Automation and virtual commissioning of an overhead crane

Abstract

SKF Mekan, a factory within the SKF Group that produces housings, locknuts, sleeves, and guiding rings for the bearing industry, aims to investigate how to re duce costs, increase capacity by increasing the level of automation in their produc tion facilities to remain as competitive as possible in a quickly evolving market. Specifically, a material handling procedure carried out by an overhead crane that delivers materials to melting furnaces has been identified as eligible for automating. The material is taken from what is referred to as a scrapyard where the inventory of metals is kept which is then gathered by a crane utilizing an electromagnet cylinder. The goal of automation is to reduce costs, clearly and accurately display inventory levels and increase the storage capacity in the scrapyard. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the automation sequence, a virtual com missioning method was investigated. This digitalization method allows automation procedures to be tested and verified before real-life implementation. It is done by connecting three components; Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) logic which is the automation sequence, a physical model created digitally of the system to be simulated, and lastly, a logical device that connects inputs and outputs between the physical model and the PLC Logic. By connecting these the instructions given by the PLC can be executed by the physical model with kinematics and physics. This allows for a comprehensive view of the full system running digitally in a realistic environment. Some delimitations for the thesis were made. The virtual commissioning methodol ogy has been utilized but the thesis does not achieve the level of detail required to complete a virtual commissioning project of the crane’s automation, some function ality has not been implemented due to time constraints. The following results were obtained. The material hall and crane have been con structed in 3D using the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software CATIA from Das sault systémes. An automation procedure has been developed in TIA Portal, simu lated using PLCSIM Advanced, and connected to a developed HMI using WinCC. Suggestions for sensors and additional hardware have been made, and the authors recommended additional safety measures. Neither the logical model nor the final virtual commissioning step of connecting the PLC, physical model, and logical model was completed due to not receiving the required software in the given timeframe. However, this thesis is considered a helpful framework that provides the theory and methodology to complete the virtual commissioning in future.