PhilV (Customer) asked a question.
I have a small potential PLC project I would like a recommendation on. I have very basic PLC experience, pretty much a beginner. I am a manufacturing engineer at a medical device company.
The project is to monitor two identical production lines. Each line has three workstations. I would like to count small assemblies as they go from one workstation to another (therefore four counting locations). Each record should have a time stamp. There should be some means of entering job or lot information to keep track of assemblies by job and workstation. My thought is to have this data recorded on a spreadsheet on a network drive so production supervisors and others can access, and perhaps also have a real time display of production rates near the production lines.
The other aspect of this project is to start and stop a conveyor. This conveyor delivers empty assembly fixtures from the last workstations to the first. I would like the conveyor to start when an operator puts a fixture on the beginning of the conveyor and to stop when the fixture arrives at the end of the conveyor. In addition, I am thinking about controlling a pick n place type robot to take the assembly fixture from the end of the conveyor to the first workstations, perhaps with some type of logic to decide which of the two workstations gets a particular fixture (there are two types of assembly fixtures).
I am read quite a bit on the different PLCs that Automation Direct offers but I am still a little confused which models would be best suited for this project. Thanks for your help and advice.
Not to burst your bubble, but for a beginner, you just touched on a whole slew of potential problematic issues, namely:
1) Safety issues associated with conveyor
2) Safety issues associated with robot movement
3) Potential safety circuits in general
4) Potential use of a safety controller
5) Motion control
6) Databases
7) HMI Development
8) Communication protocols
You've listed things that are definitely not for a beginner. That being said, there's a possibility that any of the AD PLC's could do what you're asking.
>(OP) I am a manufacturing engineer at a medical device company.
To add to the list.. It is my understanding that it is required that medical device manufacturers maintain traceability. This is not a simple process for the beginner.
(In the past, I worked for a component manufacturer whose end product went into medical devices. We had to maintain traceability from raw materials to finished product.)
Thank you for your feedback.
I will consider safety aspects in the installation. The assembly fixtures are about 1.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches long and the conveyor is a 2 inch belt that runs very slowly. Those elements have been running for almost a year with no issues. The robot (which will be a small table-top model) hasn't even been installed yet and I may come up with something simpler for that part.
Yes, I am a beginner but I am looking for specific suggestions for PLCs. Based on my reading I don't think some of the more entry level PLCs output to Excel files on a server.
In general, communications between PC's, Databases and PLC's are some of the more difficult things to try to wrangle. Typically, some form of SCADA software (Ignition, Wonderware (even NodeRed now) etc.) handles comms between the database and the PLC. More options are available now for communication/data logging directly on the PLC. That being said, to give you the most comms flexibilty, the BRX would be the platform of choice. If you want a basic .csv transferred from the PLC to a shared folder on your network, this can be done using FTP directly from the BRX. If you're inclined to run something like NodeRed as a middle-ware, you could potentially use MQTT or Modbus. The BRX can also communicate using JSON and HTTP.
AdvancedHMI (AHMI), if you have any VisualStudio (VB.Net) experience.
Mostly, coding is not necessary to use AHMI, but if you need anything outside its simple HMI capabilities, you can add with VB.
Is it required that the PLC directly emit to a worksheet/book? Can some middleware do this? (as RBPLC suggests) Does it need to be stored in a workbook?
Look at Garry's site (he has excellent content) you may find something that will help.
Hi @PhilV (Customer),
+1 @RBPLC (Customer).
The easiest communication would be to use a Do-More BRX controller.
Here is a series on the BRX:
https://accautomation.ca/series/brx-do-more-plc/
Node-RED series:
https://accautomation.ca/series/node-red-iot-enabling-software/
Excel is good at displaying information and analysis. The storage of the information should be done via a database. Once the data is stored in a database, then use excel to connect and view.
If you just want to view a flat (CSV) file then the FTP Put instruction can be used in the BRX controller.
https://accautomation.ca/brx-do-more-plc-ftp-client-get-put/
Node-RED Rest API and BRX
https://accautomation.ca/do-more-plc-node-red-http-request/
As you can see there are several different ways to accomplish the same thing.
I hope that I didn't overload you with information.
Regards,
Garry
https://accautomation.ca/
RBPLC and Garry,
Thank you very much for your replies, that information is exactly what I am looking for. As you have been replying I have been doing research and I am starting to understand how it all comes together and the options.
Phil
You are welcome.
Let us know if you have any questions or need further detail.
Garry