Flexible automation on a modular basis - Technology packages reduce engineering costs

01 May 2005

At interpack, ELAU is presenting not only the technology package for form, fill, seal machines that was already shown at FachPack last year but also various new technology packages. With extensive new software modules, it is now possible to implement many different robot kinematics, such as bent-arm, gantry, delta, SCARA or portal robots, in a simple way as software modules too. The new technology packages involving automation hardware and software re-duce the time to market and life cycle costs of machines considerably. Co-ordinated components from the PacDrive™ automation system are available for any requirements with the scalable hardware range, consisting of controllers, drives and HMIs (control panels). Machine manufacturers can integrate standard basic functionalities in their machine programme quickly and simply with ready-to-use software modules. They do not have to start from scratch and save crucial time in the engineering process thanks to the ready-made, modular-concept stan-dard functions. The technology packages are more than components with functions like “Move from A to B“. A number of these functional components are linked to carry out special technology functions and act as machine modules (equipment modules) that are available as software modules in technology packages. It goes without saying that the machine manufacturer can access the technology functions of the equipment modules directly too, adapting or upgrading them as required. Special functions and application-specific upgrades are easy and quick to implement as a result. Integration in the existing packaging application at the software level becomes child’s play with the equipment module for robot operation. Both the packaging machine and the integrated robot can be automated with a single ELAU controller too. This means that costs can be reduced drastically in hardware, in engineering and in service assignments. The robot equipment module is simple to integrate in the machine software on a modular basis. The complicated conversion of the Car-tesian co-ordinates into the positions of the individual robot axes is carried out automatically and in real time by the PacDrive software. If a robot user program has been written, the kinematics can be changed simply by replacing the kine-matic transformation module. The rest of the machine software remains un-changed.