ACOPOS 6D HERALDS A NEW ERA OF PRODUCTIVITY
Today’s production machinery takes up a lot of space, only a fraction of which contributes to the production process directly. Far more real estate is dedicated to moving parts via conveyor belts, rotary tables, carousels, etc. B&R’s ACOPOS 6D revolutionizes all that with magnetically levitated shuttles that carry parts freely through the production process. ACOPOS 6D creates a multidimensional manufacturing space in which each product moves independently from station to station without being bound to a rigid, sequential production flow. ACOPOS 6D is ideal for small-batch production with frequent design and dimension changes.
ACOPOS 6D is based on the principle of magnetic levitation: Shuttles with integrated permanent magnets float smoothly and silently over the surface of electromagnetic motor segments, carrying production parts of weights up to 14 kg. Shuttles can move freely in two-dimensional space, rotate and tilt along three axes and offer precise control over levitation height. These six degrees of motion control freedom give the “6D” in the product name.
A shuttle’s location is known to within ±5 µm at all times, making ACOPOS 6D perfectly suited for applications with strict positioning requirements. Tight shuttle formations with no gaps further improve space utilization and enable groups of shuttles to collaborate to carry larger or heavier products. Since each shuttle can also serve as a high-precision (±1 g) scale, weighing stations can be eliminated, saving further space.
The contactless, noiseless, flexible and precise performance of ACOPOS 6D heralds a transition from strictly linear production to an open, adaptive manufacturing space – nothing less than a revolution in the way products are manufactured, assembled and packaged.
A SOLID-STATE CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR HIGH CURRENTS
ABB’s Infinitus is a first-of-a-kind, solid-state circuit breaker for high-density currents. Infinitus embeds – for the first time – switching, insulation and DC protection into one single device up to a rating of 5 kA.
Instead of using separable contacts and an arc chamber to make and break the current, the Infinitus solid-state breaker uses a lightning-fast power semiconductor: the low-loss reverse blocking integrated gate-commutated thyristor (RB-IGCT). This semiconductor technology enables breaking times of around 10 µs at up to 1 kV DC, compared to the tens of milliseconds needed by conventional electromechanical breakers. Such speed makes Infinitus the best option for applications where fault currents may reach several hundred kiloamperes in a few milliseconds, such as in power converters, battery protection devices, or bus-ties in DC marine grids.
Compared to equivalent semiconductor solutions, Infinitus has much lower power losses – for example, 75 percent lower than a comparable IGBT solution – and higher efficiency (about 99.9 percent at 1 kA, 1 kV). However, conventional circuit breakers have power losses that are much lower than those of Infinitus. This extra power loss that Infinitus has compared to circuit breakers means that Infinitus needs integrated cooling. In Infinitus, this temperature conditioning is accomplished by an innovative insulated liquid cooling system that does not require deionized water. This new approach avoids the complications (eg, continuous purification) that come with the use of the demineralized cooling water employed by other thyristor-based devices.
The Infinitus technology started with the first feasibility study in 2010 and resulted in a new concept announcement at the 2019 Hannover Fair. The arrival of the breaker enables a wide range of new low-voltage DC applications and it simplifies the migration when applications have to be moved to DC for sustainability reasons.
Infinitus customer pilot projects are running and the product will be launched in early 2022.
SAFER, FASTER AND SIMPLER, GOFA™ CRB 15000 MAKES COLLABORATION EASY
Heralding the era of collaborative robots, ABB’s award-winning six-axis GoFa™ CRB 15000 Collaborative RoBot was released February 2021. Created to support the growing demand for safe human robot collaborations, GoFa is helping businesses automate processes involving heavier loads and longer reaches, faster than previously possible.
Ideal for applications from machine tending and material handling through to packing and packaging, GoFa has a maximum speed of up to 2.2 m/s, can handle payloads up to 5 kg (10 times more than one-arm YuMi™), weighs only 28 kg and has a minimal footprint of just 165 mm². This sleek, compact and portable cobot can be mounted in any direction and easily moved between locations (eg, on Automated Guided Vehicles), thereby providing industries with heightened flexibility. With a reach of 950 mm, 70 percent longer than ABB’s YuMi single-arm robot, GoFa outperforms other cobots of the same class; loads can be picked up and moved over greater distances, thereby reducing the number of cobots needed.
Safety certified to Category 3, PL d, GoFa needs no costly space-restricting barriers or fences. The intelligent torque sensors integrated in its six joints limit power and force for superior safety and performance – GoFa stops immediately if the robot detects any contact with a human worker. Moreover, the inclusion of SafeMove™ with an easy configurator app and the tablet-like FlexPendant make the set-up and configuration safe, even for novices.
Awarded the prestigious Red Dot: Best of the Best Design Award for groundbreaking design in 2021, GoFa is a game changer. This award celebrates the cobot’s innovative, aesthetically appealing and accessible design. Because at ABB form follows function, GoFa communicates usability, utility and ease-of-use. Not only is GoFa fast and intelligent, it is approachable; this human-centric design ensures that robots, such as GoFa, will be adopted beyond traditional factory environments in the future.
Further reading “A helping hand” on pp. 48 - 53 of this edition, 1/2022, of ABB Review.
LIFTING MINES TO A NEW LEVEL OF SAFETY
More and more mining companies, as well as a number of regional and national governments, are deciding to maximize the safety of their resource extraction operations. In view of this trend, the quality and reliability of mine hoists, the powerful elevator-like systems that transport rock and personnel, have become a fundamental consideration.
ABB, one of the world’s largest suppliers of complete mine hoists, including mechanical and electrical systems, has introduced a newly developed platform of mine hoist safety products. Known as ABB Ability™ Safety Plus for hoists, the platform is composed of three solutions: Safety Plus Hoist Monitor (SPHM), Safety Plus Brake System (SPBS), and Safety Plus Hoist Protector (SPHP).
The platform provides the first SIL 3 fully-certified mine hoist solutions, enabling the highest level of safety on the market. In order to be assigned a SIL (Safety Integrity Level) rating, a hoist control and safety system needs to be designed from the ground up according to IEC 62061 functional safety standards.
The platform also offers a range of customer benefits, including best-in-class reliability, and easy (plug and play) integration into existing hoist systems.
ABB Ability™ Safety Plus for hoists includes a number of advanced self-testing and diagnostic functions that either automatically correct the performance of a degraded function or flag operations and maintenance personnel early on, if potential maintenance issues arise. These diagnostic functions occur while equipment is in operation, further reducing the downtime associated with equipment testing.
All in all, ABB’s mine hoist solutions provide the lowest possible life cycle cost, the highest possible reliability and system availability, short project execution time, and a single source of supply for complete systems, including service and spare parts.
Further information is available at: https://new.abb.com/mining/underground-mining/mine-hoist-systems/abb-ability-safety-plus-for-hoists
AUTONOMOUS AND REMOTE CONTROLLED VESSEL OPERATION WITH ABB ABILITY™ MARINE PILOT
Autonomous and remote control technologies make ship operations safer and more efficient by enhancing situational awareness, as well as automating navigational decision-making and control tasks. Such technologies can be applied to any vessel, eg, wind turbine installation vessels, cruise ships, ferries and tugs, thereby providing benefits such as detection of a wide range of obstacles, collision avoidance and dynamic positioning capabilities.
As a practical example, for tugs the technology can allow crew to rest on long transits by freeing them from some of the more tedious tasks such as continuous lookout, and enhance operational accuracy during critical tasks.
In April 2021, ABB in collaboration with Singaporean shipyard Keppel Offshore & Marine successfully conducted South Asia’s first remote joystick control of a tugboat in the Port of Singapore, one of the world’s busiest seaports with over 130,000 vessels calling annually [1]. The 32 m harbor tugboat was operated from a shore command center located at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Maritime Innovation Lab using an integrated solution based on the ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot product family. The ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot Vision, provided the augmented view of the vessel’s surroundings, while ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot Control system allowed the operator to control the vessel via the joystick.
The ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot Vision creates a virtual picture of the ship’s location in relation to other ships, buoys etc., by integrating the tug’s navigational data, including radar, compass, GPS and Electronic Nautical Charts. The data is then streamed cyber-securely to the onshore command center; for the onshore operator to have augmented situational awareness [2] while controlling the vessel.
The ABB Ability™ Marine Pilot Control system permits optimal and complete all-speed vessel control from one operator position. Together these innovations are enabling easier, safer and more efficient ship operations.
References
[1] ABB Press Release, June 21, 2021: https://new.abb.com/news/detail/79622/abb-and-keppel-om-reach-key-autonomy-milestone-with-remote-vessel-operation-trial-in-port-of-singapore
[2] K. Tervo, “Tug Project Putting Ideas into Action”, International Tug & OSV, January/February 2020.
ABB ABILITY™ GENIX DATALYZER™ FOR CONTINUOUS EMISSIONS MONITORING
Strict environmental regulations¹ and demanding analyzer availability requirements for emissions monitoring can lead to higher costs in industries such as cement, waste management and others. Enter ABB to provide customers with greater transparency and predictability for Continuous Emissions Monitoring (CEM) with ABB™ Ability Genix Datalyzer™ – ABB’s cloud-hosted data analytics platform for fleet-wide asset health monitoring.
How does the Datalyzer accomplish this? In the network architecture, multiple analyzers are connected to an edge device (MicroPC) that comprises CPM+ and the Genix Edgebase; CPM+ and SW communicate with the analyzers and captures the data while the Edgebase securely communicates the analyzer data to the cloud. This process allows the contextual integration of operational technology (OT) data with Information technology (IT) data and engineering technology (ET) data.
With ABB’s Datalyzer cloud solution, customers can gather all data points from the analyzer, relay them to the cloud and access the data in one location. Because the assets create digital footprints and data points, companies can monitor their gas analyzer health and performance, process and safety in real-time, which is necessary for compliance, efficiency and performance. With capabilities such as analysis of analyzer health data, and live system diagnostics; data analyzer health score and correlation plots, etc., users can benchmark or troubleshoot. By correlating key parameters live, customers can pre-empt disruptions and major failures – predictive maintenance is possible.
ABB’s Datalyzer, with its seamless and instant connectivity and scalable computing power results in lower costs and better performance – value is added. This enterprise-grade comprehensive cloud-based solution helps customers fulfill compliance needs while lowering the cost of ownership, improving reliability, extending the life of equipment, improving asset integrity and process safety while reducing costs and increasing margins.
Further reading “Beyond emissions monitoring” on pp. 54 – 61 of this edition, 1/2022, of ABB Review.
Footnote
1 As per emission legislation EN-14181 guidelines, companies must employ suitable equipment (QAL1), set-up correctly (QAL2), and maintain correct operation (QAL3).
Photo: ©Tobias Arhelger/stock.adobe.com
TAPPING NEW RESERVOIRS OF DATA
The worldwide water industry is experiencing an unprecedented transformation. Challenges include increasing levels of water scarcity, growing coastal salinity, pollution, ageing infrastructures, and tightening regulations. As a result, operators of water systems are responding with a renewed focus on efficiency, which is being driven by adopting innovative solutions and an increasingly data-driven approach to operations.
In view of these circumstances, ABB has introduced its Water Management System (WMS) software solution, a highly extensible and configurable platform. The platform allows operators to completely integrate existing third-party components, be they systems or devices, regardless of their interfaces or application verticalizations. This bridges the gap between operational technologies and information technology layers and opens the door to new functions. The software’s ability to connect dots holds potentially enormous value in areas such as strategic planning, asset management, and reporting, as it helps operators to spot anomalous conditions, identify the root causes of problems, compare patterns, and even simulate scenarios.
The platform’s design is based on several fully decoupled and modular layers that allow it to integrate data sources, regardless of whether they are external systems or IoT devices.
Information converges toward middleware that offers transverse services, focusing on security (in terms of access control and data exchange) and performance (caching mechanisms, data ingestion and storage, message brokering) tailored to domain-specific analytics and intelligence.
All in all, the WMS results in a single-view cockpit Web application that is complemented by a modern and fully responsive HMI, where design and usability are balanced to provide actionable information.
ABB UNMASKS THE FUTURE OF CUSTOMIZED AUTOMOTIVE PAINTING WITH PIXELPAINT
Applying a two-tone or customized design onto bodywork is a time- and labor-intensive process that requires the vehicle to be put through the painting line twice: once for the first layer and then, after the appropriate areas have been masked off, again for the second color. The task of masking and demasking the bodywork alone is laborious. And with only 70 to 80 percent of the paint going where it should, significant quantities of paint are wasted.
ABB’s PixelPaint overcomes these issues, providing a faster, highly accurate solution for customized painting. With reduced volatile organic compound (VOC) and CO₂ emissions, PixelPaint improves environmental performance and long-term sustainability too.
A PixelPaint cell configuration is a flexible combination of inkjet heads, ABB IRB 5500 paint robots, dosing control packages and ABB RobotStudio® programming software for two-tone and decorative painting applications.
The key to PixelPaint’s performance is its pioneering nozzle design, along with a variable droplet control method. This combination delivers fast and accurate high-resolution printing of two-tone and customized designs directly onto vehicle bodies. PixelPaint enables droplets to be applied at sizes ranging from 20 to 50 μm at a rate of over 1,000 droplets per second, allowing precise control of thickness and overlapping. The inkjet printer head features over 1,000 nozzles, each of which can be individually controlled. By enabling precise application of the amount of paint applied to a given area, PixelPaint ensures that images are printed to the highest quality while reducing paint wastage.
ABB’s PixelPaint robotic non-overspray technology for the automotive industry won the 2021 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics & Automation (IERA) Award for Outstanding Achievements in Commercializing Innovative Robot and Automation Technology.
STREAMLINING CONTROL SYSTEM ENGINEERING
ABB Adaptive Execution™ allows software engineering to be performed in a virtualized cloud-based engineering environment, using a continuous modular configuration and testing methodology conducted with simulation models. In this approach, software is more thoroughly tested before deployment – which reduces expensive site-based commissioning – and remote acceptance testing is enabled.
ABB Adaptive Execution exploits System 800xA Select I/O, the foundation for two new project execution streamlining methodologies that reduce costs and shorten schedules in digital control system (DCS) projects: xStream Commissioning and xStream Engineering.
System 800xA Select I/Os mounted in standardized remote field enclosures known as Smart Junction Boxes are used to significantly reduce the cost and time associated with connecting hundreds of field devices to the System 800xA DCS I/O system. Instead of routing the field device cabling via specific junction boxes to a, possibly distant, marshaling cabinet, they can simply be connected through a single home-run cable to a free Select I/O channel in the nearest Smart Junction Box. Once so connected, the System 800xA Ethernet I/O Field Kit is used to perform automatic loop checks, reducing verification effort. This streamlining is referred to as xStream Commissioning.
Further, System 800xA Select I/O allows the application software and hardware engineering to be decoupled and run in parallel. This is xStream Engineering.
ABB Adaptive Execution will also use System 800xA’s support for NAMUR modular type package (MTP) technology to streamline automation system integration further. NAMUR MTP is a comprehensive, machine-readable definition of the automation setup used by the DCS engineering tool to simplify the integration of the module into the overall DCS.
MINING CITIES’ INFORMATION PIPELINES
By 2030, demand for fresh water is expected to exceed current sustainable supplies by 40 percent. Nevertheless, much can be done to reverse this trend. For instance, the UN estimates that up to 120 billion cubic meters of water could be saved in urban centers simply by reducing leaks [1]. ABB’s AquaMaster4 Mobile Comms can help. One of the first Internet-connected flow measurement products and one of the world’s first electromagnetic flowmeters with 4G LTE Cat.1 / narrowband IoT, the AquaMaster4 can reduce operational expenses and waste while allowing for better control of supply and demand.
For instance, the flowmeter’s built-in logger and cellular engine provide flexibility and allow in- terrogation of high-resolution data, thus helping operators tailor resources to specific periods of interest. In addition, thanks to the fact that the AquaMaster4 offers the widest flow range (up to R1000) and highest accuracy (up to ±0.2 percent of reading ±0.5 mm/s) on the market, operators can rely on it to deliver bills that accurately reflect actual consumption, not estimates – and to discover leaks at an early stage. Furthermore, the AquaMaster4 is the first transmitter-equipped flowmeter to feature a contactless interface that uses the Near Field communication (NFC) standard, which allows offline configuration and updates.
AquaMaster4 includes predictive maintenance and enhanced diagnostics, such as self-checking and configuration to a predefined power mode. In case a fault is detected, the device can reboot itself and is capable of in-situ verification. Furthermore, the device enables operators to make ad-hoc requests for detailed information, to update its configuration, and to obtain audit log details – all with one of the first Internet-facing cyber security solutions offered by ABB.
Further information is available at: https://campaign.abb.com/aquamaster4
Reference
[1] UN. Half the world to face severe water stress by 2030. June, 2016. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/half-world-face-severe-water-stress-2030-unless-water-use-decoupled. [Accessed October 17, 2021]
GOLDEN BATCH ANALYTICS PRODUCE CONSISTENT TOP QUALITY
One area where Big Data can be exploited to make significant improvements is the batch process industry. Batch processes, though, are complex, dynamic and nonlinear, which often makes them tough to control and troubleshoot. Accordingly, ABB, in collaboration with experienced end users at a pilot customer, has developed ABB Ability™ BatchInsight, a process operator support system. ABB Ability™ BatchInsight uses historical data to learn the expected behavior of the batch process under nominal conditions and build a statistical “golden batch” model, which is then used as a reference for the batch currently under production. Online multiway principal component analysis (MPCA) of process data can then, in real time, detect evolving abnormalities and generate alarms. The relevant process variables are isolated so the operator can undertake corrective action and analyze the reasons for the failure. In this way, the operator can reduce off-specification product and energy consumption and increase productivity.
Tests of ABB Ability™ BatchInsight were run together with an end user (a batch chemical plant) to analyze an occasional foaming problem. The model was trained only with non-foaming batches. In 83 percent of cases, foaming events were predicted at least 5 min in advance; often they were predicted hours before. Although foaming was wrongly predicted in 20 percent of the cases, the predictions are very helpful as the operator could then focus on suspect batches.
Further reading “Golden batch analytics produce consistent top quality,” ABB Review 2/2021, pp. 31 – 35.
TOPOLOGY-BASED CONTEXTUAL ALARMS
Industrial plant control systems typically have a large number of devices that receive or transmit signals. Monitoring such a complex array of data and equipment and reacting appropriately to the events and alarms they produce can place a high cognitive load on the operator, especially during an alarm flood. Failure to rapidly detect and interpret alarms and remedy critical situations can lead to safety risks, unnecessary costs and environmental damage.
While a traditional alarm list offers a comprehensive way to access information related to alarms, it lacks the context needed to identify topological and chronological relationships between them, often making it difficult for the operator to interpret a particular situation.
ABB’s novel, dynamic, topology-based approach to industrial process alarms presents an effective alarm list summary enriched with contextual information, making it easier for the operator to interpret the situation. The method utilizes both engineering information (ie, the process topology model) and operational information (ie, event and alarm history data) to derive the context for a set of triggered alarms.
The result of this contextual analysis is presented on the user interface as a smart alarm list in which topology-connected alarms are linked and ordered over the timeline. The display of the topological and chronological relations provides vital information for root-cause analysis and decreases operator cognitive load. The visualization approach can, for example, bundle alarms caused by the same disturbance, such as a stuck valve.
The concept developed for the smart alarm list can be used for any continuous or batch process. ABB applied it to a water reinjection pump on an oil rig and achieved a reduction of 95.5 percent in critical events presented to the operator when looking for causes of a pump trip alarm.
Photo p. 20: ©Mulderphoto/stock.adobe.com
ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM FOR MASS TRANSPORTATION
Energy storage systems are becoming an integral part of electric vehicles in both road and rail transport, and will play a key role in the transition towards energy efficient mobility. To address this need, ABB has developed the BORDLINE® Energy Storage System (ESS), a powerful and modular lithium-ion battery based energy storage system designed for use in rail, road and off-road vehicles used for mass transportation.
The batteries used in mass transportation applications like railways, buses and mining trucks must have high power charging capabilities, a long lifetime to endure continuous use, and a high inherent safety level, which requires a specialized and robust solution.
The BORDLINE ESS battery modules are highly standardized and can be connected in series to form a modular battery pack. Multiple packs can be connected in parallel according to the needs of the application. Series connection of modules is realized with insulated quick coupling power connectors and with a wired serial bus between the modules and the master control unit. The modular battery design allows easy scalability in terms of installed energy and allows mechanical integration either on the roof, in the machine room or under the floor of the vehicle. The standardized, yet versatile, modular design is not only flexible to configure but also enhances availability and safety and enables faster service.
BORDLINE ESS is field proven and is being used in a wide variety of rail and road vehicles ranging from hybrid railway vehicles (diesel and fuel-cell hybrid), battery electric multiple units, railway maintenance vehicles, trolleybuses, full electric buses, mining dump trucks etc.
