EPN Industrial Automation Blog

Safe speed

One of the key issues in automation is safety for personnel and material, not least because a production line not interrupted by accidents usually is more productive than the other kind.

Hannover Messe: Eaton and Phoenix Contact cooperate

On the first day of the Hannover Messe, two automation companies announced their cooperation in the field of motor starters. It’s supposed to establish a new communications standard for switchgears.

Hannover Messe: Give it a rest!

Ever tried writing a letter in a driving bus? Measuring small distances on a vibrating plate isn’t easy either – the vibrations simply interfere too much. The same is true for sensitive equipment in production lines. Damping is necessary!

Denser Power, less solder

Power Modules for inverter applications need to switch high power levels smoothly with as low an EMI as possible. Besides, they are supposed to be small and lightweight – a balancing act

Assembly automation

Modular software for modular systems: Assembly lines consist of several units, which as a rule are developed and tested independently of one another to a large extent. In order to ensure reasonable interaction of those units in a manufacturing plant and to shorten deployment time, automation software development needs to take place in parallel to hardware development, i.e. in a modular way, too.

Robotics + motion control + PLC

EtherCAT , the Industrial Ethernet system, has become the process communication standard in many robots. Its use in the field of robotics offers a number of advantages: EtherCAT enables extremely short update times for the process image (50 μs); control loops (up to the current controller) can be closed via the bus. Control of the axes can take place centrally in the controller – including the coupled movement function. It integrates redundancy, hot connect and hot swap options.

Volcano hits Hanover

Despite the obstacles the Icelandic volcano at the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier is causing in the international aviation, the organizer has opened the world leading showcase for industrial technology HANNOVER MESSE 2010 on Sunday as planned.

All-in-one controller

Motion control, safety and standard tasks are implemented in the “Simatic CPU 317TF-2DP” controller from Siemens Industry Automation Division. The system utilizes PLCopen-compatible motion control blocks and is suited for coupled motion sequences of multiple axes. Possible applications range from controlled single-axis positioning to synchronized sequences of motion, for example geared synchronous motion, curve synchronization, or print mark correction.