Jürgen Dlugosch, Baumüller Nürnberg GmbH
2024-07-19T08:02:50+02:00
SmartValue
Baumüller

Baumüller Smart Value – Smart Drives for Industry 4.0

Get more out of your drive technology with IoT: Baumüller Smart Value is all about the added value that smart drives give mechanical engineers and machine operators. With Baumüller Smart Value, we record the data that is produced directly at the process via the smart sensor/actuator level.

Using available data

Data that is already available in the servo drive, such as output, current, torque, speed or position can now be used to record the motor-drive combination’s current capacity utilization, for example. This means, for instance, that various machines that pass through the same production process can be compared with each other. Deviations are detected and can then be analyzed in more detail.

The advantage here is that a great benefit can be generated with relatively little input: if no external sensors are used, there are no costs for additional hardware and its wiring. This also avoids the use of sensors in areas exposed to EMC, where the signals are usually strongly disrupted and sometimes very difficult to evaluate. Another benefit is that if the signals are recorded directly by the drive, this take place in “hard real time” with only minimal delays. This also allows the performance of time-critical analyses such as vibration analyses by means of FFT.?

Smart drives act as a data hub and supply data without external sensors, e.g. for condition monitoring

Extending the database: incorporating external sensors

If the available data is insufficient for the desired use case, the servo drive or the servo motor can easily be used as a data hub too. This allows the database to be extended with external sensors, e.g. vibration sensors of with data from the transmission. Direct sensors can be connected via digital or analog inputs so that the relevant data can be sent to the drive. The drive thus becomes a data hub with the goal of not only performing the work of a drive, but also of collecting additional, relevant data from various sources, per-processing this and forwarding it to the cloud or a control unit and edge PC.

Full flexibility for users: the servo motor and/or servo can record data from external sensors, for example from transmissions, as a data hub.

Based on this data, users are provided with recommendations for action and important information, e.g. on the operating status of the machine, that can in turn be used to optimize the machine or process. One application is the Smart Operation Point function. The utilization rate of the power semiconductors (IGBT) used in the servo drive are hereby determined and simulated by means of a dynamic temperature model. Power reserves can be released if necessary depending on the result. This solution could be put to practical use in a shredder, in which material had become jammed.

Self-adaptive drive systems

In addition, decisions can be taken directly in the drive so as to avoid machine failures. One example is encoder monitoring in the field of Smart Protection. The encoder’s amplitude and phase length is constantly monitored on line – appropriate warnings are generated if values fall below or exceed a certain threshold value. These smart drive concepts improve the process and product quality through smart monitoring.

Smart drives react automatically during operation to optimize the processes and product quality

Dimensioning and design using a digital twin

The same can be said of the associated design software, which ensures that the motor/controller combination is optimally dimensioned for the respective application and the controller is parameterized. In addition, the design can be immediately verified and optimized on the digital twin using simulation technology. To this end, Baumüller provides a detailed model of its drive components (servo motors and servo converters). This spares development capacities and greatly reduces the work needed.

Baumüller SmartValue

With Baumüller Smart Value we provide a genuine added value for your machines and processes:

? Smart Optimization: shorter development cycles
Smart tools use modeling and simulation during designing and commissioning, ensuring a faster Time2Market

? Smart Operation Point: coping with power peaks
Smart functions help you cope with power peaks in electrical machines and systems, without any over-dimensioning.

? Smart Protection: protect your employees in production, your tools and your machines
This helps minimize production downtimes and avoid costly replacement investments

? Smart Monitoring: monitoring your machines and processes
Safeguarding the quality of your customer’s products and their productivity

? Smart Optimization: self-adaptive drive technology
The drives react automatically during operation to optimize the processes and product quality