PROFINEWS

Hello. On behalf of the PI organization and its staff we welcome you to the latest version of PROFINEWS. Recently, we refreshed our corporate identity, with new colours and a brand new image for 2010, and this newsletter is part of that renewal process. PROFINEWS remains one of our key marketing tools and we want it to keep pace with the times.  This issue marks the moment when its production and distribution become fully automated using 'cloud' technology. It's also fully email-friendly and accessible via smartphones and PCs. Our goal is to continue delivering valuable technical information and key marketing messages via PROFINEWS. Let us know if you have any suggestions for further improvements, or for any additional services we can provide to help you understand and use the two most successful industrial networking technologies in the world - PROFIBUS and PROFINET.

Comau Inc. of Southfield, MI, USA has developed an assembly machine architecture called SmartCell that offers flexibility not only in terms of the products manufactured but also in production volumes and investment capital. Based on tried and tested PROFIBUS networks, SmartCell also employs IO-Link to ensure transparent and rapid connections between PROFIBUS and the multiple sensors deployed on an innovative automated tool change system.

At the heart of the SmartCell are two tooling arms and a pallet positioning system to allow assembly operations in all axes. The dedicated tooling is in the form of compact “shoeboxes” that reside inside the cell. SmartCell is capable of holding eight shoebox tools. Tool changes take place continuously. By using two tooling arms, one working while the next is reconfiguring, production is continuous and uninterrupted.

A key engineering challenge was how to achieve good production rates and high reliability. The shoebox tools have up to 16 sensors and pneumatic clamps so, according to Gary Beebe, Controls Engineer: “We had to keep our tool change time down to a minimum and remove as many points of potential failure as possible.”

Balluff Inc. (Florence, KY) recommended using IO-Link, which acts as a transparent extension of PROFIBUS through standard cabling to small machine-mounted I/O blocks located on the shoebox tooling.

Balluff provided a solid-state, non-contact connection interface for IO-Link using the inductive coupling principle, which passes power for the sensors and the IO-Link communications signals through an air gap down to the shoebox tool. Balluff Inc. also provided an RFID system so the tool mounted tags could be seamlessly read to ensure uninterrupted machine operations in the event of misplaced tools. New pneumatic cylinder position sensors from Balluff were employed, combining two sensors into one connection to provide both open and close position feedback.

The SmartCell with Balluff's IO-Link technology has significant customer payback in the areas of scalability and cost. At the start of production, investments can be scaled by utilizing a single SmartCell. As product demand increases and capital becomes available, more SmartCells can be added in a parallel process flow to increase production. During the end of a product's life cycle, existing SmartCells can be easily repurposed to other products by simple shoebox tool changes.

By implementing a manufacturing strategy using SmartCells, costs are dramatically reduced in multiple areas claims Comau. “Fixed and variable costs are reduced by 40%, floor space is reduced by 60%, and the number of automation components is reduced by 75%.”

The scalable nature of the parallel process gives assemblers the flexibility in investment, production, and product, meeting today's call for cost control, flexibility, and scalability says Comau. BALLUFF

UL Group organized three PROFIBUS training programs for various customers in Feb 2010. The first two PROFIBUS courses were conducted for the engineers in paper plants which use PROFIBUS for machine and utilities control. The third was for a company working on cement plant projects. All the courses were tailored to customer requirements and about 35 engineers were involved in total. UL Group plans to conduct more such courses which will enable customers to manage their PROFIBUS networks more effectively, with minimal downtime. In the last 2 years more than 3000 engineers have benefited from UL Group seminars concerning PROFIBUS.  india@profibus.com

In what is hoped to be a biennial event a PROFIBUS Ireland seminar was hosted by Automation Research Centre (ARC) in January. PROFIBUS Ireland and the University of Limerick organized the event. 55 participants enjoyed a morning program of eight presentations from an international group of speakers, including PI Chairman Jörg Freitag. In the afternoon there was a tour of the Bulmers cider-making facility in Clonmel, where PROFIBUS is used extensively. According to Terry Gilham, Project Manager at Bulmers, there has been only one failure of a PROFIBUS network in the  past 13 years! The plant manufactures over 55,000 bottles of cider per hour! Meanwhile, PICC Ireland and its Brazilian counterpart are collaborating in a student exchange program to encourage further research into PROFIBUS, PROFINET and related technologies, and to aid dissemination of knowledge between PICCs.  The first exchange student is Guilherme Septarom (left) who is a final  year electrical engineering student from the University of Sao Paulo. He is with PICC Ireland for 6 months from January 2010 and his focus is to investigate the application of Bluetooth in PROFINET networks. IRELAND