If a machine breaks down unexpectedly, it can quickly become expensive for companies. And the longer it takes to rectify the fault, the greater the risk of not being able to meet delivery deadlines. Resource-saving and reliable production planning is therefore becoming increasingly important for long-term customer loyalty and competitiveness. "Sudden breakdowns don't really have to happen," says Matthias Fehrenbach, who works in research and development at IEF-Werner. Actually? "In most cases, these are relatively minor defects or signs of wear that are simply not recognized in time. The degree of wear increases, the machine or component no longer works precisely and at some point it fails completely." What if it could monitor its status independently, detect problems and weak points and inform the responsible employee in good time?

From research to series production
"It can do that with us!" promises Fehrenbach. For IEF-Werner, this has been an exciting topic for some time in order to provide customers with even better support. As part of a joint project funded by the European Commission, the automation specialist developed and implemented an intelligent timing belt axis. "The intelligence lies in the ability to describe itself and provide information about all relevant static and dynamic data to the responsible employees at an early stage," explains the IEF specialist, who worked intensively on this in his technical thesis. "We are now going into series production with it."

At Motek in the fall of 2018, the Black Forest-based company presented the autonomously operating unit under the name PA-infosys to trade visitors for the first time. Up to 16 systems or components can be connected with this new product. The application-specific and user-oriented information helps the operator of the system to react quickly so that production always runs economically. The components involved no longer fulfill an isolated task in production lines. Instead, they are a dynamic, versatile and specialized part of a structure of intelligent work cells.

Take the toothed belt axis, for example: this linear unit is driven by a servomotor and works efficiently and cost-effectively. The integrated guide can also be used in slightly contaminated environments, and the guide elements are virtually maintenance-free for up to 10,000 kilometers. The toothed belt enables high accelerations and speeds with short cycle times. However, the data specified by the manufacturer regarding the service life of a machine component are usually only guide values that can vary considerably during use. This is because different loads, such as those caused by rapid starting and stopping, can lead to abrasive, adhesive or fatigue wear on the contact surfaces of the carriages and guideways or in the drive bearings.

With PA-infosys, the aggregated information is presented to the user in an application-specific and user-oriented way. © IEF-Werner

"Once the toothed belt axis is connected to PA-infosys, PA-infosys uses the previously created configuration to recognize raw data and static data from the linear unit, such as the current motor current of the drive or the serial number of the linear unit. PA-infosys uses the motor current, the average travel speed and the accelerations of the distance traveled so far to calculate various dynamic key figures for the axis using stored models," explains Fehrenbach.

PA-infosys records time-dependent data such as the current motor current every 100 milliseconds. Together with time-independent data, such as the parts produced, this data is determined once a minute, calculated and stored in an XML-based database. "The XML format allows the user to read the information without the need for graphics processing. However, we have developed an efficient application with PA-infosys to read the files stored by the data acquisition system and prepare them graphically," says Fehrenbach. To keep the size of the files to a minimum and still allow them to be updated frequently, the data records saved per minute are deleted the next time the date changes, their contents are calculated and stored in a daily file. This means that the user always receives a simple, lean log that can be transferred quickly.

All data available
Customers can access their data at any time via PA-infosys. "If they want to make use of our service, we can also gain access at their request," explains Fehrenbach. "Our employees can then deliver a spare part in good time, for example. This increases the availability and security of the processes."

However, the Internet of Things is not just about secure processes, but also about secure data. The IEF developers have therefore equipped PA-infosys with two network connections to separate the machine network from the public network. This prevents direct access to the machine control system via the Internet. This eliminates the risk of viruses or hacker attacks.

In addition to the IEF house control PA-Control, the user can also use solutions from other providers. The user is free to decide where the PA-infosys is located during operation. They can integrate the solution directly into a machine or place it in a control room, for example.

"With our intelligent unit, companies can produce in a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and resource-saving way, they work more economically and are more competitive," promises Fehrenbach. This is because production can continue without expensive machine downtime and service technicians can schedule maintenance measures in good time. Wear and tear can be reduced, significantly extending the availability and service life of the entire system. The special feature: Even though this solution is brand new to the market, existing customer systems and components can be retrofitted with it. as