Hi folks,
Last night we had a problem with a piece of equipment that has a couple of servos controlling in one case a linier actuator. This particular servo some how got out of wack and would not home, jog or respond in any way to commands from the oit screen (running wonderware). The plc is an ab slc 5/05. Off the top of my head I couldn’t tell you what type of servo drive etc. I am a mechanic with a pretty good handle on discrete plc programming and troubleshooting. I also do minor electrical work but am by no means an electrician. After mucking about for about an hour on the problem and digging through the plc program I managed to resolve the situation. It turned out the actuator had to be manually put in a particular position to so that when homed it would zero out values and reset itself. The only way I figured this out was the program was VERY WELL documented and commented. Had it not been, I would still be working on it. Now my question…. Tonight I intend to send a lengthy e mail to the powers that be asking for some in-depth training on the servos, drives, and how they interact with the plc and wonderware software and trouble-shooting techniques. Am I correct in assuming that servo drives, like plcs have their own manufacturer specific software and programming techniques? I just want to put in this request in the most intelligent way possible to hopefully illicit an positive response. I just feel this knowledge is vital for me and others in my field to understand these days. I have to go right now but I look forward to dropping by later and reading your suggestions.
Thanks.
Last night we had a problem with a piece of equipment that has a couple of servos controlling in one case a linier actuator. This particular servo some how got out of wack and would not home, jog or respond in any way to commands from the oit screen (running wonderware). The plc is an ab slc 5/05. Off the top of my head I couldn’t tell you what type of servo drive etc. I am a mechanic with a pretty good handle on discrete plc programming and troubleshooting. I also do minor electrical work but am by no means an electrician. After mucking about for about an hour on the problem and digging through the plc program I managed to resolve the situation. It turned out the actuator had to be manually put in a particular position to so that when homed it would zero out values and reset itself. The only way I figured this out was the program was VERY WELL documented and commented. Had it not been, I would still be working on it. Now my question…. Tonight I intend to send a lengthy e mail to the powers that be asking for some in-depth training on the servos, drives, and how they interact with the plc and wonderware software and trouble-shooting techniques. Am I correct in assuming that servo drives, like plcs have their own manufacturer specific software and programming techniques? I just want to put in this request in the most intelligent way possible to hopefully illicit an positive response. I just feel this knowledge is vital for me and others in my field to understand these days. I have to go right now but I look forward to dropping by later and reading your suggestions.
Thanks.