SIMATIC is also Motion Control

By Siemens, your shortcut to integrated robotics on packaging systems.

In recent years we have been witnessing a trend among machine builders towards the use of integrated robotics in machine automation. Typical cases of the use of robotics are, for example, pick&place, palletizing and assembly machines.

Fundamental features of this integration are the possibility to maintain high performance, precision and flexibility. The latter is a key factor in this period of change, as well as customization, that is the need to change format frequently and add or remove machine parts.

The machines become like pieces of a puzzle that can be combined in different ways to obtain the desired product. But integrating robotics and automation also means that all it requires is one control unit and one engineering system for development, diagnostics and maintenance.

There is no longer any need for a dedicated robot control cabinet, just as there is no need for a dedicated engineering system: automation and machine robotics can be programmed in a single development environment.

The consequences can be summed up as the reduction of overall dimensions and development time.

The advantages of the SIMATIC controllers

Siemens’ response to this market trend, which requires increasing integration of robotics and automation, lies in technological solutions based on advanced, distributed and drive controllers from the SIMATIC family.

In particular, Siemens’ response is called SIMATIC Drive Controller. A solution that combines the motion control functionality of the Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 T-CPU technological CPU with a versatile drive system in a single device.

The new SIMATIC Drive Controller combines the SIMATIC S7-1500 T-CPU controller with motion control, robotics and safety features, all integrated in one device, saving space. The high performance of the new controller is particularly advantageous for applications with many axes where a multi-axis drive system is used - such as in the world of packaging, printing and textile machinery.

The SIMATIC Drive Controller is equipped with extensive interfaces, including three Profinet Interfaces and a Profibus interface for communication with HMI, I/O and other drive systems.

From Version16 of the TIA Portal it is also possible to implement synchronism and cams between the various CPUs of the system or machine, so that there are virtually no limits to the quantitative axis structures.

Thanks to the integrated web server it is also possible to see the CPU status without any software but directly from the browser.

The use of Siemens libraries dedicated to handling and robotics simplifies the diagnostic programming of the system; the technological objects also offer an easy and intuitive graphic interface that speeds up development times.

In this way, SIMATIC Drive Controller ensures economic advantages, reliability and potential savings for hardware and engineering.

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