Efficiency and flexibility in automation solutions

Assisting the transition from the more traditional cabinet-based automation solutions to completely decentralised automation in a modular system, Vario-X is a future-proof solution, available now.

Peter Rogers, Managing Director of Murrelektronik UK explains more about the revolutionary platform and how its modular and customisable format is a real game changer for machine builders and plant installation companies: "At its simplest level, Vario-X achieves 100% decentralised automation without control cabinets and without compressed air.

"It is fully networked, pluggable and cost efficient. Vario-X ensures reliable voltage, signal, data management and the seamless integration of decentralised servo drives. It can also be integrated into larger control systems as a node on a network, allowing simple zoning of machines to be achieved."

Modular format - a customised solution

At the heart of Vario-X are robust, IP67 rated waterproof and dustproof modules, which include power supplies, controls, disconnect switches and I/O connections. They can be easily assembled side by side on a rugged backplane with integrated mechanical mounting profiles.

Once assembled, the Vario-X solution can be easily attached to all common mounting systems without further protection and, in extreme cases, is rugged enough to be stepped on without damage. Equipped with a multicore CPU, Vario-X can meet all control requirements and be easily integrated into all higher-level Industrial Ethernet networks as an open control platform.

Cabinet-free automation

The installation and cabling of devices is plug-and-play with standard M12 and MQ15 connectors, eliminating wiring errors and reducing assembly time. This also eliminates expensive and time-consuming installation work in the control cabinet -populating components, stripping and landing wires, labelling and grounding individual components.

To extend the modular concept for your machine control, additional stations can easily be distributed around the machine and connected to each other, like adding an additional power supply to support localised servo motors.

Likewise, remote IO modules can be connected directly to Vario-X to process and control sensors and actuators without a backplane or cabinet I/O. This limits control hardware variants and vastly streamlines the cable architecture.

Turning off the air in production

Vario-X is driving forward the electrification of manufacturing processes and offers a much more efficient alternative to pneumatics. With an efficiency of only ten to twenty percent, far too much energy is wasted by using compressed air as an energy source due to countless leaks in the system and inefficient actuators.

Replacing pneumatics with electrics - swapping an air cylinder with a servo motor - brings advantages to all those involved: the engineer who can reduce the inefficient, low resolution and relatively expensive pneumatics in his machine, the production planner who can focus on one physical energy source - electricity, the employees who can finally operate in a noticeably quieter work environment and, by reducing energy use to help our planet.

Digital twin

Vario-X is not only a collection of backplanes, modules, cables and I/O. A system automated with Vario-X has a digital twin right from the start: a portable 1:1 image of the virtual system that contains all the functions and parameters of the physical system - even in the design phase, before even the first mechanical component has been ordered or assembled. For this purpose, Murrelektronik creates a kinematic of machines and systems in a unique software, where movements and processes can be simulated.

With the digital twin, the same virtual kinematic is then run to control the real machine. The digital system can also be 'placed' directly into the manufacturing process with augmented reality (AR) on a mobile phone or tablet, so that all movement sequences and functions can be viewed virtually while assembling the machine or in production.

"Allowing offsite testing of a machine in a digital environment allows repeated testing and resetting of functions, without the need for materials waste. This is also a much quicker process, and one that most end users are now happy to accept factory test results from," says Peter Rogers, summarising the advantages of the digital twin.

In addition, machine builders can use the digital twin as a '3D blueprint', for example via augmented reality app or virtual reality glasses. This often works much faster than understanding a plan drawn in 2D.