MOTION SYSTEM TRENDS
Pneumatic actuators and systems: Taking advantage of next-generation data
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any industrial applications require linear motion during their operating sequence. One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to accomplish this is with a pneumatic actuator, often referred to as an air cylinder. Actuators are typically mechanical devices that take energy and convert it into some kind of motion. That motion can be in any form, such as blocking, clamping, or ejecting, but typical motions are rotational or linear in scope. As old-school as pneumatic actuators are, they’re definitely not components that are stuck in the past. Improved sensing and the related advancements that engineers have seen with the age of the IoT and fog computing are making meaningful improvements to this class of actuators. For example, according to Jacob Toppen, Product Marketing Specialist for Aventics at Emerson, his company’s Smart Pneumatics Monitor (SPM), is an edge device capable of collecting data locally — totally independent of the control network. “It uses pre-installed algorithms to analyze data, display relevant system information on a dashboard, and distribute data to other systems using popular messaging protocols,” Toppen said. “By collecting sensor data and performing cycle counting, the SPM module provides reliable information on the state of wear of actuators, valves, and non-pneumatic components, plus it analyzes energy efficiency. This minimizes the risk of machine downtime and significantly lowers operating costs.”
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| courtesy Aventics
Similarly, Frank Latino, Product Manager, Business Unit Electric Automation, Festo, noted that his company has a solution using its IoT GW to do fog computing. This edge device handles substantial amounts of computation and then extends the information to a cloud service. “In essence, we are filtering and conditioning data from our pneumatic energy savings module MSE6-E2M to provide a dashboard showing the savings and maintenance information,” Latino said. “Changes in pressure, flow, and consumption data can be provided. A calculation of air savings is possible based on machine utilization of compressed air.” Toppen said that he feels the Smart Pneumatics Monitor is an innovative IIoT gateway with simple operation, great flexibility, and outstanding efficiency. “The programming software, Node-RED, comes pre-loaded on the Linux edge device. Node-RED is an open source graphical interface software developed by IBM which is easily accessible via a web browser when connected to the device,” he explained. motioncontroltips.com | designworldonline.com
3/12/19 2:17 PM
