“We not only created an interface to POWERLINK,” explains Bruno Schneken-burger, head of the robotics division at Yaskawa Europe. “With Motoman Sync, we also offer the possibility of programming robots in a familiar IEC 61131 envi-ronment.” Advantages include drastically reduced commissioning times and bet-ter clock accuracy.

Integration in a POWERLINK network results in additional benefits such as in-creased productivity. In addition, machines or plants can be designed more flexi-bly. A separate operator terminal for robots is not needed since all data required for operation and diagnostics can be displayed and modified on the machine’s main terminal.

The DX200 is a high-performance robot controller for Yaskawa Motoman robots. It enables synchronous control of up to 8 robots or 72 axes and is equipped with a built-in safety controller in accordance with PL d / Cat. 3 for up to 32 user-defined safety areas and up to 16 different tools.

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The concept of integrated robotics allows synchronised operation of robots and machines. “B&R produces scalable hardware and software that makes it possible to design state-of-the-art integrated robotics solutions,” explains Tomas Prchal, CNC and robotics technology manager at B&R. “Companies such as Trumpf, B+M, Leoni and Comau are already benefiting from our integrated robotics technology.”

Comau took the opportunity to present its latest open robotics platform, C5G Open. This open approach gives the robot control unit the added processing power of a PC with direct integration of external sensors. This simplifies the implementation of complex manufacturing applications.

With its C5G Open robot controller, Comau Robotics provides an open robotics platform that enables direct and intuitive interaction between human operators, sensors and robots.

Open communication standards

“The distributed automation logic that characterizes the production systems of Industry 4.0 creates an urgent need for high-speed, failsafe communication networks with unrestricted openness,” explains Stéphane Potier, technology marketing manager for the EPSG in France. “With POWERLINK and openSAFETY, the foundations of the fourth industrial revolution have already been laid.”

Among the numerous other solutions on exhibit was the new CPX automation platform from Festo, which is particularly easy to integrate into POWERLINK networks.

Open standards are essential for the success of Industry 4.0. Along with POWERLINK and openSAFETY, OPC UA (Unified Architecture) is another key open technology. OPC UA provides complete scalability – from embedded control software to management information systems. OPC UA allows vertical communication to SCADA, MES and ERP systems as well vendor-independent communication from PLC to PLC.

Innovative safe robotics applications

An innovation from Leoni was ORION, a patient positioning system for radiotherapy treatment. Based on a 6-axis robot, this system achieves positioning precision of 0.5mm, setting a new standard in radiotherapy robotics. Combining a safe robotics system and a sophisticated dynamic volume modelling system, the ORION robot requires high volumes of real-time data exchange between all hardware and software components. Leoni therefore decided for an open and safe robot controller based on POWERLINK and openSAFETY technologies.

Commenting on the success of the technology day, Jan Gadras, B&R France’s technical manager in charge of university partnership, said: “It demonstrates the benefits of our partnership with University Lyon. We are happy to receive feedback from our customers that such an event, bringing together experts from industry and academia, shows the way to Industry 4.0.”

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“In addition to its exceptional performance, one of POWERLINK’s biggest strengths is its ability to combine various types of information on the same medium,” explains Francis Columeau, R&D manager in charge of electronics and software design at SEPRO. “The open source nature of POWERLINK plays a key role in managing development times and ensuring the quality of results.”

By providing compatibility with SEPRO’s existing CANopen protocol, POWERLINK allows the company to continue using their existing CANopen libraries. “This feature made the transition quite simple for us,” says Francis Columeau, “Efficient support from the EPSG and training on implementing controlled nodes in an FPGA enabled us to efficiently implement the protocol in a very short time.”

EPSG (Ethernet POWERLINK Standarization Group) is an independent organization founded to standardize and develop the POWERLINK protocol first introduced by B&R in 2001. Visit the EPSG website for more information.