Modular automation toolkit revolutionizes control cabinet design

By Bhalchandra Chorghade, Editor, CNCTimes.com

With the MX-System as a modular automation toolkit, Beckhoff has packaged its comprehensive product portfolio in a robust new housing system for direct machine mounting. The resulting solution can completely replace traditional automation systems installed in control cabinets, reduce machine footprint and cut energy consumption from fans and other cooling devices. In doing so, Beckhoff – in its role as a technology leader – is once again initiating a revolution in automation technology and setting new standards in cabinet-free machine design.

While the first Programmable Logic Controllers only took over the link between the input and output signals of machines and systems, today’s PC-based control technology can take on all the automated functions found in modern manufacturing processes. I/Os, drive technology, safety technology, data inputs, connections to higher-level systems, and even image processing tasks – everything is handled by the central controller. This increase in different tasks explains why control cabinets often have not become more compact, despite the fact that electronics are constantly getting smaller and more powerful – even with safety functions integrated inside them. Often, the opposite can even be observed – additional automated machine functionalities have continuously increased the number of function-specific components in control cabinets.

If we compare the control cabinet technology of past decades, it becomes clear that the basic structure, including the areas mentioned, has remained almost unchanged – regardless of the number and size of components. Today, manual processes are still used to place components and establish the electrical connection within and between the individual areas of the control cabinet.

In order to dispense with the large amount of wiring effort involved, Beckhoff has recognized that the reduction of effort is only possible in the long term on the basis of uniform interfaces of all devices or functional units. The goal is not only to make the planning and production of control cabinets more efficient through digitization and automation, but also to completely substitute control cabinets in their current form. With this in mind, a modular toolkit – the MX-System – has been developed in which pluggable modules with standardized electrical and mechanical interfaces are interconnected via a base unit.

EtherCAT forms the technological foundation for the standard interfaces of the MX-System. Due to its special functional principle – data processing on the fly – this globally established communication standard is ideally suited to this task. EtherCAT is able to connect a large number of I/O modules, drives, and other components to a controller in almost any topology and sequence. Functional safety is also integrated. The highly accurate synchronization of all components in the system is made possible by the distributed clocks of the EtherCAT technology, with which deviations of less than 100 ns are achieved. The extensive diagnostic features of EtherCAT ensure stable system communication, as any faults can be detected, localized, and eliminated at an early stage.

https://www.beckhoff.com/en-us/company/news/news-detail_400514.html

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