visitor statistics. This yea r’s event will go down in history as the ‘volcano event,’” Mr von Fritsch commented. Exhibitions Galore The main sectors at Hannover Messe 2010 consisted of industrial automation, energy technology and industrial subcontracting,
with well over 4,000 innovations being unveiled at the exhibition. Hall 2, devoted to the research and development sector, featured market-ready research findings awaiting industrial application. This year’s Hannover Messe, s t a g e d u n d e r t h e ke y n o te motto of ‘Efficiency, Innovation, Sustainability’, attracted bookings from more than 4,800 exhibitors from 64 countries, matching the totals for the ‘boom year’ of 2008.
The energy shows at Hannover Messe occupied around one fourth of the exhibition space. Over 1,100 companies were on hand to present with conventiona l a nd renewable sources the energy mix of the future, with displays covering the entire energy added-value spectrum - from generation, d e l i v e r y, t ra n sm i s sio n a n d distribution to transformation and storage.
Focus On Automation Once again, industrial automation was high on the agenda. Visitor interest was particularly strong for the ‘Efficiency Days’, jointly orga nised by the Germa n Engineering Federation (VDMA), the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) and Deutsche Messe. Companies showcased their e x p e r t i se i nvolv i n g e ne rg y efficiency in industrial processes in a series of presentations, discussions and guided tours over the five days of the show. Mr von Fritsch also expressed his appreciation for the outstanding performance of this year’s Partner Country, Italy. “Italy has made good use of every opportunity to present itself as an export-focused industrial nation with strong innovative skills.” Hannover Messe 2011 will run from April 4 - 8, 2011, occupying the entire exhibition centre, with a total of 13 trade fairs. The nine trade fairs at this year’s event Industrial Automation, Energy, Power Plant Technology, MobiliTec, Digital Factory, Industrial Supply, CoilTechnica, MicroNanoTec and Research & Technology – will be supplemented by Motion, Drive & Automation, Wind, Surface Technology and ComVac. Hannover Messe 2011 will showcase the complete industrial supply chain, including industrial automation, power transmission and fluid power, compressed air engineering, surface technology, micro and nanotechnologies, energy technologies, power plant construction, electric mobility and industrial subcontracting and software.
April 19 – 23, 2010 Hannover Fair Grounds Hannover, Germany ENQUIRY NO. 3903 May 2010 | industrial automation asia 61
Parting shot
The
Evolution OfAutomation
The elephant’s trunk provides new impetus for green production
hat does the elephant’s trunk have to do with a u to m a t i o n? Fe s to i s answering this question with the Bionic Handling Assistant, a concept inspired by nature. W hether for industria l applications or as a learning system in basic and advanced training – nature is showing the way towards energ y- efficient automation of the future. Inspired By The Elephant’s Trunk For the Bionic Handling Assistant, the experts at Festo were inspired by the elephant’s trunk. It is flexible, transmits large forces and serves as a precise gripping tool. Humanmachine cooperation has been revolutionised through analysis of the structure and functioning of the elephant’s trunk and the use of 62 industrial automation asia | May 2010
new manufacturing technologies – the outcome is a completely new, biomechatronic handling system. With the Bionic Handling A ssista nt, direct contact between machines and their human operators – whether accidental or intentional – is no longer hazardous: in the event of a collision with a human, the Bionic Handling Assistant yields immediately, without modifying its desired overall dynamic behaviour. The Bionic Handling Assistant then resumes its operation. How It Works The Bionic Handling Assistant consists of three basic elements for spatial movement, together with a hand axis with ball joint and a gripper with adaptive fingers. The basic elements each comprise three circularly arranged actuators
tapering at an angle of three degrees. Each actuator is supplied with compressed air at the interfaces of the basic elements. Resetting is effected by the loop-like design of the actuators, which act like a spring when the compressed air is discharged. Their extension is measured by travel sensors, which control the system’s spatial movement. In the hand axis, three further actuators are arranged around a ball joint; their activation displaces the gripper by an angle of up to 30 degrees. SMAT sensors register the travel and make for precise alignment. VPWP proportional travel valves are used for the overall control of the Bionic Handling Assistant. The elements are flexible and can transmit high forces despite their lightweight design. ENQUIRY NO. 3904
Calendar of Events may 5 – 9 Automex
Putra World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Premier Exhibitions Services Email: info@tradelink.com.my Web: www.tradelink.com.my
5 – 9 MTA Malaysia 2010
Putra World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Malaysian Exhibition Services Email: enquiry@mesallworld.com Web: www.mtamalaysia.com
13 – 16 Intermach 2010
BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Intermach Email: intermach@intermachshow.com Web: www.intermachshow.com
19 – 21 Semicon Singapore
Suntec Singapore Semi Email: cchan@semi.org Web: www.semiconsingapore.org
25 – 28 KOFAS 2010
Changwon Exhibition Center Changwon, South Korea Koami Email: exhibit@koami.or.kr Web: kofas.org
june 2 – 5 Renewable Energy Asia 2010
BITEC Bangkok, Thailand UBM Asia (Thailand) Email: entech@entechpollutec-asia.com Web: www entechpollutec-asia.com
2 – 5 Manufacturing Surabaya 2010
Grand City Convention & Exhibition Centre Surabaya, Indonesia PT Pamerindo Email: maysia@pamerindo.com Web: www.manufacturingsurabaya.com
6 – 8 Interphex Asia 2010
Suntec Singapore Reed Exhibitions Email: jockhong.tan@reedexpo.com.sg Web: www.interphexasia.com
15 – 17 Nepcon Malaysia Penang International Sports Arena Penang, Malaysia Reed Exhibitions Email: huihiang.teo@reedexpo.com.sg Web: www.nepcon.com.my
15 – 18 CommunicAsia 2010 Singapore Expo Singapore Singapore Exhibitions Services Email: vw@sesallworld.com Web: www.communicasia.com
16 – 19 Propak Asia 2010 BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Exhibition Services Email: propak@besallworld.com Web: www.propakasia.com
24 – 27 Intermold Thailand 2010 BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Email: rtdx@reedtradex.co.th Web: www.intermoldthailand.com
24 – 27 Assembly Technology 2010 BITEC Bangkok, Thailand Reed Tradex Email: rtdx@reedtradex.co.th Web: www.assemblytechexpo.com
28 – July 1 World Cities Summit 2010 Singapore Email: info@worldcities.com.sg Web: www.worldcities.com.sg
september 15 – 17 Industrial Automation Vietnam
Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Hong Kong Exhibition Services Email: exhibit@hkesallworld.com Web: www.iavietnam.com
October 5 – 7 ProcessCEM Asia 2010
Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre Singapore Association of Process Industry (ASPRI) Email: processcem@aspri.com.sg Web: www.processcemasia.com
27 – November 4 Singapore International Energy Week Suntec Singapore Singapore Singapore International Energy Week Email: ema_siew@ema.gov.sg Web: singapore.iew.com.sg
November 30 – December 3 OSEA 2010
Suntec Singapore Singapore Singapore Exhibition Services Email: amy@sesallworld.com Web: osea-asia.com
28 – July 2 Singapore International Water Week Suntec Singapore Singapore Singapore International Water Week Email: info@siww.com.sg Web: www.siww.com.sg
juLY 6 – 9 MTA Vietnam 2010 Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Singapore Exhibition Services Email: events@sesallworld.com Web: www.mtavietnam.com
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Advertising Index
64
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IndustrialAutomationAsia
ADVERTISING I N D E X
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ABB Pte Ltd
7
078
HEAD OFFICE
Advantech Co Singapore Pte Ltd
27
122
Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd
53
132
Baumer Singapore Pte Ltd
31
097
Belden Singapore Pte Ltd
25
121
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29
131
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45
893
Cognex Singapore Inc
19
119
Edmund Optics Singapore Pte Ltd
37
124
Exxon Mobil Asia Pacific
3
126
Fluke South East Asia Pte Ltd
23
098
Fuji Electric Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
5
070
Hitachi Asia Ltd
51
079
Igus Singapore Pte Ltd
39 / 43
128 / 127
JJ-Lapp Cable (S) Pte Ltd
41
093
Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd (CC-Link)
OBC
130
MP Asia Pte Ltd
35
129
PT Fireworks Indonesia
33
125
Reed Exhibitions
21
123
Rockwell Automation SEA Pte Ltd
IFC
120
SICK Optic-Electronic Pte Ltd
1
118
Siemens Pte Ltd
47
133
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