C U S T O M E R S U C C E S S S T O R Y

T he rapid increase in the use of embedded PCs for industrial control systems is a natural outgrowth of designers

interest in building machines with

enough flexibility to adapt to

constantly changing requirements.

Using a Windows PC to provide

human machine interface (HMI)

functions alongside PLCs that

perform general machine control is

commonplace, but PCs can do much

more than implement just an HMI.

Windows PCs are capable of

implementing reliable real-time

control and high-speed data

acquisition when augmented by a

tightly-coupled real-time software

environment.

High-Speed Mathematical Computations Eitel Presses of Orwigsburg, PA,

has produced machines governed by

PC controls since the late 1990s,

when they undertook a project to

migrate their PLC-based control

systems to incorporate a Windows-

based platform. The migration was

driven in part by the fact that some of

the mathematical calculations they

need to perform couldnt be done

efficiently by PLCs. They needed a

more general-purpose computational

element in their systems. The system

architecture Eitel developed is

referred to internally as ORCA (Open

Reliable Control Architecture).

Eitels presses provide precision

straightening for heat treated metal

parts to the automobile industry.

Parts such as valves, crankshafts,

pinions, and axles are typically out of

alignment when they exit the heat

treatment process. Eitel equipment

Eitel Presses Deliver Precision Straightening with Windows-based Real-time Control

To efficiently combine high-speed mathematical calculations with reliability and flexibility, Eitel Presses built their state-of-the-art control platform on Steeplechase VLC and the INtime RTOS for Windows; giving them a competitive advantage that cannot be easily duplicated.

The AMS-25 pictured above is Eitels 25-ton automatic press configured for straightening steering racks. Eitel Presses system architecture, ORCA, utilizes Steeplechase VLC and the INtime RTOS for Windows to host operation and control of this press and many others using an industrial Windows-based PC.

straightens these parts to tolerances

as tight as 20 microns, with a

repeatability of measurement equal to

two microns or better. High-speed

mathematical computation is

required to make the part-

straightening cycle times fast and

precise.

Double the Performance With incorporation of real-time

Windows PC control, Eitels

Automatic Mechanical Straightener

(see photo on page one) reduced the

straightening time of camshafts to 10

seconds, compared to 20 seconds

using their previous generation of

PLC-only controlled machines. In

addition to calculating the

straightening algorithm, the Windows

PC provides a connection to

manufacturing and enterprise

networks, implements the HMI,

rotates the parts being straightened,

and hosts a data collection card that

obtains dimensional measurements

on the parts during the straightening

process. The Windows PC also

functions as a conventional PLC,

controlling general machine I/O

functions, such as activating

solenoids for parts transfer on and off

the machine.

Real-time Data Acquisition and Control High-speed data collection plays

a major role in achieving the

machines impressive cycle times.

Shaft straightening is performed over

multiple rotational cycles. During

each rotation the shafts deflections

are measured, by laser or linear

variable displacement transducer

(LVDT), and its rotational angle is

tracked with an encoder. One rotation

results in 256 measurements being

made by the real-time Windows PC.

The part is typically rotated at 60

RPM with a servomotor, also

controlled by the PC.

Reliable and Flexible Platform The only reluctance Eitel had to

adopting a Windows PC as a control

element was their concern for system

reliability. At the time Eitel chose

Windows to be part of their ORCA

platform, PCs had the reputation of

being prone to software crashes; Eitel

needed a software environment that

was robust, with a high degree of

numerical performance, included

flexible expansion

options, and had the easy-

to-use features of the

Windows platform. After

evaluating multiple PC-

based software

alternatives for managing

control and data

acquisition functions,

Eitel chose the VLC

package from

Steeplechase, a division

of Phoenix Contact

located in Ann Arbor, MI.

Using Steeplechase VLC,

Eitels designers quickly

implemented a flowchart

design to control the

servo drives and facilitate

data collection from the

data acquisition card.

In addition to

wanting to use a

flowchart-based design approach,

another key reason Eitel cites for

selecting VLC was the INtime real-

time kernel underlying the VLC

software. Key to meeting the

performance requirements of the Eitel

application was the need to

implement machine-dependent

functions, such as servicing the data

acquisition card and performing Eitel-

A segment of the VLC flowchart that operates the Eitel AMS press.

specific straightening algorithms, that

would not be affected by non-control

Windows applications in the system,

such as the HMI and enterprise

network components.

INtime, the real-time operating

system (RTOS) provided by TenAsys

Corporation of Beaverton, OR is

based on software technology that has

been proven by over 25 years of use

in thousands of mission-critical Intel

Architecture applications. Working in

parallel alongside Windows, the

INtime RTOS insures that time-

critical applications always have

priority over non-time-critical

Windows processes.

Custom Real-time Control Blocks With the help of TenAsys

engineers, Phoenix Contact

developed a means by which OEMs

can extend Steeplechase VLC with

custom real-time PLC function

blocks. These custom function blocks,

created using the Steeplechase C-

Toolkit and a standard Microsoft

Visual Studio compiler, execute on

the INtime real-time kernel and

expand the functions and features

available in the Steeplechase VLC

programming environment, without

requiring that a PLC programmer

have to understand or even see the

implementation details of the real-

time function block.

The process of developing the

C-Toolkit extension for Steeplechase

VLC was simplified by the fact that

the INtime development environment

is completely integrated into

Microsoft Visual Studio. Integration

with Visual Studio allows the process

of editing, compiling, and debugging

real-time applications for the INtime

RTOS to be done in a familiar

environment using modern, up-to-

date software development tools.

Using the Steeplechase C-Toolkit,

Eitel engineers developed custom

application code for Steeplechase

VLC to run on the INtime RTOS. The

Eitel real-time code manages the

complex action of reading and

processing information from the data

acquisition card before it is passed

back to Steeplechase VLC for control

of Eitels straightening press. This

flexibility of the INtime RTOS, to

simultaneously support multiple real-

time processes, is what allowed Eitel

to create a fast and precise control

system that can be easily programmed

by their end users.

Steeplechase VLC also controls

two press servomotors through a PC

motion control card. Servo drives

power the straightening function and

rotation of the part for measurement.

They also provide encoder feedback

for the straightening algorithm.

Standard motion control function

blocks included with VLC, combined

with function blocks developed by

Eitel, form the core elements in the

system.

We feel that the VLC/INtime software environment gives us a competitive advantage

in our market that cannot be easily duplicated.

Karl Klemsche, Eitel Vice President

A transmission shaft is straightened by an Eitel automatic press.

Copyright 2007 TenAsys Corporation.TENASYS, INTIME, and IRMX are registered trademarks of TenAsys Corporation. 070301 Other trademarks and brand names are the property of their respective owners.

TenAsys Corporation 1400 NW Compton Drive, #301

Beaverton, OR 97006 USA +1 503 748-4720

fax +1 503 748-4730 info@tenasys.com www.tenasys.com

real-time virtualization experts

Familiar Flowchart Programming The Steeplechase VLC

programming environment is very

user-friendly and easy to

troubleshoot. During application

development, designers can view the

values of variables in real-time as

VLC programs are being debugged.

Eitels customers also have the ability

to modify VLC programs to make

application-specific changes

themselvesgiving Eitel a distinct

advantage over competing black

box systems that require vendor

support for even simple

modifications.

Data Archive for Quality Control After straightening, information

about each part, before and after

deflection measurements, and the

cycle time required to make

corrections, are stored on the PC's

hard drive. Additional information

can be collected to help the customer

troubleshoot upstream processes that

affect the straightness of the part. The

customer can use this information to

improve his process, yielding better

quality parts and improved cycle

times. Some applications, such as

those involving the straightening of

aircraft parts, require that such

information be archived for each and

every part manufactured on the line.

A Real-time Platform for Growth Due in large part to the reliable

VLC/INtime software environment,

the AMS system has proven to be fast,

quiet, and environmentally friendly,

said Karl Klemsche, Eitel Vice

President. We are now building

machines around the second

generation of the ORCA architecture.

The new generation of ORCA

systems incorporates adaptive

controls that adjust the straightening

stroke infinitely, based on the

measured deflection before

straightening. Other benefits include

plotting thermal infrared (TIR)

imaging curves and surface geometry,

multilingual HMIs (including

Japanese), and automatic flaw

detection systems.

We feel that the VLC/INtime

software environment gives us a

competitive advantage in our market

that cannot be easily duplicated,

added Mr. Klemsche.

A Windows system running INtime has two virtual machines on a single hardware platform, insuring real-time applications always have priority over and run without interference from Windows processes.

/ColorImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorImageDict > /AntiAliasGrayImages false /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict > /GrayImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayImageDict > /AntiAliasMonoImages false /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict > /AllowPSXObjects false /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName (http://www.color.org) /PDFXTrapped /Unknown /Description >>> setdistillerparams> setpagedevice