Machine builders are always under constant pressure to do more with less – reductions are sought in panel space as well as price, but at the same time machine builders must improve the functionality and efficiency of the machines they build. For those responsible for designing and building machines, this dilemma is grappled with every day.
For industrial automation vendors such as Omron and others in the market, one answer to this ‘more for less’ scenario has been ‘product blending’ – that is combining or connecting two or more core products into one device. This trend is fairly recent. Its origin can be traced back only two or three years. An early example of connecting multiple devices together to increase machine functionality and reduce cost was seen in fieldbus communications. Typically an inverter would be connected to a controller via discrete, separate wires. This additional wiring obviously increases installation costs and adds complexity. It also increases the need for maintenance and the wiring between the units becomes the weakest link.
Rather than forcing the issue and automatically building fieldbus communications into inverters, the approach is to offer a range of communication option boards which are designed to be built into the inverter. With the wide range of fieldbus protocols such as DeviceNet, Profibus-DP and CANopen now available, we believe that the machine builder should be able to make the choice of communication option boards based on their technical expertise and commercial focus, rather than being restricted to a single protocol standard.
A more radical addition has been combining PLCs into products such as inverter drives, or even including PLCs into an HMI. Again the option of combining a PLC with an inverter simplifies the connection between the two devices and saves panel space. Because they are designed to connect almost seamlessly, the PLC can easily be used for a multitude of functions, such as to monitor and report on energy consumption, provide information on a drive’s status or store data related to the history of the device. Furthermore, programs can be selected via an optionally connected HMI which can be tailored to specific applications, changing the settings to suit the demands of the application, bringing flexibility into the equation.
It is interesting to analyse the design process of the major automation manufacturers, who are deciding to combine new functionality into devices such as inverters. With Omron-Yaskawa, we have recently launched our V1000 inverter drive. For this product, we went right back to the drawing board and set out some clear objectives for our product to achieve. Our core objective was reliability. The aim was to deliver ten year in-service life and a maximum of one in 10,000 field failure rate. As with any new product, there are also many other objectives to achieve such as space saving, ease of installation, cost effectiveness.
We also prescribed a holistic approach to our design. The market is naturally demanding space saving products – the V1000 is, for certain models, 40% smaller than previous ranges partly because of a patent-pending new heatsink design which dissipates heat more effectively, and which enables multiple V1000s to be mounted side-by-side where applications demand it.
When you are designing a new inverter completely from scratch, you have the ability to build in functionality more easily. Omron-Yaskawa decided to embed safety functionality into the V1000. We believe this makes sense, as it provides clear benefits to the user in terms of simplified wiring and hence installation costs, simplified circuit layout and improved reaction times.
The V1000 incorporates dual safety inputs which are certified to EN954-1 Safety Category 3 and Stop Category 0 (EN60204-1, which, depending upon circumstances, may eliminate the need for a separate dedicated safety controller. The safety inputs ensure that the motor is quickly disconnected when a fault occurs. The inclusion of safety inputs in Omron’s inverter and servo products is a direct response to customer requests. We believe that in the future many more manufacturers will embed safety functionality into their products as the trend takes hold.
It is also becoming increasingly important for products to be engineered to meet particular application demands through the use of dedicated firmware. Omron calls this CASE firmware and already offers many firmware variants for its ranges of drives, including position control, electronic line shaft synchronisation, winder control and pump sequencing - all realised using dedicated functionality that the user has to hand.
Our belief is that automation manufacturers will continue to introduce products which can be tailored to suit the exact needs of an application. Key trends will be the incorporation of PLCs into HMIs, a focus on delivery of safety and other dedicated functionality, as well as making a host of communications options available.
Omron is not alone in realising the end user benefits of these trends. Key benefits we have already seen include the reduction in installation complexity; the reduction of the potential for faults arising from wiring; as well as time savings right through machine building phases of design, installation and commissioning. Finally, they offer reduction in the ongoing maintenance burden once the machine is in use.
In summary, combining numerous, previously separate, products is proving more cost effective, and easier to install and maintain. End users and machine builders alike also find it a more logical approach than connecting and deploying separate devices. The trend is also a positive one in terms of maximising the use of products such as drives - ensuring reduction of total cost of ownership as well as more rapid delivery of return on investment on these products.
Robert Brooks is product marketing manager, Motion and Drives at Omron Electronics