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Machine Mount Automation

In the past, machine builders hardwired the equipment they built using multi-conductor cable and point-to-point wiring between sensed and actuated machine elements and a centralized cabinet-mounted controller. As automation and fieldbus communications evolved, intelligence and control began to migrate from rack-mounted PLCs and I/O to increasingly distributed architectures. Now, automation devices--controllers, smart I/O, wired and wireless networking hardware, and other components--can be mounted on the machine and communicate via networks.

Machine building used to be much more complicated than it is today. Not long ago, nearly every aspect of providing machines to industrial end users was costly, time consuming and plagued by numerous errors in both design and production.

Many of these difficulties were caused by the monolithic nature of machine automation systems. Using one centrally mounted controller and I/O system requiring hard-wired connections to every automation component was and is a process that invites errors.

By their very nature, automation systems are interconnected such that changes in one area ripple through to a host of design drawings and documents. The more monolithic and centralized the automation system, the greater effect of each change on the overall design, and the greater the potential for errors.

A solution in many cases is to break the machine and its automation system down into modules. Each module is much simpler than the overall machine, and this simplification benefits the automation system.

Download this white paper to learn how machine–mount automation components enable machine and robot modularization while shortening design, building, debugging and commissioning times, increasing machine reliability and improving machine operation.