Over the years, Synapse
Systems has implemented numerous projects
of varying complexity, for clients ranging
from the Fortune 50, with an international
scope, to small manufacturers right next
door. With a proven track record over
the last five years, we have amassed hundreds
of satisfied clients form various industries
and verticals, many from the Fortune 500.
In fact, with our impressive track record,
it should not come as a surprise that
our systems help create the juice that
you drink, the paint on your house, the
steel in your car, the wallboard in your
home, or the formula for your baby, to
name just a few.
Some of our recent projects are described
here:
ADVANCED DISCRETE CONTROL WITH PARADYM-31
This project was
the automation of a multi stage measuring
and assembly machine for a leading Tier-1
automotive manufacturer. The project involved
automating a machine which measured several
different components needed for a completed
assembly, sorted and matched them according
to size and assembled the complete assembly
from the measured and matched components.
The gauging routines for the measurement
were written in User Defined Function Blocks
inside of Paradym-31 (P-31).
All of the gauging and machine control was
done using P-31 connected to field I/O with
the Profibus driver.
All servo driven motion control was done
using a Delta Tau PMAC controller. Data
between the PMAC and P-31 was shared through
the use of dual ported RAM.
The machine interface was done in Intellution
iFix SCADA software and connected to the
PLC with the Fastlink Driver. In addition
to the machine control screens, the Intellution
software also captured production data and
gauging results.
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SYNAPSE SOLARTRON LVDT TO FIX DRIVER
The Synapse Solartron LVDT to FIX Driver reads an array
of Solartron LVDT Probes values by way of
the Solartron 32 bit Orbit DLL's. The read
is triggered when a tag in the FIX DMACS
database equals one. The read of trigger
tag and the updates of the FIX DMACS databases
tags values are done via the FIX EDA Toolkit.
The Driver application continually checks
the a bit in the FIX database at intervals
(milliseconds) set in the driver configuration
section. If the bit is ONE then the driver
reads from 1 to 124 probes then writes the
values to the corresponding FIX database
tags and sets the bit back to ZERO to allow
the trigger to occur again.
The Driver was written in Visual Basic 6.0,
using Solartron Orbit Software Part No.
510142 Version 2.6 and the FIX EDA Toolkit
for FIX 6.5 or 7.0.
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LINE MONITORING SYSTEM
General
Function
The function of this system is to monitor,
collect data, and report production and
various system operations for the Plant.
Intellution iFIX
The Intellution iFix product is at the
center of the system architecture. This
product is the interface to all components
of the system. The operating system on
which this system is based is Windows
NT version 4.
Microsoft SQL Server
The data store for the system is Microsoft
SQL Server 7.0. SQL Server is installed
on a Microsoft NT Server within the Plant
Network. Data is archived to tables within
the SQL database at predetermined intervals
allowing users to generate reports from
one central data source via Crystal Reports.
Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports is the reporting tool
that allows users to query the data stored
in the SQL Server database. The reports
are requested via Microsoft's Internet
Explorer, web browsers interface which
points to a web server within the Plant
network. This web server is where the
Plant's reporting web site resides. The
tool used to create and maintain the website
is Microsoft FrontPage.
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CHEMICAL PLANT LONG TERM AUTOMATION
Intellution and Allen Bradley
Spanning ten years,
a leading chemical coatings manufacturer
has trusted us to take them from a totally
manual process to fully automated control
systems across many of their manufacturing
facilities. Over this considerable timeframe,
we've implemented progressively improved
systems - taking advantage of better hardware,
technologies and methods as they became
available.
The individual projects
are too numerous to mention in detail,
but the systems overall utilize Allen
Bradley hardware (including PLC-5, SLC-500
and Control Logix) and Intellution software.
A conservative estimate of the I/O would
be 16,000 I/O points across the corporation
controlling many different reactor systems,
blend vessels, bulk material dispense
systems and other supporting systems such
as chillers, boilers and the like. In
addition, we've successfully established
multiple digital networks to pull data
from Micromotion Flowmeters, Hardy Weigh
Cells and Allen Bradley VFD's. The Intellution
software exists in many different generations,
from Fix32 to the latest versions of iFix,
all working together to provide an extensive
network of graphic operator stations.
A mixture of Intellution
iHistorian and Canary Labs Trend Historian
quietly collects data to provide a historical
log allowing process troubleshooting and
improvements by the engineering staff.
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ADVANCED DISCRETE MACHINE CONTROL
This project was
the automation of a multi stage assembly
and test machine for a leading Tier-1
automotive manufacturer. The project involved
automating a machine which installed sensors
into a mechanical component at the first
stage, aligned and installed a retaining
screw at the second stage and tested the
sensor at the third stage. All three stages
including the material handling in and
out of the machine were automated with
a GE PLC.
The machine required a total of 6 servo axis. The motion
control was done in a Delta Tau PMAC controller.
The machine interface
was done in Intellution iFix SCADA software
and connected to the PLC with the GE Driver.
In addition to the machine control screens,
the Intellution software also captured
production data such as downtime, cycle
time, and couters for good pieces and
rejects.
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CHEMICAL PLANT BATCHING UPGRADE
Wonderware and Allen Bradley
A leading chemical
manufacturer contracted our services to
implement an automation upgrade on their
primary batch manufacturing and packaging
process. The project was installed in
two distinct phases, the first phase scope
involved the migration from a legacy hard
wired control panel to a Wonderware InTouch
and Allen Bradley Control Logix platform.
The second phase scope was implementing
a layer of automated recipe control to
enforce quality and repeatability in their
batch processes.
The total number
of I/O points on the project exceeded
2500 landing in two large electrical cabinets.
The cabinets and racks were interconnected
with Allen Bradley ControlNET. A total
of ten Dell Servers were configured and
installed, utilizing the distributed Wonderware
'NAD' architecture communicating with
a pair of redundant Kepware I/O Servers.
There were a total of six operator interface
terminals located throughout the facility,
all of which were remoted at least 500
feet from their corresponding computers
using KVM hardware to keep the computers
inside a clean room. The controls effort
involved the PLC Programming and HMI Development
for 40 bulk material handling systems,
13 process vessels and numerous ancillary
systems. The startup was notable, as we
were required to implement this system
with very minimal downtime. The system
was installed over a period of three months,
implementing one small area of the plant
at a time.
The second phase
is currently in development, and based
on several evaluative sessions will most
likely utilize our Synapse Batch Light
product, primarily due to its simplicity
and ability to integrate into their existing
recipe development and management system.
The entire project
management effort was successfully handled
by our collaborative team website, which
contained all project documents, correspondence
and software files for shared access by
project participants.
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BILLET GRINDER RETROFIT
Abstract
A steel-producing customer had several
aging billet grinders in their facility.
Synapse Systems took on the formidable
task of replacing the 1970's vintage controls
with a modern control system including
motion control, PLC (soft logic) and an
HMI.
The billet grinder consists of grinding
wheel on a grinding "head", a stationary
cab, moving billet manipulating table
and material handing tables: one loading
and one unloading. Control was to be manual,
semiautomatic and automatic.
Grinding Head
- Servo Loop Control
The grinding head is a belt driven grinding
wheel mounted on a vertically mounted
hydraulic cylinder. A servo valve controls
the vertical travel. An analog control
board controls the servo valve using the
motor amperage as feedback to close the
loop. Synapse replaced the analog control
circuitry with a Delta Tau PMAC card and
used current transformers to provide current
feedback to the PMAC and close the servo
loop. The PMAC provided the highly responsive
closed loop control solution necessary
to maintain very tight grinding tolerances.
Grinding Head
- Indexing
Along with controlling the grinding depth,
the head moved horizontally when in index
mode. At the end of the billet table travel,
the grinding head could index automatically
by either a preset amount or manually
by joystick. This logic was resident in
the soft logic program. Paradym-31 (P-31)
control software resided in a desktop
PC in the main control cabinet.
Billet Manipulating
Table and Material Handling
The billet-manipulating table (car)
held the steel for grinding. Once clamped
down, the car would oscillate back and
forth allowing the wheel to grind all
surfaces to the billet. A capstan type
hydraulic drive and cable provided horizontal
movement. The car could unclamp, turn
and clamp the steel to present all surfaces
to the grinding wheel. The table traveled
to far the length of the billet not allowing
the wheel the fall off the end. If this
occurred, the servo controller forced
the wheel into an emergency up condition
to avoid a collision between the wheel
and end of the billet. The car travel,
clamping and billet manipulation were
all controlled within P-31.
Material handing loaded and unloaded the
steel onto the car using hydraulically
controlled lifting arms.
General Control
The grinder head, car and material handing
contained numerous discrete I/O points
from various field devices i.e. limits
switches, solenoid valves, motor controls:
start, stop and running indications. There
were also various analog I/O, such as,
grinding motor current, various pump pressures,
oil temps etc. All I/O and associated
control, except for the grinding wheel
servo loop (PMAC controlled), was handled
in P-31.
The grinder ran manually or in automatic.
Human Machine
Interface
Before the project the grinder cab was
a panel of dials, switches, light and
two control joysticks. These panels were
replaced with an iFIX HMI package with
the exception of the joysticks and some
material handling controls. The operator
could run the grinder using the HMI and
the joysticks.
The joysticks were the main means of control.
They provided the analog signals for car,
and grinding head speed and direction,
and several digital inputs for the billet
car. They were integrated into the new
control systems.
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Plant
Computer System - Nuclear Power
This project involved
many aspects of engineering; control,
HMI, simulation, procedures, etc. The
project, when completed, was the eyes
and ears of the operation staff of a nuclear
power plant. The system was designed with
redundancy in all aspects. The response
of the system and its accuracy had to
be 100%. To accomplish this task ,the
team at Synapse worked directly with the
operations group to assure detailed data
information that is Human Error Free and
quickly and precisely conveys the required
information.
In addition to the
design of the basic system, there were
many additional programs such as NSSS,
MET, SPDS, and Performance that were written
and seamlessly integrated to make the
interface clear and available. A unique
driver was written to interface to plant
specific data systems.
Procedures were written
by Synapse by our on-staff procedure writers
and approved and integrated by the client's
staff. User and technical documentation
was supplied to enable the user to modify
and keep the system current with NRC changes
On-site installation
and continued support enables the client
to have access to our support of their
needs.
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Central Utilities Facility - Manufacturing Support
The purpose of this
facility is to supply the utility needs
to a Big-3 automotive manufacturing process.
The utilities provided are steam, hot
water, RO water, cooling water, chilled
water, compressed air, and power. Each
system was selected for its requirements
and brought together in this facility.
The control room
needed to monitor and control each of
these systems from a central location
and monitor the supply needs of the process.
The central control system and all interfaces
were engineered by Synapse, along with
the installation and check out on-site.
Billing information,
usage, and power consumption were logged
on-site and replicated at the owner's
general office via a web portal. The process
enabled the owner to accurately bill for
supplied utilities. In addition to the
owner, the client received data to help
them efficiently use the utilities and
schedule processes for cost savings.
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