FANUC Announces New EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety Function with CIP Safety for Series 3xi-B CNCs

FANUC America Corporation, the leader in CNCs and robots in the Americas, announces CIP Safety functionality with the new EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety function for the FANUC Series 3xi-B CNCs that enables safety communication with Rockwell Automation controller (Logix PAC) systems at Automation Fair 2014, Booth #151.

The new EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety function with CIP Safety is an enhancement to the current dual check safety function.  The EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety function makes it possible to handle safety signals on the EtherNet/IP Adapter function, transferring safety signals between a master safety controller and CNC. It communicates digital input/output signals across Ethernet with high reliability to further simplify the hardware and connections needed. 

Dual check safety on the FANUC Series 3xi-B CNC supports an integrated safety function over a single cable.  Using built–in redundancy, a special processor monitors safety-related parameters and guarantees the integrity and safety of the system by tracking the actual position and speed of the servomotors, spindle motors and I/O interfaces. 

Using the CIP Safety functionality of the new EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety function with dual check safety, the sending side device cross-checks the safety signals, adds the inspection data, and then transmits both data sets to the receiving side device. The receiving side device ensures integrity and safety by confirming the inspection data and cross-checking the safety signals.

The initial release of EtherNet/IP connectivity allowed for open interconnectivity of FANUC CNCs to factory automation solutions.  The use of EtherNet/IP network architecture allows customers to leverage common tools and technology for device configuration and maintenance across CNC, robot and Logix PAC cell environments.  Benefits of this include: a simplified, lower cost architecture, improved productivity and actionable information across the entire manufacturing enterprise. 

With CIP Safety functionality in the new release of EtherNet/IP Adapter Safety function, end-users and machine tool builders will additionally benefit from the added integrated safety communication between CNC and Logix PAC control environments as well as further simplification of the hardware and connections.  

This new function was specifically designed to communicate between a safety controller and CNC with safety signals for automotive transfer lines. The FANUC and Rockwell Automation integrated automotive architecture, demonstrated at Automation Fair 2014, Booth #151, will show the complete benefits to customers including; simplified architectures, faster startups, improved synchronization between platforms, lower maintenance, integrated safety signal communication, improved productivity and transparent data access across the entire connected manufacturing enterprise. 

Embedded systems design in Brazil is booming

A new freely available report on Brazilian embedded systems design activity in that country has just been completed and published by Embarcados (Embedded in Portugese).


The report is based on a survey of about 900 Brazilian software developers and engineers between July 25 and August 14 of this year. Of these 67.4 percent were engineers and technicians, and 14.2 percent were in informatics and telecom. Almost 40 percent were working engineers and technicians at electronics companies in Brazil.

Interestingly, the survey provides further evidence of the active state of Brazilian engineering design. (Brazilian authors have been active since as far back as 2000 in publishing design articles and technical papers in a variety of international venues.)

According to the survey about 53 percent of those who participated were between the ages of 30 and 50. And reflecting the increased interest in the wireless sensor and Internet of Things segments of the market recently, 47 percent of the respondents were between 18 and 30 years of age.

About 25 percent of the respondents had more than ten years of experience in embedded systems design and 37 percent had between three to ten years of experience.

About 70 percent were involved in firmware/software development, about 60 percent in various hardware/software integration and codevelopment.

Industrial control design applications constituted about 40 percent of their design activity , 28 percent in consumer electronics and almost 20 percent in Internet of Things and wireless sensor design activity.

About 55 percent of the Brazilian engineers activities were involved in projects that included WiFi interfaces, about 33 percent Zigbee, and about 7 percent in 6LoWPAN design activities.
About 71 percent of their current embedded projects were developed using the C language, and about 15 percent used C++.

The survey bears out what regular visitors and readers of design contributions on Embedded.com have probably figured out. As the seventh largest economy in the world, its design activity in almost every important segment of embedded system design is active and growing. A few of some recent articles made available on Embedded.com by Brazilian developers include.

Sofcon  Provide Embedded Training in Noida and Embedded Training in Delhi.

Embedded Vision Growth Predicted | Embedded Training at Sofcon

Shipments of embedded vision devices in the automotive, industrial automation, physical security and business intelligence markets are forecast to exceed 14 million units in 2018, up from almost four million units this year.

Utilizing a combination of embedded systems and computer vision, embedded vision enables devices to use video inputs to better understand their environment, applying logic and decision making to video signals.

The maturity of embedded vision algorithms varies by application market. For instance, while embedded vision technology has been active for some time in markets like physical security and industrial automation, the consumer industry represents more of an emerging opportunity.

However, despite the synergies in algorithm requirements across application markets, there are very few vendors that are active across multiple applications. In some markets, like automotive, the long sales cycles and high qualifying requirements have limited new competition. In others, such as physical security, the fragmented equipment market means that algorithms need to be optimized for a large number of products which can act as a barrier to new entrants.

While the software and hardware vendors in embedded vision are unlikely to move into every application market overnight, developments in the automotive space, in particular, should help spur more accurate and reliable algorithms across the embedded vision industry. This trend, combined with increased awareness in the consumer market for augmented reality and gesture recognition, means that demand for embedded vision devices will grow rapidly in the decade ahead.

IHS Technology has research teams focused on automotive, industrial automation, physical security, gaming, digital signage and cellular communications. Bringing together these industry experts, in turn, has helped provide for the first time a substantive overview of the size, penetration rate and forecast growth of the embedded vision market.

Automation Industrial News Mitsubishi Electric Opens Training Center in Massachusetts

April 10, 2014 - Mitsubishi Electric Automation opened a Certified Training Center at Gibson Engineering in Norwood, Mass. The training center gives customers in the Northeastern U.S. more convenient access to the same quality training, hardware and material that was previously available to them only at Mitsubishi Electric Automation headquarters near Chicago, Ill.

“The opening of this new training center will make it much more efficient for our customers in the Northeast to get the training they need,” said Mark Werthman, director, technical support group, Mitsubishi Electric Automation. “We have a high concentration of customers in that area of the U.S., so we’re pleased to be able to offer them a more localized training facility.”

Werthman explained that the new training facility is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide superior automation technology and support to its customers. “We not only want to provide the most technologically advanced automation products and solutions. It’s also important that plant managers, engineering managers and others who operate our equipment be able to effectively implement and maintain it in order to help their organizations maximize productivity and stay competitive,” he added.

Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc.
Headquartered in Vernon Hills, Ill., Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc., offers a wide range of factory automation products, solutions, training and support services for the industrial and commercial sectors.  A U.S. affiliate company of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Automation represents more than 75 years’ experience in the automation industry. A broad product portfolio includes programmable automation controllers (PAC), programmable logic controllers (PLC), human machine interfaces (HMI), variable frequency drives (VFD), servo amplifiers and motors, control software, computerized numerical control (CNC), circuit breakers, robots and motion controllers. The company takes its motion control solutions on the road with the 53-foot long Solutions in Motion mobile showroom that appears at tradeshows, training seminars and other events across North America.

In addition to factory automation, Mitsubishi Electric US group companies’ principal businesses include semiconductor devices, automotive electrical components, elevators and escalators, heating and cooling products, solar modules, electric utility products, and large-scale video displays for stadiums and arenas. There are 50 locations throughout North America with approximately 3,600 employees.

Source:-http://www.automation.com/automation-news/training/mitsubishi-electric-opens-training-center-in-massachusetts

Software Solution Access to any HMI, Anywhere at Any Time

Invensys has released its Wonderware InTouch Access Anywhere software solution which is said to enable users to access plant-floor data via Wonderware InTouch software.

The solution runs securely inside a web browser so users can connect to other InTouch applications at anytime from anywhere, using any mobile device. Because users are not required to install any software on their mobile device, the offering is easy to deploy, manage and maintain.

Commenting on the offering, Craig Resnick, vice president, ARC Advisory Group, said: “This new offering complements Invensys’ broader mobile strategy to provide and improve real-time visualization, collaboration and execution at multiple levels of an organization. Along with delivering mobile solutions for reporting, decision-support, dashboards, workflow and workforce execution, this new offering also brings HMI visualisation capabilities to mobile devices. 

These capabilities extend the company’s operations management software portfolio by providing plant operators and other key individuals with modern process optimisation tools, regardless of their location or the task being performed, and in real time.”

InTouch Access Anywhere software is the newest capability in the Invensys suite of mobility solutions, which now includes workflow, reporting, analytics, visualisation, maintenance management, operator training, data gathering and procedure management. 

Source:-
http://www.controlengeurope.com/article/60656/Software-solution-access-to-any-HMI--anywhere-at-any-time.aspx

Do You Know ? Next generation of Genesis HMI/SCADA Software Introduced

ICONICS, a provider of web-enabled, OPC-based, HMI/SCADA visualisation and manufacturing intelligence software for Microsoft Windows operating systems, has released v10.8 of its GENESIS64 HMI/SCADA software suite.

New enhancements include ReportWorX Express, a Cloud connector for Windows Azure, Distributed AssetWorX scalable architecture, and a new ScheduleWorX64. ICONICS has also achieved OPC Foundation certification and VMware Ready status.

ICONICS' GENESIS64 has been designed from the ground up for 64-bit operation, maximising the advantages of Intel 64-bit processors.

ICONICS President and CEO, Russ Agrusa, introduced the new 10.8 version of GENESIS64 as having “hundreds of time-saving and important new features that help transform Big Data into visual intelligence. In keeping with our technological leadership in real-time solutions for energy, industrial and building automation, GENESIS64 benefits all industries in its energy and time savings and has now also achieved the highest level of BACnet and OPC Foundation certification."

Based on its partnership with Microsoft, ICONICS has taken advantage of the Microsoft technology platform, including Microsoft .NET, SQL Server, SharePoint, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. Microsoft Bing, Google and Esri geospatial maps can be combined with real-time information, creating GEO SCADA solutions. Users can access information from anywhere, anytime and on any platform using the WebHMI browser-based solution and HTML5 technology.

Source:-http://www.controlengeurope.com/article/62231/Next-generation-of-Genesis-HMI-SCADA-software-introduced.aspx

SCADA Has KPI Calculation and Analysis Abilities

Siemens Industry has expanded the Simatic WinCC V7.2 SCADA software with the optional WinCC/PerformanceMonitor package for calculating and analysing plant-specific key performance indicators (KPIs). 

This expansion enables users to achieve optimisation potential for production and measures for increasing productivity, as combining results and accompanying values can reveal correlations, such as product quality in relation to suppliers.

 

Analysis with the new software package is based on the process data acquired by the SCADA systme, which is associated during runtime. The user is able to set up calculation formulas for use in WinCC, without needing any additional knowledge.

 

Several visualisations are possible for evaluation – a Gantt chart with the time sequence of states, a bar chart for analysing key performance indicators and a table for states and accompanying values. Visualisations are also available via the web in the WinCC WebNavigatorClient. 

The calculated key performance indicators can also be processed in a WinCC display, for example a line-dashboard, or in a trend display.