Hello All,
It has been several years since I have been in the PLC world, and most of my prior experience is with Automation Direct PLCs, Yaskawa programmable motion drives, and Adept robotic controllers. I have been given a new project to retrofit a relay controlled machine with PLC control. The client has specified that the PLC and touchscreen HMI be Allen Bradley. This machine is a small saw that consists of a spindle drive, a hydraulic cut feed cylinder, and Kollmorgen electric cylinder for part indexing (the electric cylinder/stepper drive was a retrofit several years back). The hydraulic cylinder has a Heidenhein linear encoder attached, but it will be integrated in the future. For now, the cylinder is controlled with adjustable cut depth and retract limit switches. Initially, the client would like to duplicate the current functionality of the relay controlled saw, and upgrade capabilities in the future through programming. There are several identical machines to be retrofitted, so the first stage on the first saw is basically a proof of concept.
Here are the major components of my control system:
Additionally, I have never used a motor control module integrated into a PLC like the AMCI module. The former retrofit used an IDC SmartStep power supply/programmable stepper controller on the Kollmorgen cylinder. It looks like I can use the AMCI to directly control the cylinder, but what do I use for powering it? I have always just connected my controller to integrated drives in the past... I suppose I can use the SmartStep drive to provide power only, but that seems like a kludge.
Thanks in advance - I look forward to learning a lot on this project!
Chip
It has been several years since I have been in the PLC world, and most of my prior experience is with Automation Direct PLCs, Yaskawa programmable motion drives, and Adept robotic controllers. I have been given a new project to retrofit a relay controlled machine with PLC control. The client has specified that the PLC and touchscreen HMI be Allen Bradley. This machine is a small saw that consists of a spindle drive, a hydraulic cut feed cylinder, and Kollmorgen electric cylinder for part indexing (the electric cylinder/stepper drive was a retrofit several years back). The hydraulic cylinder has a Heidenhein linear encoder attached, but it will be integrated in the future. For now, the cylinder is controlled with adjustable cut depth and retract limit switches. Initially, the client would like to duplicate the current functionality of the relay controlled saw, and upgrade capabilities in the future through programming. There are several identical machines to be retrofitted, so the first stage on the first saw is basically a proof of concept.
Here are the major components of my control system:
- 1769-L32E PLC with input and output modules, a high-speed/encoder module for spindle speed feedback and linear encoder use
- AMCI 3602 module for control of a Kollmorgen electric cylinder (labeled as IDC, but it is a Kollmorgen N2)
- PowerFlex 40 AC drive (with Ethernet comms card)
- PanelView Plus 6 1250 touchscreen with Ethernet
- Stratix 8000 Ethernet switch (the machines will likely be connected to the corporate network at some point in the future)
Additionally, I have never used a motor control module integrated into a PLC like the AMCI module. The former retrofit used an IDC SmartStep power supply/programmable stepper controller on the Kollmorgen cylinder. It looks like I can use the AMCI to directly control the cylinder, but what do I use for powering it? I have always just connected my controller to integrated drives in the past... I suppose I can use the SmartStep drive to provide power only, but that seems like a kludge.
Thanks in advance - I look forward to learning a lot on this project!
Chip