RESULTS
Improved reliability
• Improved monitoring and diagnostics helps reduce downtime and maintenance costs
Increased design speed
• Integrated controls helped reduce programming time by 50 percent
Improved efficiency
• Standard platform minimizes learning curve, eases access to spare parts

BACKGROUND
Industrial robots and gantry transfer systems play a vital role in today's advanced manufacturing systems. Tasked with moving parts between different machines that process them, a significant amount
of production throughput is riding on the accuracy and reliability of the robot's movements.

As a designer and builder of control systems for robotic gantries, Engauge Controls is well-aware of the performance demands placed on this automated equipment. Based in Lakeshore, Ontario,
Canada, the company also designs and builds control systems for a variety of equipment, such as testing, assembly, machining, welding and laser processing machines used primarily in automotive and
defense manufacturing.

Because each customer application is different, most of the company's control system designs involve some degree of customization. In an effort to reduce development costs and improve operational and maintenance ease of use, Engauge Controls sought to standardize on a control platform that would help simplify programming and configuration, improve troubleshooting accuracy and speed system installation.

CHALLENGE
One of the company's primary customers is a major producer of gantry units used by automotive manufacturers to move crankshafts, engine blocks and other heavy parts from one work cell to the next. The gantries transfer the parts between each work station where various machining, polishing and quality inspection tasks are performed as part of a carefully timed and coordinated production sequence.

The previous control platform used on these systems consisted of PC-based computer numeric control (CNC) technology running on proprietary software. The sequential-based logic, inherent in this type of system, offered little flexibility in the execution of required tasks and the customized programming was overly complex for the control functions for which the system was originally designed. Moreover, the operator interface on the
existing design consisted of simple (up/down) push button controls, which offered little assistance in terms of operator instruction or troubleshooting capability.

SOLUTION
After evaluating a number of options, Engauge selected an Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix® controller with integrated motion control from Rockwell Automation. The upgrade also included Allen-Bradley 1394 AC drives, a 6182 industrial computer, Rockwell Software® RSView® Machine Edition™ (ME) human machine interface (HMI) software, and SERCOS™ fiber optic communication. System programming is accomplished
using Rockwell Software RSLogix™ 5000 software.

As part of the Rockwell Automation® Integrated Architecture, the control platform helped simplify system programming and configuration. It also provides the gantry manufacturer's customers with greater troubleshooting capability. With the ControlLogix controller, Engauge Controls was able to consolidate two programming packages into a single integrated platform, helping to speed machine setup and configuration and improve overall reliability.

To improve troubleshooting, the operator interface provides a real-time view of the machine's operational parameters, including detailed drive and motion status information. The interface also is designed to prompt
operators with step-by-step instructions for general machine operation, troubleshooting and startup assistance.

"With all motion parameters now stored in the ControlLogix controller, configuration information is automatically communicated to the drives upon startup," said James Britnell, president, Engauge Controls. "Now when operators restart the system, the machine automatically picks up right where it left off, resulting in significant time savings for the end user."

RESULTS
Standardizing on the Rockwell Automation Logix control platform has resulted in increased performance reliability and accuracy compared to the PC-based system. Moreover, the ability to consolidate logic and motion control into a single programming package has proven to be a huge timesaver for Engauge Controls, helping it to reduce its programming time by 50 percent while substantially cutting its time to market.

For the end user, the improved monitoring and diagnostic capabilities are critical in helping to reduce downtime and maintenance costs, and standardizing on Allen-Bradley products minimizes the technology learning curve. Access to spare parts is also easier because of the ability to stock standard components that are widely available.

"The Allen-Bradley controls have helped increase our design speed and improve our profitability," Britnell said. "More importantly, because we can standardize on a design that we know works, we can actually promote it to our customers with complete confidence of the financial returns it will provide to us, as well as to them."

The results mentioned above are specific to Engauge Controls' use of Rockwell Automation products in conjunction with other products. Specific results may vary for other customers.

Allen-Bradley, ControlLogix, Machine Edition, Rockwell Automation, Rockwell Software, RSLogix and RSView are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc. SERCOS Interface is a trademark of the Interests Group SERCOS interface e.V.