drforsythe

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Everything posted by drforsythe

  1. The part that makes this tricky is whether or not you need to "see" the whole 36" width of the conveyor. You may need to use multiples. I will be using an EchoPod ultrasonic sensor from Flow Line Options on a tank level system. This particular sensor has a range of 49.2" with only a 2" deadband. The beam width is 2" and touts an accuracy of 0.125" and a resolution of 0.019". It has 4-20mA out as well as 4 relays. The outputs are set up using a supplied software package. A comm adapter will need to be purchased, but the price was reasonable. The sensor will run me under $400 and the programming fob will run about $50. I have used similar sensors from Carlo Gavazzi that were in a 18mm tubular form, but the dead band was significant and they only provided 4-20mA output. If you need a wider view, or a longer range, you may need to look at radar. A laser scanner could also do the trick, but would be significantly more expensive.
  2. ML 1400 PID

    Yes, it is most commonly referred to as a following application. I am not at all familiar with the AD products so I cannot elaborate to help you. Good luck.
  3. versaview 1500p screen locking up

    Do you know if they were part of the hard drive recall? The age places them in the ballpark for a known hard drive problem. The units would run for a while and then quit. I was told it was linked to a bearing issue in the hard drive. The units would lock up and the only way to get them to recover was to reboot. If you were lucky, they would run for a while until the drive acted up again and needed the reboot. Finally, it would quit for good.
  4. ML 1400 PID

    Depending on the type of drives that you are using, you may be able to directly connect the analog out of the servo to the analog in of the vfd to control vfd speed. A lot of drives have follower mode that when configured properly, work quite well. Tell us the hardware you are using and maybe we can help. I have several projects going, but I will keep an eye on this post in case I can help you with better details.
  5. PanelBuilder32 3.83

    PanelBuilder32 always checks the program during a save. If there are any objects on the screen that are touching each other, a validation WARNING will be present. In this case, you can click YES when asked to continue and the program will be compiled. The application will then be ready for download. HOWEVER, if errors are detected during the validation, you will not be able to download the application to the device. I hope this clears things up.
  6. Sanity Check Please

    BobLFoot: I love it. I am glad that I am not the only one thinking this way. I use a saying often that goes "You cannot rationalize the thoughts of the irrational person." I use this when discussing why murderers, rapists, psychopaths and governments do things. Now, I am not saying that the Government is a bunch of murderers, rapists and psychopaths (not all of them, anyway), but I just don't 'get' the thought processes some times. Thanks for the break from the technical discussions.
  7. Ultra3000 Error 23 help

    I have had limited results with autotune on the Ultra 3000 drives. If you are familiar with tuning, you should manually adjust the tuning parameters and monitor the results. I agree that slowing down accel and decel rates should help.
  8. cant find home

    Is this a true 'homing' problem? Meaning is it only happening at one spot in the rotation during a drive's home routine? Or does it happen at multiple stations / locations? If it is a homing issue, you may want to look at just the homing settings in the drive. You should be able to adjust the type of homing (switch, switch + marker, switch+reverse, etc.) or you can adjust the acceleration / deceleration & velocity settings. If you could shoot a video of normal operation showing when the problem does and does not occur and let us know if it is in an actual homing routine, we might be able to help better. If not homing related, it might be worth checking the tuning. If there is a large inertial mismatch, you could also get oscillation. Lastly, is there any chance of slippage of the drive wheels?
  9. The symbol meaning

    It is a three-phase manual motor protector with aux contact (circuit breaker for use with motors with a manual on/off button).
  10. GOT question

    Check for an offset setting in the HMI display device or tag database. I am not sure if your HMI has that feature, but I have seen it in the past.
  11. M12 connectors on a panel

    "Micro", "nano" and "pico" were the commonly used terms for these small connectors when they were first developed. The problem came from manufacturers confusing the names (they did not match from manufacturer to manufacturer). Now they are called out by their thread size. Not that this bit of trivia helps you solve your problem, but it could help ensure you get the right product in the future.
  12. DC speed control

    Greg: We have used the KBWS line of drives from KB Electronics. One reason they were chosen is because of their ease of use. There is no software to set up, just jumpers and potentiometers. The potentiometers will modify settings such as maximum current, minimum and maximum speed, acceleration and deceleration. Speed and direction are controlled from your analog signal and digital outputs. They are very robust and reliable. We use them for controlling powder feeders on our extrusion lines as well as belt and screw conveyors. I did not look closely at the manual for the units I suggested. You will want to make sure you have all of the components you need to run your motor. When I first started using them, I overlooked the fact that I needed a horsepower resistor sized for my motor. That is just an example of what I ran into. I would not have had this problem had I read the literature completely! Best of luck.
  13. DC speed control

    Greg: We use KB Electronics drives for our 90vdc applications. They have nice, inexpensive drives for basic applications. I did a quick check and they do have drives for 24vdc motors. Their website suggested using either a 9500 (KBBC-24M) or a 9501 (KBBC-44M) drive. If you go to their website, you can download a manual. I also checked and they have a stocking distributor in Israel (listed below). Their website is www.kbelectronics.com Best of luck. Locate a KB International Distributor (located outside the USA) Record Details Country/Area:Israel City:Emek Hefer Name:Elram Engineering Phone:4-622-0766 Fax:4-622-0760 E-mail:elrameng@elrameng.com Web Site:www.elrameng.com Product Line(s):AC & DC Drives Stocking:This is a stocking distributor (edited to clarify distributor info) </B>
  14. DC speed control

    Greg: Is the motor you are trying to control a 24vdc motor? If so, you would need to find a DC motor amplifier (drive) that matches the motor you are using. DC motors cannot be driven from a typical analog output unless the motor is really small with low current requirements. A drive would have to be used to power the motor with the speed command signal coming from an analog output card (0-10vdc, +/-10vdc, 0-20mA or 4-20mA). Does this help?
  15. Landis & Gyr 8979

    Your post intrigued me because I have never heard of that protocol. When I did a search, a link to www.prosoft.com came up. The .pdf is attached. (The link I tried to insert did not work.)MVI56_LNG_Datasheet1.pdf I am not sure if Allen Bradley is an option for you, since you posted this in the Siemens forum, but it might be worth a try. I do not have experience with this module. Like I said, it came up in a search while I was trying to learn more. Good luck.
  16. Your AB rep should be able to get you the application to use your own memory stick to transfer the files to. Someone in my company did this years ago and I cannot locate the app. Your rep should know about this and be able to help you.
  17. Ovality Gauge

    We do something similar measuring thickness and width of extruded material. Our system is kind of pricey because we bought a 'Cadillac' system to do our initial testing and then never refined it to trim out unnecessary costs. We could have used a less expensive plc (CompactLogix vs ControlLogix), but nonetheless, here is the hardware we use: Servo motor & Controller - A-B Ultra3000 with analog input (command from plc) PLC interface - ControlLogix rack with processor, analog input card (for reading laser gauge output), two-axis servo card (only one channel used) and one digital in and one digital out card Data Acquisition system - RSView32 running on industrial PC with touchscreen. The RSV32 application has screens that show thickness, thickness & width info as it relates to servo motor position. We also have the ability to log the data to our network server. Miscellaneous - safety circuit to remove power from servo motor and laser output upon e-stop Your system could be similar, but you would need to 'home' the motor or reset the postion to zero prior to the start of the cycle. Hopefully this is helpful.
  18. STOP: d0000144 Unknown Hard Error

    I have had this on two brands of industrial PC units. I don't recall if the error number was the same, but the 'unknown hard error' was the text. The problem would clear after a reboot, but got worse over time. I replaced the hard drives in one unit and a complete unit on another. I opted to do a complete replacement on the one unit due to its age. Try running a CHKDSK to identify bad areas of the disk to buy time until a replacement can be scheduled. The units that failed were constantly logging data and the hard drives barely had a chance to rest. I am not sure of your application, but if you are logging data to the local drive, you could reduce the frequency of the logging or temporarily disable it to buy you some more time.
  19. Denso Robot VM-60B1D/GM-V

    I am sorry to say I don't have an answer to all of your questions, just the simplest one. I do not have experience with Denso, but other motion controllers and amplifiers I have used calculated torque based on motor current. In the cases where I have had to measure the torque, I had to do an absolute value of the reading because the sign (+ or -) in the measurement would tell the direction of rotation. What baffles me is why only some of the numbers would be negative (unless of course we are seeing the dither of the motor during the move). If the motor is not sized properly or tuned to the load, oscillation or dithering could be seen in the torque values as the motor shaft oscillates back and forth to maintain position. As far as a mathematical formula for determining the necessary force, I cannot help you. The systems I have done in the past were either rotary mechanical systems where we had a spring with a known rating we were compressing or I was given the range of torques to expect. I look forward to the responses of others on this subject.
  20. Factory Acceptance Testing

    Absolutely. If you are responsible for controls and will have to deal with the gap between what the manufacturer made and what your company needs, you should go. There are always little 'tweaks' that need to be made in order to make your operators more comfortable or to meet the needs of maintenance, process engineers, management, etc. It is a good idea to try to get as many of these items taken care of before it reaches your facility. We try to send an operator or production manager, a maintenance person, process engineer, mechanical engineer and a controls engineer when we purchase a piece of equipment. It is not always possible or practical to send all of those people, but it does make for a smoother installation and runoff. If nothing else, it helps build a rapport with the actual designers and installers that may come in handy in the future. The types of things to look for (partial list, of course): - Ease of use - Normal start and stop of machine - start of machine from a powered-down state - HMI screens that have the right information and not too much info the operators will not need - Test the safety system devices. Prove the system is safe when it says it is - Interrupt the safety system during normal operation and see how the machine 'recovers' from a stoppage. Do the stop and recovery procedure yourself to check this function. It can show weaknesses in the system if someone other than the manufacturer's staff does this. - Think like the operator and try to simulate real-world situations - Check for complete electrical, fluid power and mechanical prints. Request electronic versions of the prints for future modification, if necessary. - Check for proper documentation including safety risk assessment, user manual(s), replacement parts, etc. This list could be nearly endless, depending on the complexity of the machine or process. I hope this helps.
  21. Old Klaschka PLC

    Have you tried contacting Klaschka directly? It looks as if they still make controllers. Their website is www.klaschka.de. I was unable to find a 'manuals' or 'downloads' area of the website, but you may be able to contact them via telephone or email to get some help. I just would not tell them that you are replacing their product with a different manufacturer's product. Good luck.
  22. Help With Indexing Servo Drive

    MachineryE: This is a common 'following' or 'gearing' application for a servo system. For linear applications, I have used linear encoders by Sony (MagneScale) and Northstar, but there are many reputable manufacturers out there with resolutions MUCH higher than 100 pulses per inch. The key thing to do is to find a reputable integrator or vendor in your area who can help size your system and ensure that the right components are selected and a properly designed system is created. Developing an application with multiple programmable gearing ratios should not be a problem for someone who works in motion control. Make sure that whatever vendor you choose that they have local support who can help you through the initial specification, startup and runoff. As with any new system, take some time to put your wants and needs on paper so the scope of work can be properly developed. If you let me know your locality in the US, I may be able to suggest a company or two. If you want, you can send a private message.
  23. GFI Nescience Trips

    I second the reply from JROSS. It is a common problem. We use non-GFCI outlets on our 110v 'portable' servo applications.
  24. Need advice on a PLC

    I have not used the Alpha or any other micro plc at this point. Most of the stuff I work on requires more I/O or functions in larger plcs.
  25. Okie: Yes, two displays, one RSV32 running on one PC. I should have clarified this. The same info is displayed simultaneously on both monitors. You will NOT be able to have independent displays using this method. For our application, it works fine. We have one operator of the line that may be in one of two locations.