What is the relationship between intelligent factory and automation

Intelligent factory can be divided into three levels. The first level is the equipment level solution based on automation and control. The imported applications are CNC equipment, PLC, I / O, touch panel and motion control products; The second layer is the man-machine interface and monitoring system. The imported applications include HMI / SCADA, integrated monitoring of factory equipment, collection of real-time and historical data, integrated analysis of efficiency and energy-saving control; The third layer is the production management solution. The imported application is MES / EMI, which provides automatic information of production line work order, feeding and material preparation.

From the perspective of software solutions, the upper layer is the real-time information portal, and then in order are the intelligent factory performance analysis and production execution, comprehensive quality management, asset management, factory database, graphic monitoring equipment and the editing and control of the bottom layer. These operation platforms can be built according to the needs of the intelligent factory.

The benefits of introducing smart factory applications are obvious. Taking the LED lamp production line as an example, there are dozens of processes for each LED lamp, and each process should be allocated. In order to pursue the production speed, it may take more than 20 people to assemble, but after importing the automatic production line, an LED lamp can be completed in 7 seconds, and only three people are needed.

However, after the introduction of automation, the design of the production line also needs to be redesigned. Taking the above-mentioned LED lamps as an example, the intelligent factory will make the production line into a zigzag shape, because it is necessary to consider the space of the intelligent factory site, the location of the warehouse, how to import and export materials and how to repair, so as to design the shape of the production line that meets the actual needs.

The next step is to enter SCADA, that is, supervisory control and data acquisition. All platforms with system monitoring and data acquisition functions must be matched with corresponding software and hardware to be called SCADA.

The purpose of setting SCADA is to provide the system equipment with overall monitoring, control, automatic timing recording, printing and query through the real-time monitoring equipment of the computer, and provide the real-time operation status of the equipment. Smart factory can establish long-term equipment maintenance data, effectively use maintenance human resources, and improve equipment maintenance quality and equipment operation efficiency. SCADA can meet a variety of system equipment, such as power monitoring system, air conditioning monitoring system, fire monitoring system, access control monitoring system, process monitoring system, etc.

Another project related to the application of intelligent factory is graphic control system. Experts pointed out that in order to succeed in the graphic control interface, it is necessary to understand that the interface between people and equipment actually exists in the corresponding relationship between the control equipment and the screen graphics. When the real-world equipment, perceptron or controller is transformed into various objects of the computer screen, it is necessary to achieve complete correspondence. Engineers need a little aesthetic cultivation to present a situation close to the real world, So that the controller can display the operation status of the equipment and control the operation of the equipment through the screen.

A complete monitoring system requires the composition of many components. Taking the process equipment monitoring system as an example, the process equipment shall have sensing and braking devices, and the data shall be converted and transmitted to the control system. The control system shall at least have the functions of display, recording, adjustment and actuation, which shall be processed by the operator according to the data transmitted from the front desk. Therefore, all data must be properly handled when sent to the background. If 70% of the warnings may be just false positives, the monitoring system must be able to make judgments.

In addition to the aforementioned system platform, the hardware architecture also needs to be properly considered in order to build an intelligent factory. The first is the basic demand of online. The communication protocol should try to choose the existing one in the market and minimize self-development to avoid problems caused by the online connection between devices.

The second is to choose I & C facilities. At present, the interfaces of I & C facilities are very diverse. In addition to the current popular Ethernet, the past RS232 / 422 / 485 are still in use. In fact, the smart factory is not necessarily not used by Ethernet, because considering the construction cost, the past investment does not have to be abandoned, but different I & C facility interfaces will affect the configuration of communication lines, including equipment, distance, speed and cost. When importing solutions, the factory should make a trade-off plan.

The selection of computer equipment, including the number and configuration of on-line computers, working environment, computer specifications and peripheral devices, should be fully considered. Experts believe that the key to selection depends entirely on the affordability of the system. If you use the server, you have to use the server. Don't choose cheaper computer equipment because of saving procurement costs, because once you choose the wrong one, the equipment often fails or crashes, and the maintenance cost is not cost-effective.

As for the consideration of monitoring network architecture, the items to be considered include workstation task allocation, network architecture planning, network traffic control and network security. In the framework planning, it can be considered according to the control responsibility division, man-machine interface planning and network function coordination.

Taking the control responsibility as an example, it can be divided into controller and graph control computer. The former attaches importance to real-time and high reliability and is suitable for low-order logic / analog control, while the latter requires strong data processing ability and is suitable for high-order control. As for how many controllers should be installed in each exchanger, it depends on the speed requirements.

In terms of man-machine interface planning, we must introduce the concept of human factors engineering. Whether it is the use habits or the size of graphics, it can meet the use habits and on-site conditions, such as the direction, size and color of knobs. It should meet the requirements of intuition, simplicity and error prevention. Other items such as operation process, display mode and safety control should also be considered to meet the user habits.

As for the cooperation of network functions, it is suggested to cooperate with the commonly used built-in network functions of windows, and adopt an efficient TCP / IP layer-to-layer communication mode to enable multiple computers to monitor and control each other, so as to achieve the purpose of resource sharing and mutual backup.

MES is often an application that needs to be imported by smart factories. If there are too many problems in the production process of smart factory, such as shutdown, production loss, too much rework, wrong delivery time, demand that cannot meet industry specifications and standards, material shortage, inability to track the use of raw materials, customer complaints and product recalls, you may have to seriously consider the necessity of introducing MES.

Because of the above problems, managers need to make corresponding strategies. When encountering various problems, they need MES to know why and how to improve. For example, when receiving urgent orders, if the information from top to bottom can be integrated, they can know whether the relevant materials are sufficient in a short time and judge whether they can undertake orders.

Due to the increasing demand for energy conservation and carbon reduction, intelligent energy-saving system has also become a common import project of intelligent factories. Taking the energy management system as an example, from collection and measurement, monitoring and analysis, control and management, unloading to energy conservation, in fact, we need to try to integrate their own independent systems, such as power and lighting monitoring, air conditioning monitoring, parking management, etc., in order to achieve the purpose of energy conservation, carbon reduction and then cost reduction.