Home » Articles » Hebert

Voices: Hebert

Smart Analog I/O Gives Better Price/Performance Ratio

Get Smart: Smart Analog I/O Offloads the Main Controller and the Network

By Dan Hebert, PE, Senior Technical Editor

When an application requires high-speed measurement or control of analog variables, there are two main options. The first is to use a high-speed, high-end controller with a high-performance network and conventional analog I/O. The second is to use a lower-end, less-expensive controller and network along with smart analog I/O. The second option often has a better price/performance ratio, as illustrated by these applications.

System integrator Malisko Engineering (www.malisko.com) in St. Louis was contracted to perform a control systems upgrade on a thermal processing furnace-control system for Advanced Energy (www.advancedenergy.com) in Fort Collins, Col. The furnace is used to fire components before they are integrated into larger systems and machines, and it uses various digital I/O along with Type K thermocouple analog input and 0-10 Vdc analog-output modules.

Malisko reconfigured temperature-zone PID control for the furnace in a way that used the built-in PID capabilities of Opto 22 Snap I/O. "The old control hardware executed PID control—about four loops per rack—via custom commands executed by the controller," says Dan Malyszko, senior systems engineer at Malisko. "With the new system, thermocouple linearization and PID control can be programmed more easily and executed locally at the I/O level."

Without smart analog I/O, the control system would have to send the raw thermocouple analog input data to the processor for linearization. The linearized data would have been used as the process variable in a PID loop executed at the controller. After each execution cycle, the controller would have sent a control signal to the furnace via an analog-output module.

With smart analog I/O, the PID loops execute locally and much faster. The main processor also performs at a higher level as it's not burdened with PID loop execution. Also, the bus traffic on the network connecting the I/O to the processor is reduced, further improving performance and reliability.
For an injection molding machine, a control system retrofit employed a new programmable automation controller (PAC) with smart analog I/O to perform highly accurate, closed-loop control. This improved energy efficiency and precision and the low temperature variance improved injection stability. An Advantech PAC connected to high-speed analog input and output modules for control of the closed-loop process. "The analog I/O worked with discrete I/O to control the machine via its high-speed calculator module," notes John Wilhite, product manager at Advantech.

R&B Plastics Machinery (www.rbplasticsmachinery.com) in Saline, Mich., makes machine, mold, trimming and tooling systems for customers in consumer packaged goods, chemical, automotive and dairy industries. R&B focuses on continuous extrusion blow-molding, and its machines are designed to accommodate multiple parisons, multilayer coextrusion and in-mold labeling of containers ranging from 12 oz to 2.5 gallons.

R&B specializes in parison control to achieve optimum wall thickness of continuously extruded profiles. A two-piece mold is injected with plastic in an environment that takes temperature, velocity and quantity into consideration. The mold is then moved to an air-injection station where air is blown into the mold, forcing the plastic out to form an opening.

Depending on end-user specifications, R&B blow-molding machines use either the A-B ControlLogix PACs or CompactLogix PAC. The control system uses ControlLogix Fast Analog I/O modules to meet the processing demands of high-speed applications. Using onboard data archival, the module increases system throughput by reducing the overhead required in collecting data.

"With four archiving inputs and two outputs, the analog module generates fast sample rates and decreases backplane traffic for optimized system performance," observes Jake Losee, electrical control manager at R&B. "Also, the module lengthens the time between I/O data transfers, relieving the controller burden and decreasing process disruptions."

---

More Voices

Smart Analog I/O Gives Better Price/Performance Ratio
01/07/2010
Get Smart: Smart Analog I/O Offloads the Main Controller and the Network

Wireless Sensors Offer Single- and Multi-Channel Options
12/07/2009
Wireless Sensors Depend on Power and Node Needs: Big Bucks Can Be Saved in the Right Applications

How Should Vendors Handle Service Issues With Machine Builders' Customers?
09/30/2009
Whom Should Vendors Serve?: When Vendors Sell Products to OEM Resellers, Service Issues Become Complex

Remote Diagnostics and Troubleshooting a Good Fit for Mining Operations
07/30/2009
Mining Operations Dig Remote Diagnostics: Connections to Remote Machines Speed and Simplify Machine Maintenance

PC Access Could Invite Hackers
07/09/2009
The Typical Hacker Might Have Trouble Getting into Your PLC or PAC, but Odds Are the Same Hacker Could Burrow into Your Internet-Connected PC with Ease

Outsourced Machine Engineering Projects Require Appropriate Bids
05/27/2009
Fixed-Price Vs. Time-and-Material: Choose the Right Approach to Optimize Project Execution

New Market for Machine Builders
04/17/2009
Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles Could Be Growth Area

Open Systems—HMIs and Up
03/09/2009
Connections From HMIs to Higher-Level Computing Systems Are Getting Simpler

Open Systems—Controllers to HMIs
02/12/2009
Controller to HMI Connection Are Becoming Ever More Open, Driving Down Prices and Increasing Functionality

COM Express Can Up Performance
02/04/2009
The Availability of Advanced Interfaces and the Scalability of a Standard Modular Solution Has Made COM Express a Fitting Integration Path for Industrial HMI and Portable Devices

Just One Way to Find a Gotcha
01/08/2009
It’s Impossible for Vendors to Know All the Subtle Gotchas That Occur When Their Products Are Applied to Machine Automation

Electric Cars Bring Sexy Back
11/26/2008
Tesla Motors Makes Commitment to Electric Vehicle Batteries

Open I/O Systems Arrive
11/10/2008
Automation Pros Like You Use Digital I/O Networks as the Wedge to Pry Apart Proprietary Controller-I/O Bonds Created by Automation Vendors

A Tale of Two Economies
09/16/2008
Manufacturing Soars as Residential and Financial Markets Plummet

Follow the Money to Find the Truth
09/03/2008
Can Anyone Be Surprised That Virtually All Government Studies, Both Direct and Funded, Conclude That Global Warming Is Indeed Occurring and Will Be a Huge Catastrophe if Something Is Not Done?

Science Fair Gives Second Chance
07/08/2008
Maker Faire Is an Adult Science and Technology Fair for the Entire Family

Automation Causes Job Destruction
06/30/2008
We Automation Professionals First Laid Waste to Employment in the Agricultural Sector Worldwide Through Automation, and We Now Have Manufacturing in Our Cross Hairs

Why Machine Builders Sell Services
05/09/2008
Comparing Product Sales to Services from a Machine Builder’s Perspective

Products Versus Services
04/18/2008
System Integrators Get Most of Their Revenue From Services, but Many Develop and Sell Products as Discrete and Somewhat Standard Items

Don’t Let the Media Get You Down
03/04/2008
For Every Apocalyptic Vision of the Future, Why Isn’t There a Movie Depicting a Much More Likely and Dramatically Better Future?

Don’t Fall for Green Technology Hoax
02/08/2008
Wind Can’t Be Relied On for Base Loads, and Wind Velocity Often Varies Inversely With Peak Power Needs

Get Others to See It Your Way
01/02/2008
Never Voice Your Opinion First. Let Someone Else Voice Your Idea. Then Agree with It. You Will Have an Instant Ally

Prime Time for OPC-UA?
12/05/2007
Big names are on board with service-oriented architecture (SOA) and OPC-UA, and no one company is seen as their creator, owner or chief proponent.

Peers and SIs Are Good Sources
10/31/2007
Writers and teachers can point you in the right direction, but they almost never are the experts when it comes to machine automation.

10 Years of Remote Support
10/03/2007
Remote support and monitoring is the one area of machine control that has benefited the most from the Internet over the past decade.

Women Too Wise to Be CEOs
09/07/2007
Is there a glass ceiling in manufacturing, especially in machine building? Few women are seen across this field, and even fewer are present at the executive level.

Fieldbus in Hazardous Areas
08/22/2007
The introduction of digital fieldbus communication networks created a number of new options for installing fieldbus devices in hazardous areas by simplifying implementation of intrinsic safety (IS) systems, thus avoiding the tried-and-true solution of explosion-proof enclosures conduit systems.

HMIs at AutomationXchange
08/01/2007
AutomationXchange gives machine builders a chance to share best practices with one another, our latest discussion was centered around human-machine interface (HMI) software. read more on the subject here.

Discrete and Process Safety Networks
07/19/2007
Right now, the needs are different and so are the means. Can one network eventually do it all?

Out of the pantry
06/06/2007
It might seem wise to buy the cheapest packaging machine available, but you don’t have to be an expert in the nuances of machine automation to know it can make the difference in purchasing decisions.

ePaper is coming
05/10/2007
In this installment of Machine Builder Mojo, Senior Tech Editor Dan Hebert, PE, says that although eBook devices are fairly new, it’s easy to envision a future in which we use them as readily as e-mail.

Does technology drive inequality?
04/04/2007
The worldwide demand for manufactured goods can’t match the growth in productivity. Manufacturing employment and the middle-class jobs associated with it inevitably must decline.

Become your own brand
03/05/2007
The days of lifetime employment at one company are gone, notes Senior Tech Editor Dan Heber, PE, so it's up to you to maintain your value in the marketplace by strengthening your personal professional brand.

Less staff = More leverage for you
02/01/2007
A good strategy starts with knowing your worth in the marketplace. Keep your resumé up to date, periodically search for a new job, and establish your value. Only then can you get your employer to see the light.

Who exactly is an innovator?
01/03/2007
Real innovation depends on more than just inventions and patents and really doesn’t happen until it is put to productive use by an end customer. This puts the U.S. in the lead because it’s the best at commercializing innovation.

Less math = better engineers
11/06/2006
More free electives equals more free time equals more socialization equals engineers with much better people skills. It’s amazing that engineering deans cannot comprehend such a simple equation.

Outsourced engineering, Part II
10/10/2006
Is executing the design, startup, and support for your control, instrumentation, and electrical systems with internal resources always the right approach? Find out in this month’s installment of Machine Builder Mojo.

Outsource your engineering?
09/12/2006
Is executing the design, startup, and support for your control, instrumentation, and electrical systems with internal resources always the right approach? Find out in this month’s installment of Machine Builder Mojo.

Tale of the long tail
06/01/2006
The classic long-tail market for machine building shows that when the costs of product design, marketing, technical support, and distribution fall, then a wide range of substitute, niche products become available.

You must comply with compliance standards
05/03/2006
Machine builders selling outside of the U.S. and Canada must comply with the same general component usage, assembly, and panel sticker requirements. However, finding information and services can be difficult.

When a game is more than a game
03/02/2006
Networking systems that allow thousands of gamers to simultaneously interact via the Internet might be scaled down and adapted to collaborative engineering, design, and machine troubleshooting.

Write for a living?
02/08/2006
Senior Tech Editor Dan Hebert, PE, waited 22 years before deciding that teaching and writing was the best answer to his career woes. If you can afford the likely pay cut, you might want to look into it, too.

Machine builders take over the controls
01/12/2006
Show your customers how giving you the freedom to specify machine control systems will improve their plant operations through better performance, less downtime, and reduced maintenance costs.

Secrets to improving machine performance
11/03/2005
Control Design has created an event that significantly facilitates peer-to-peer interaction and promotes important conversation among machine builders, and we invite you to participate as our guests.

Right connection is no optical illusion
10/27/2005
Senior Tech Editor Dan Hebert, PE, ponders what the future may bring to advances in fiberoptic connectors that allows a single connector and cable to power and control remote applications.

Compete with Chinese labor? Yes you can
09/01/2005
Senior Technical Editor Dan Hebert, PE, says the threat from cheap Chinese labor is exaggerated by the popular press because, like sex and money, fear and paranoia sell.

Are you being served at user group meetings?
07/17/2005
User group meetings are not going away, but Senior Technical Editor Dan Hebert is speaking out on your behalf to encourage vendors to migrate back to the roots of user group meetings.

McMachines, Thousands Sold
06/15/2005
Branding usually isn’t seen as a function of technical professionals, but it is the most important component to demonstrating the performance advantages of your machines. Senior Tech Editor Dan Hebert, PE, explains in this month's edition of Machine Builder Mojo.

Can a technical engineer make it in Prime Time?
05/01/2005
Senior Technical Editor Dan Hebert is sharpening up his acting skills for his big shot at Prime Time television in this month's edition of Machine Builder Mojo. But does he have the charisma it takes to pull it off?

Real Time Becomes Future Time
08/12/2003
There are several trends in the commercial OS market that will affect industrial machine control systems; chief among them is distributed computing