Distributed control of modular conveyor system

Distributed control of modular conveyor line

Krups adopts the concept of multi-standard modules, including rotating modules, moving tray modules, stopper modules and dividers. Nowadays, to the outside world, each module works as a black box, and only needs to communicate with the central controller through a field bus connection. Within the company, Krups calls these transmission system modules as smart modules with autonomous intelligence. Therefore, Krups began looking for autonomous controllers that can be directly installed on modules ten years ago.

Since Turck introduced its TBEN-L-PLC block controller a few years ago, Krups has saved a lot of work to build the system. In addition to the e-Cart system, they also use this IP67 controller in many other models. The communication between the controller and the driver, valve group and other components of the module is realized through the bus interface, while the communication with the main controller is mostly realized through Profinet.

"This controller has brought us many advantages. Now the module can be deployed immediately without any other on-site programming equipment, such as replacement, insertion, data backup, etc." said Christian Mies, a control developer at Krups. In addition, the compact controller also supports multiple protocols, which is truly excellent value for money.

 The e-Cart system saves energy in battery production

For the production of battery packs by German car manufacturers, Krups has developed a conveyor system with 130 self-driving cars, 1 km conveyor track, 70 turntables and approximately 140 stoppers. Every 10 stoppers share a TBEN-L-PLC as the gateway of the customer's main controller. This greatly reduces the number of bus nodes required by the customer.

Unlike most traditional systems, TBEN-L-PLC can communicate with the e-Cart system. An NFC (Near Field Communication) unit is installed on the stopper to use TBEN-L-PLC as a gateway to realize the communication between the main controller and the small workshop. In this way, the car can be removed based on its status or whether there is a warning message. Another big advantage is that when the car is waiting, it will not consume any electricity.

IP67 makes less wiring

Krups recognizes that IP67 technology can greatly reduce the workload. "Just connecting 24V cables and signals to the 12 controllers of the stopper, and then labeling it is already a very labor-intensive task. TBEN-L-PLC can easily recover the cost through this saving alone. "IT manager Christian Mies praised. The e-Cart system is not only energy-saving and fail-safe, but can also implement more flexible processes emphasized in the Industry 4.0 application scenarios, and has been successfully implemented.