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This
line was designed to automate the process for automotive (primarily) speaker box production. It has greatly
improved production by eliminating the need for separate
processes. Using V-Grooving technology, a sheet of product (in this
case, wood) can be formed into a desired shape more quickly and is more
structurally sound than separate pieces joined together.
The
heart of V-Grooving technology lies in the cutting blades. These
blades are designed to cut a specific profile into the product at a set
depth. The profile can range from a simple dado to a more complex
angular cut. The depth setting
depends on the thickness of the product's veneer (the veneer is not cut and
allows the final product to be folded together).
On
this line, the product travels down the conveyor system as it goes through
various stages, including, lineal edge preparation, automatic gluing,
dadoing and cross-cutting. The end result is then folded manually
into the desired shape and glued into position. |
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We
were contracted to develop a program for the control system which was
designed by our customer. The control scheme uses a B&R PLC
for each of the four sections; each controlling its own set of
servos. In addition to reducing wiring, this distributed approach
allows for the distribution of processing power among the four PLCs.
The main PLC, which is located at the beginning of the line, has an
integral LCD HMI that allows the operator to enter setpoints as well as
monitor line status. We
chose to program the line using B&R's Automation Basic®
language (similar to Visual Basic but used exclusively for machine
control) as it is quite versatile and a very powerful method of motion
control. The main PLC communicates via a CAN network to the other 3
processors to transfer setpoints and to monitor machine status.
Servo control is point-to-point and each processor controls between 5-8
servos (for a total of 26 axes). A
modem has been connected to the main PLC's serial port allowing us to
monitor as well as modify program logic (of any of the four PLCs)
remotely. |
