PC Control Technology: Foundation for optimising production with Industry 4.0

Beckhoff showcased how PC based control technology forms the foundation for implementing Industry 4.0 using Powerful Industrial PC, TwinCAT software for Automation, Engineering and IT & Real time Ethernet fieldbus Protocol- EtherCAT.

Located at Hall 1 Booth C4 and in Industry 4.0 Zone at Hall 2 Beckhoff booths drew huge footfall generating interest among end users, System Houses, EPC companies & many other industry visitors.

Beckhoff demonstrated live the IoT application from Multiple Fieldbus and Machine controllers to cloud at the Kiosk at Industry 4.0 Zone. This was the star attraction with many visitors taking keen interest to implement in their factories.

Automation Expo 2018 is India’s leading trade fair for Automation industry and is an excellent business platform for industrial automation engineers.

At main booth Beckhoff displayed the technology for Industry 4.0 with products like IoT Coupler EK9160, Compact IPCs like C6015, and technology products for process automation, measurement automation, and motion control solutions. The focus was how embedded PCs & compact industrial PCs can become edge devices in addition to being a machine control system.

By integrating comprehensive IoT and analytics functionality, PC based control technology opens up a wealth of options to optimise production. System consistency in the control platform ensures simple implementation and high transparency:
To illustrate the technology of PC Control, Beckhoff demonstrated how TwinCAT establishes connectivity with different machine controllers with different fieldbus protocols and acquires process data.

TwinCAT IoT and Analytics: Cloud-based services for increased system availability
Cloud-based automation offers enormous potential to optimise production efficiency. The prerequisite, however, is to enable a simple and universal implementation of the system.

PC-based control achieves this by permitting the outsourcing of functions to the cloud and by streamlining the incorporation of cloud services. TwinCAT IoT ensures simple cloud communication with a range of functions to exchange process data via standard communication protocols, offering access to the special data and communication services of cloud service providers. The corresponding services can be hosted in public cloud systems, but can be implemented just as efficiently in corporate networks.

TwinCAT Analytics allows all process-related data of machine tools to be saved in the cloud in synchronisation with the machine cycle for subsequent analysis. This seamless supply of information forms the optimum basis for efficient troubleshooting and successful process optimisation. Moreover, wide-ranging tools are provided to implement predictive maintenance and to use new technologies such as machine learning algorithms.

C6015 as an exceptionally compact IoT edge device
measuring just 82 x 82 x 40 mm, the exceptionally compact C6015 IPC with multi-core technology can be flexibly installed even in highly confined spaces.

Equipped with an Intel Atom processor offering up to four CPU cores, the C6015 provides sufficient processing power for simple collection, processing and provision of process data and for the more complex tasks required of a modern IoT gateway.

The Microsoft Azure certification of the C6015 underscores that the device is ideal for state-of-the-art Industrie 4.0 applications.

For more details, visit www.beckhoff.co.in

8