Posted to News on 31st Jan 2014, 14:57
Sysmac Automation platform on show at Drives and Controls 2014
Omron will be supporting the GAMBICA Pavilion on stand G70 at Drives and Controls 2014 and will demonstrate the capabilities of the new Sysmac Automation Platform. An Omron Delta-style robot at the show will undertake a typical material handling application, with every aspect of the machine cell being controlled by a Sysmac machine automation controller.
Known as a "total machine solution from controller to software', the Sysmac platform offers a complete automation system via one machine control through one connection and one software. Karl Walker, marketing manager, Automation, at Omron explains further: "The NJ machine automation controller integrates motion, logic sequencing, vision and sensing, robotics, safety, data management, networking and machine visualisation components using the IEC-compliant Sysmac Studio software. This truly integrated development environment, including a custom 3D motion and simulation tool, enables a new design concept to be proved before a physical machine is created."
Sysmac is an open architecture and software-centric control system. Karl comments: "All of the control functionality is performed by advanced software engines, making the system far more flexible than traditional PLC solutions." The new Sysmac NJ controller comes as standard with EtherCAT and Ethernet/IP open networks, providing a match between fast real-time machine control and data management tasks or operations.
Today, software development accounts for a significant proportion of a project's labour cost and is increasing as systems become more complex, reflecting the demand for faster and more flexible systems. Sysmac can offer product development time-savings due to its integrated development environment, with a single piece of software being used to configure, programme, test and simulate a machine offline. The software can be used as an enabler to develop, test and prove a system before building work commences.
The Sysmac Automation Platform offers benefits that will appeal to all visitors to the Drives and Controls event, including system integrators, machine designers and end-users alike. One particular feature that will appeal to end-users is Sysmac's ability to link seamlessly to the enterprise level. Its data management tool enables integration into enterprise systems via industry-standard databases such as Oracle and SQL, facilitating a two-way, free flow of data.
For more information about the Sysmac Automation Platform, visit www.industrial.omron.co.uk/sysmac.
