Electricity and Control January 2021

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION

that allowed us to count at this speed and the accuracy that we have reached is state-of-the-art and I do not believe this would have been possible three to four years back. Although the cutting programming code, and how we update the cutting position is kept under guard, the 1S Servo together with this coding principle represents state-of-the-art technology. We can update the cutting position every two milliseconds, even if the sensor misses the mark,” says van Wyk. “This is not possible with normal servo motors. “The key criteria on which Micron Milling judged the success of this project was, simply, perfection. Zero waste was also a key point in terms of zero wasted product for the end user. We achieved our goal,” he concludes. □ The Module Type Package (MTP) offers a solution for modularising plants in the process industry. It defines an interface for easily orchestrating and connecting modules to a higher-level control system. With the new TwinCAT MTP, TwinCAT automation software from Beckhoff helps create MTP projects with automatic code generation, paving the way for efficient module development integrated into the TwinCAT Engineering Environment. The MTP concept is based around intelligent modules with their own control system. It describes an interface between the module controller and higher- level orchestration. This task can be handled by the so- called process orchestration layer (POL), which can be represented by, for example, a distributed control system (DCS). The MTP itself is a module description in the form of an archive file, which is exported from the module engineering and imported into the higher-level control system. It contains all information required for the POL to establish data exchange with the modules via the OPC UA communication standard. TwinCAT MTP integrates the engineering of MTP- capable modules for processing plants directly into the familiar TwinCAT Engineering Environment. It offers the full range of options from module definition, import/export of an MTP, to automatic code generation. This can be customised for specific users via multiple interfaces to enable extensive automated project planning. This new TwinCAT functionality minimises the required guideline expertise for users so module developers can focus on the actual control logic. The MTP concept is integrated into TwinCAT through the TwinCAT MTP Runtime and TwinCAT MTP Engineering products. The TwinCAT Engineering

At a glance  Among the challenges seed supply companies face with seed packing machines are speed, accuracy and the variable size of seeds.  An added challenge in this case is that the Micron Seed Packer needs to pack 350 000 seed packs per day to meet demand: 15 packets per second, considering film changes, set up times and changeover.  The complete system had to be designed from start to end to allow for all the separate sections of the machine to work synchronously.

For more information visit: www.industrial.omron.co.za

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Cyber-physical modularisation for the process industry

Environment includes a project management function in which TwinCAT MTP Engineering is integrated as its own project type. The TwinCAT MTP Runtime consists of an IEC 61131‑3 programming library, which is used by the generated code of TwinCAT MTP Engineering to implement a directive-compliant interface. The function blocks described in this library ensure the representation via the OPC UA interface. As such, TwinCAT OPC UA enables the POL to access data in compliance with the VDI/VDE/NAMUR 2658 guideline definition. For more information contact Beckhoff Automation. Tel: +27 (0)11 795 2898, Mobile: +27 (0)79 493 2288 Email: danep@beckhoff.com, Visit: www.beckhoff.co.za

With the new TwinCAT MTP, Beckhoff’s automation software addresses increasing plant modularisation in the process industry.

Electricity + Control JANUARY 2021

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