PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS
SAA Software Engineering GmbH, 1100 Vienna, Austria
New control visualisation for circulation plants –
keeping an eye on the plant status
For more than six months now, SAA has been offering a completely new circulation visualisation that is fully integrated in the SAA control
system. In addition to the familiar graphic overview of the plant, this now also shows detailed graphic views of machines and plant sections
and in addition enables the operation of the machines via touchscreen.
Roland Zauner and Robert Neubauer,
SAA Engineering GmbH, Austria
Graphic visualisation also
for circulation plants
The visualisation for circulating pallet plants,
which is integrated into the SAA IPS-Leit2000 control system and has been used
successfully for many years, has recently
been overhauled. What has been normal
for years in machine controllers for formwork robots, plotters, reinforcement plants
and concrete distributors has thus also been
applied to transport and circulation plants
in the precast plant and further refined.
In addition to the familiar graphic overview,
the online input/output lists and the administration of the plant parameters and
backup, the new monitoring screens for the
SAA circulation controller now also offer
detailed graphic views of machines and
plant sections. Depending on the complexity
of the machine, these screens are subdivided into overviews and detailed illustrations
of the individual machine parts. All existing
sensors and drives are illustrated and their
current state is indicated, mobile parts are
animated and even move in real-time over
the screen, by way of which the observer
obtains an even better impression of the
situation in the plant.
Simple handling by touchscreen operation
With this convenient visualisation system,
however, not only is the observation of the
machines possible, but the sometimes
necessary manual operating work for more
complex plant parts in particular is very
much simplified. The operator can select
the manual and service functions directly
via the touchscreen and thus operate the
machine more simply and with considerably greater safety. The screens and control
elements are clearly understandable and
are adapted for each plant in accordance
with the local conditions and the angle of
sight in front of the operating screen.
The graphic display also assists the operating and maintenance staff with troubleshooting and thus helps to effectively reduce
downtimes. Defective components, misadjusted proximity switches or inconsistent
states can be recognised quickly and reliably, even if they are attached in places
Main visualisation of the curing chamber with storage and retrieval
machine
138
CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2011
that are poorly accessible in normal operation, e.g. hidden by a pallet. The input/ output flag lists with status indication and equipment ID (reference ID) previously already
included in the IPS-Leit2000 round off the
complete maintenance assistance system.
The basis for the new visualisation system is
a purely web-based solution, in which the
images are displayed in a standard web
browser. Therefore any device that has a
web browser installed can access this visualisation. Master computer operating stations, touchscreen panels in the factory, computers in the company network and also
mobile terminal devices such as smartphones and tablets thus become flexibly usable
operating and monitoring stations for the
plant equipment
Mobile monitoring and observation –
a great help for the maintenance staff
That is a big advantage for maintenance
work in particular and also for the shift foreman who doesn’t want to be bound to a
fixed workplace. What was dismissed a
few years ago also by users as Utopia, pos-
Detailed visualisation of a pallet station
www.cpi-worldwide.com
Mobile plant visualisation via modern
smartphones
Industrial PC with touchscreen operation as
a modern operating element in the precast
plant
sible only with heavy and expensive mobile
devices, is today becoming standard in
industrial plants and thus in more and more
precast plants. The greatest attention is thereby paid to providing the operator with optimal assistance, whereby introduction training and refresher courses expenditure can
be significantly reduced in the case of support.
The new visualisation is naturally completely
integrated into the latest generation of the
IPS-Leit2000 master computer, with which
all detailed views can be opened from the
master computer’s circulation overview.
This modern visualisation system for circulation plants is a fixed component of the SAA
circulation controller, both in new systems
and in all modernised controllers (conversion from Siemens S5 to S7). However, existing plants that are already equipped with
an SAA circulation controller can, of course, be simply retrofitted with this new technology. The normal drive commands and the
standard operation in the circulation plant
are still implemented by the tried-and-tested
pushbuttons.
Systems of this kind that have been installed
so far are running very successfully and
offer considerable assistance and relief to
the operating personnel on site. Questioning glances in front of the storage and
retrieval machine or the turning machine,
the complex selection of manual commands
on the text terminals, lengthy explanations
over the telephone and waiting for employees who can operate the machines and
also confident to do so are things of the
past with this graphic method of monitoring
and operation.
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FURTHER INFORMATION
SAA Software Engineering GmbH
Gudrunstraße 184/1/10, 1100 Wien, Austria
T +43 1 6414247 0, F +43 1 6414247 21
[email protected], www.saa.at
Fully integrated detailed visualisation with operation in the IPS-Leit2000
www.cpi-worldwide.com
CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2011
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