Browsing by Author "Neves, Carlos"
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- An approach to integrating manufacturing data from legacy Injection Moulding Machines using OPC UAPublication . Martins, André; Miguel Lopes e Silva, Bruno; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, Carlos; Lyons, John; Cosgrove, JohnTo achieve the ambitions related with the concept of a Smart Factory, manufacturers of new industrial devices have been developing and releasing products capable of integrating themselves into fully-connected environments, with the communication capabilities and advanced specifications required. In these environments, the automatic retrieval of data across the shop floor is a must, allowing the analysis of machine performance for increased production quality and outputs. On most of the recently released industrial devices this machine data is readily available. However, the same is not true when using legacy devices. It is also well established that most SMEs are unable or do not intend to radically replace their industrial devices with this purpose only, since that would imply a high investment, and mainly because many of these legacy machines remain highly productive. That said, there is a need to develop integration methodologies for these legacy industrial devices and provide them with smart factory communication capabilities that make them suitable for the new Smart Factory environments. In this work, an approach is proposed, using as a case study an industrial shop floor, to integrate data from a range of injection moulding machines, from different generations and different models / manufacturers. This equipment diversity renders the automatic interconnection extremely challenging, but is also representative of many existing industrial scenarios. This research will contribute to the development of integration methodologies and, consequently, improve equipment compatibility. To apply these methodologies, information about specific machines within the shop floor was gathered, as well as their communication and I/O capabilities, together with other features deemed relevant. A trend in recently released machines can be identified, revealing a special focus on the use of OPC UA standard, making use of its address space based on the structured Euromap information models. On the other hand, the legacy devices mainly allow outputting a text file to an external storage unit connected to the machine, containing machine and injection cycles related information. Regarding the communication interfaces available, the Ethernet interface reveals to be the most common among the recently acquired machines, while USB is the main interface in older equipment. An experimental solution was developed for the presented case study, which uses the machine's USB interface to access these files at each injection cycle, mapping the acquired data to structured information model variables, according with Euromap specifications, and making it available through an OPC UA server address space. The developed server provides a standardized, interoperable, scalable, and secure approach for data exchange between the injection moulding machines and various OPC UA clients, allowing device monitoring and control during operation, as well as transmitting this data to higher-level management systems, e.g., MES and ERP systems. This solution shows that older legacy devices, available across the shop floors, can be retrofitted and integrated in Smart Factory scenarios, side-by-side with recently released equipment, giving production managers access to information needed to monitor and improve the production process, thus moving towards the Factories of the Future.
- CNC Machines Integration in Smart Factories using OPC UAPublication . Martins, André; Lucas, João; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, CarlosThis paper examines the idea of Industry 4.0 from the perspective of the molds industry, a vital industry in today’s industrial panorama. Several technologies, particularly in the area of machining equipment, have been introduced as a result of the industry’s constant modernization. This technological diversity makes automatic interconnection with production management software extremely difficult, as each brand and model requires different, mostly proprietary, interfaces and communication protocols. In the methodology presented in this paper, a development of monitoring solutions for machining devices is defined supporting the leading equipment and operations used by molds industry companies. OPC UA is employed for high-level communication between the various systems for a standardized approach. The approach combines various machine interfaces on a single system to cover a significant subset of machining equipment currently used by the molds industry, as a key result of this paper and given the variety of monitoring systems and communication protocols. This type of all-in-one approach will provide production managers with the information they need to monitor and improve the complete manufacturing process.
- Developing an OPC UA Server for CNC MachinesPublication . Martins, André; Lucas, João; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, CarlosThis paper addresses the concept of Industry 4.0 from the perspective of the molds industry, a key industry in today’s industrial panorama. With its constant modernization, several technologies have been introduced, in particular regarding machining equipment. With each brand and model requiring different (proprietary) interfaces and communication protocols, this technological diversity renders the automatic interconnection with production management software extremely challenging. In this paper a methodology to build monitoring solutions for machining devices is defined, based on the main equipment and operations used by molds industry companies. For a standardized approach, OPC UA is used for high-level communication between the various systems. As a key result of this paper, and given the variety of monitoring systems and communication protocols, the developed approach combines various different machine interfaces on a single system, in order to cover a relevant subset of machining equipment currently in use by the molds industry. This kind of all-in-one approach will give production managers access to the information needed for a continuous monitoring and improvement of the entire production process.
- Digital Twin Development for a Quality Control CellPublication . Marcella Cavalcanti; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, Carlos; Martins, André; Luís PerdigotoThe Digital Twin is one of the enabling technologies of Industry 4.0, Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Factories. In this context, Digital Twins can be developed for being employed through the entire lifecycle of a system, for design, operation, monitoring, maintenance, and even fault prediction and reconfiguration. This paper describes the development of a Digital Twin for a Quality Control cell that is part of a larger manufacturing process in the automotive industry. The virtual environment was built using ABB RobotStudio, the communication between devices in the cell was implemented with OPC UA (UA. NET and open62541), and the process data are registered in a database using MySQL. The results show a fully functional simulation of the cell's behaviour and future development will include the connection of the Digital Twin with the real system.
- Flexible Manufacturing Systems Through the Integration of Asset Administration Shells, Skill-Based Manufacturing, and OPC UAPublication . Martins, André; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, Carlos; Cosgrove, John; Lyons, JohnThe advent of Industry 4.0 has created a need for more flexible and adaptable manufacturing systems. This paper proposes the integration of AAS (Asset Administration Shells), SBM (Skill-based manufacturing) and OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture), to enable more flexible manufacturing systems. The integration of these concepts provides a solution for achieving faster and easier dynamic reconfiguration in manufacturing systems, which is essential for fulfilling the demand of customization and flexibility in modern production systems. An Asset Administration Shell provides a standardized structure for describing assets and their administration, while Skill-based manufacturing enables the deployment of task-oriented machines that can self-configure, self-diagnose, and self-optimize their performance. The use of OPC UA as a communication protocol ensures that these systems can communicate with one another in a secure and reliable way. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the integration of these three open technologies. This framework contributes to having a single interface and source of information for every asset, which can lead to increased efficiency by reducing changeover times, thus reducing the overall cost in flexible manufacturing system scenarios. Future work will focus on the implementation and validation of this framework in a real-world manufacturing setting.
- High Sensitivity Micro-machined Piezoresistive Strain SensorPublication . Caseiro, D.; Santos, S.; Ferreira, Carlos Daniel Henriques; Neves, CarlosThis paper presents a micro-machined piezoresistive sensor capable of measuring very small strains. The sensor design, based on piezoresistive sensing technology, was optimized by the numerical method using Finite Element Method (FEM) to enhance sensibility. The high sensibility is achieved through a reduction of section and through the action of the bending moment. As a result, a sensor with a sensitivity of 569.4608 μV/V/με, which can be fabricated by the SensoNor MultiMEMS process, is proposed. Furthermore, practical essays with macro prototypes confirmed and validated the numerical analysis. Such a sensor can be a direct replacement for the strain gauges and its very high sensitivity opens the door to many other applications, that otherwise would not be possible.
- Industrial Robot Trajectory Generation and Execution for 3D Printing using an ABB IRB 1200Publication . Cavalcanti, Marcella; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, CarlosThe use of industrial robots in additive manufacturing processes has become increasingly important, offering more flexibility and the capability of multi-directional printing. This integration facilitates the production of more complex geometries, free from the limitations of small build volumes and support structures, opening new possibilities for innovation in advanced manufacturing systems. As the complexity of the printed structures grows, optimizing robot trajectories is essential to ensure high-quality results. This work presents a comparative analysis of robot trajectory generation and execution using ABB's 3D Printing Power Pack and generated RAPID coding in both simulated and real environments. The objective is to assess the use of the Power Pack in term of trajectory accuracy and efficiency, as well as how the simulated results compare with the real ones, considering the use-case of 3D printing. To support this analysis, a "test pattern" was designed to account for different trajectories, consisting of a single line extrusion path featuring long linear segments, corners, and curved sections. The path was converted into both G-code and RAPID code. The G-code was first validated on a standard 3D printer and then used as input in the 3D Printing Power Pack application to generate a RAPID program for the robot. Separately, another RAPID program was created manually to execute the same path, based on the G-code. Both programs were executed on a simulated environment in RobotStudio, and on an ABB IRB 1200 robot. Throughout the tests, the robot’s Tool Center Point (TCP) position was captured using ABB’s Externally Guided Motion (EGM) application.
- Industry 4.0 Machine-to-Machine Communication Protocols and Architectures on the Shop FloorPublication . Cavalcanti, Marcella; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, CarlosThe concept of Industry 4.0 and the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT) on industrial applications, known as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), have been changing the scenario of industrial automation. This new paradigm is expected to optimize industrial processes, increase productivity, lower costs and improve operations integration. For that, structured Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication is key to ensure agility, interoperability and reliability, with several solutions currently available in the literature and in industry. This paper reviews the state of the art on industrial communication protocols and architectures, providing a classification and comparison of these different solutions based on their most relevant features in the context of Industry 4.0.
- Laying Ground for Automated Manhole Inspection – a ReviewPublication . Jorge, Filipe; Costelha, Hugo; Neves, CarlosAlthough advances have been made in reducing the time needed for manhole inspection, the procedure is still mostly done manually, with workers having to enter and visually assess the areas being inspected. There is also a growing need to have these structures inspected regularly, in order to prevent casualties and services interruption, as well as the higher cost of rebuilding instead of repairing these structures, which is possible only if pathologies are identified at early stages. This situation renders the task a good target for automation. This paper reviews a set of existing manhole, tunnel and duct inspection systems to ascertain the main features required for the task, as well as the technologies currently used. Most of the present-day solutions are rather expensive and cumbersome, requiring the deployment of relatively heavy equipment and specialized personnel to operate them. With the recent development of laser range sensors and depth (RGBD) cameras with small form factors and weights, the development of solutions with higher portability and lower cost become feasible. Such a solution could improve considerably the rate at which manholes are inspected, and the technology could be used to generate textured models to be analyzed and reported by a remotely located specialist, both online and offline. The work presented here lays the ground for the development of such a system in our research group who has been working on low-cost systems for the generation of 3D textured models for automated inspection.
- Localização de peças, produtos e materiaisPublication . Gomes, Hugo; Pereira, João da Silva; Mendes, Sílvio; Monteiro, Rui Vasco; Neves, Carlos; Rosa, Hugo; Baptista, António
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