Eitel Presses Deliver Precision Straightening with Windows

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Eitel Presses Deliver Precision Straightening
with Windows-based Real-time Control
To efficiently combine high-speed mathematical calculations with
reliability and flexibility, Eitel Presses built their state-of-the-art control
platform on Steeplechase VLC and the INtime RTOS for Windows; giving
them a competitive advantage that cannot be easily duplicated.
T
he rapid increase in the use
Using a Windows PC to provide
implementing reliable real-time
of embedded PCs for
human machine interface (HMI)
control and high-speed data
industrial control systems is
functions alongside PLCs that
acquisition when augmented by a
a natural outgrowth of designers’
perform general machine control is
tightly-coupled real-time software
interest in building machines with
commonplace, but PCs can do much
environment.
enough flexibility to adapt to
more than implement just an HMI.
constantly changing requirements.
Windows PCs are capable of
High-Speed Mathematical Computations
Eitel Presses of Orwigsburg, PA,
has produced machines governed by
PC controls since the late 1990s,
when they undertook a project to
migrate their PLC-based control
systems to incorporate a Windowsbased platform. The migration was
driven in part by the fact that some of
the mathematical calculations they
need to perform couldn’t be done
efficiently by PLCs. They needed a
more general-purpose computational
element in their systems. The system
architecture Eitel developed is
referred to internally as ORCA (Open
Reliable Control Architecture).
Eitel’s presses provide precision
straightening for heat treated metal
parts to the automobile industry.
The AMS-25 pictured above is Eitel’s 25-ton automatic press configured for
straightening steering racks. Eitel Presses’ system architecture, ORCA, utilizes
Steeplechase VLC and the INtime RTOS for Windows to host operation and
control of this press and many others using an industrial Windows-based PC.
Parts such as valves, crankshafts,
pinions, and axles are typically out of
alignment when they exit the heat
treatment process. Eitel equipment
straightens these parts to tolerances
and hosts a data collection card that
RPM with a servomotor, also
as tight as 20 microns, with a
obtains dimensional measurements
controlled by the PC.
repeatability of measurement equal to on the parts during the straightening
two microns or better. High-speed
process. The Windows PC also
mathematical computation is
functions as a conventional PLC,
required to make the part-
controlling general machine I/O
straightening cycle times fast and
functions, such as activating
precise.
solenoids for parts transfer on and off
Double the Performance
the machine.
Reliable and Flexible Platform
The only reluctance Eitel had to
adopting a Windows PC as a control
element was their concern for system
reliability. At the time Eitel chose
Windows to be part of their ORCA
platform, PCs had the reputation of
With incorporation of real-time
Windows PC control, Eitel’s
Real-time Data Acquisition and Control
Automatic Mechanical Straightener
a major role in achieving the
was robust, with a high degree of
(see photo on page one) reduced the
machine’s impressive cycle times.
numerical performance, included
High-speed data collection plays
being prone to software crashes; Eitel
needed a software environment that
flexible expansion
options, and had the easyto-use features of the
Windows platform. After
evaluating multiple PCbased software
alternatives for managing
control and data
acquisition functions,
Eitel chose the VLC
package from
Steeplechase, a division
of Phoenix Contact
located in Ann Arbor, MI.
Using Steeplechase VLC,
Eitel’s designers quickly
implemented a flowchart
design to control the
servo drives and facilitate
data collection from the
data acquisition card.
A segment of the VLC flowchart that operates the Eitel AMS press.
In addition to
wanting to use a
straightening time of camshafts to 10
Shaft straightening is performed over
flowchart-based design approach,
seconds, compared to 20 seconds
multiple rotational cycles. During
another key reason Eitel cites for
using their previous generation of
each rotation the shaft’s deflections
selecting VLC was the INtime real-
PLC-only controlled machines. In
are measured, by laser or linear
time kernel underlying the VLC
addition to calculating the
variable displacement transducer
software. Key to meeting the
straightening algorithm, the Windows (LVDT), and its rotational angle is
performance requirements of the Eitel
PC provides a connection to
tracked with an encoder. One rotation application was the need to
manufacturing and enterprise
results in 256 measurements being
implement machine-dependent
networks, implements the HMI,
made by the real-time Windows PC.
functions, such as servicing the data
rotates the parts being straightened,
The part is typically rotated at 60
acquisition card and performing Eitel-
“
We feel that the VLC/INtime software
environment gives us a competitive advantage
in our market that cannot be easily
duplicated.
processing information from the data
— Karl Klemsche, Eitel Vice President
time processes, is what allowed Eitel
”
acquisition card before it is passed
back to Steeplechase VLC for control
of Eitel’s straightening press. This
flexibility of the INtime RTOS, to
simultaneously support multiple realto create a fast and precise control
system that can be easily programmed
specific straightening algorithms, that VLC was simplified by the fact that
by their end users.
would not be affected by non-control
the INtime development environment
Windows applications in the system,
such as the HMI and enterprise
is completely integrated into
Microsoft Visual Studio. Integration
network components.
with Visual Studio allows the process power the straightening function and
INtime, the real-time operating
Steeplechase VLC also controls
two press servomotors through a PC
motion control card. Servo drives
of editing, compiling, and debugging
rotation of the part for measurement.
system (RTOS) provided by TenAsys
real-time applications for the INtime
They also provide encoder feedback
Corporation of Beaverton, OR is
RTOS to be done in a familiar
for the straightening algorithm.
based on software technology that has environment using modern, up-to-
Standard motion control function
been proven by over 25 years of use
in thousands of mission-critical Intel
Architecture applications. Working in
parallel alongside Windows, the
INtime RTOS insures that timecritical applications always have
priority over non-time-critical
Windows processes.
Custom Real-time Control Blocks
With the help of TenAsys
engineers, Phoenix Contact
developed a means by which OEMs
can extend Steeplechase VLC with
custom real-time PLC function
blocks. These custom function blocks,
created using the Steeplechase CToolkit and a standard Microsoft®
Visual Studio compiler, execute on
the INtime real-time kernel and
expand the functions and features
available in the Steeplechase VLC
programming environment, without
requiring that a PLC programmer
have to understand or even see the
implementation details of the realtime function block.
The process of developing the
C-Toolkit extension for Steeplechase
A transmission shaft is straightened by an Eitel automatic press.
date software development tools.
blocks included with VLC, combined
Using the Steeplechase C-Toolkit, with function blocks developed by
Eitel engineers developed custom
Eitel, form the core elements in the
application code for Steeplechase
system.
VLC to run on the INtime RTOS. The
Eitel real-time code manages the
complex action of reading and
Familiar Flowchart Programming
The Steeplechase VLC
programming environment is very
user-friendly and easy to
troubleshoot. During application
development, designers can view the
values of variables in real-time as
VLC programs are being debugged.
support for even simple
improve his process, yielding better
modifications.
quality parts and improved cycle
Data Archive for Quality Control
After straightening, information
about each part, before and after
deflection measurements, and the
cycle time required to make
times. Some applications, such as
those involving the straightening of
aircraft parts, require that such
information be archived for each and
every part manufactured on the line.
A Real-time Platform for Growth
“Due in large part to the reliable
VLC/INtime software environment,
the AMS system has proven to be fast,
quiet, and environmentally friendly,”
said Karl Klemsche, Eitel Vice
President. “We are now building
machines around the second
generation of the ORCA architecture.”
The new generation of ORCA
systems incorporates adaptive
controls that adjust the straightening
stroke infinitely, based on the
measured deflection before
straightening. Other benefits include
plotting thermal infrared (TIR)
imaging curves and surface geometry,
multilingual HMIs (including
A Windows system running INtime has two virtual machines on a
single hardware platform, insuring real-time applications always have
priority over and run without interference from Windows processes.
Japanese), and automatic flaw
detection systems.
“We feel that the VLC/INtime
software environment gives us a
Eitel’s customers also have the ability
to modify VLC programs to make
application-specific changes
themselves—giving Eitel a distinct
advantage over competing “black
box” systems that require vendor
corrections, are stored on the PC's
hard drive. Additional information
can be collected to help the customer
competitive advantage in our market
that cannot be easily duplicated,”
added Mr. Klemsche.
troubleshoot upstream processes that
affect the straightness of the part. The
customer can use this information to
real-time virtualization experts
TenAsys Corporation
1400 NW Compton Drive, #301
Beaverton, OR 97006 USA
+1 503 748-4720
fax +1 503 748-4730
info@tenasys.com
www.tenasys.com
Copyright © 2007 TenAsys Corporation.TENASYS, INTIME, and IRMX are registered trademarks of TenAsys Corporation.
Other trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners.
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