Contact Festo Ltd www.festo.co.uk Tel: 0800 626 422 Email: info.gb@festo.com Customer benefits This approach has enabled a rationalisation of components and a customer cost saving. On the latest Festo 10mm wide solenoid valves the limit to the maximum flow rate isn’t now the valve but the fittings and therefore tubing that can fit within the footprint. This meant that one of the obvious cost savings was to offer one valve body size with two different sub-bases, the customer can specify the higher flow option for where they need it – for larger diameter actuators or faster cycle rates. Conversely, they can save on the overall width of the terminal and reduce unnecessary air consumption by using smaller diameter tubing where this is sufficient. Electrically, optimisation on valve terminals is a matter for machine builders of cost, speed of integrating into the control architecture and ease of commissioning and diagnostics. The impact on energy consumption of the individual solenoid valve coils and reaction times of the cylinders is minimal compared with the compressed air passing through the valves but it still made sense to reduce solenoid power drain overall, reducing the size and current capacity of panel mounted power supplies minimising valve actuation times. Therefore, as the VTUX valve terminals were under development, in close co-ordination, the electrical and controls team were developing the electrical connectivity product range called Festo AP, short for Automation Platform. The Festo AP supplies a lower cost but fast and powerful connection way for the last few metres on a machine. It doesn’t compete with the likes of IO-link or Ethernet technologies but seamlessly collaborates with them to provide cross protocol connectivity and transparency. Key here is the user experience for the software and controls engineers that program and commission new machines. The Festo AP addresses key needs of both serial and special purpose machine builders. The system enables machine builders to swap the PLC they are using to meet the specification of their customers whilst keeping up to 90% of the remote IO [RIO] field and cabinet level components common. This makes it easier, and lower cost, to support a range of machines and creates an ideal platform for a range of machines based on common technology and components. The AP system is a hybrid approach, it delivers interconnecting modular and decentralised IOs on a scalable, flexible, and powerful communication backplane. The designers’ brief was to address three key factors – Performance, Flexibility and Cost. They created a modular system of robust digital RIO components that can be field, or cabinet mounted, alone or in combination with industry leading pneumatic valve solutions. The system uses a single field bus node module as a header, which is networked to a broad range of input, output, and pneumatic solenoid valve manifold options. The AP system and its components can be flexibly arranged without topology or space restrictions to fit the machine layout. This comes at a lower cost than using multiple proprietary field bus nodes and yet is still easy to address and completely visible within the PLC controls. Key features CPX-AP Performance: Up to 79 devices with 50m between modules, Real Time Connectivity (200 MBaud data rate, cycle time down to 15 µs), control and data handling, host systems include Profinet, EtherCAT, Ethernet IP, Modbus TCP, TSN and in preparation CC-Link IE Field Basic Flexibility: flexible decentralised/localised modular remote IO, application optimised pneumatics manifolds, Cloud and Edge compatible with MQTT and OPC-UA Cost: reduced component complexity and costs. Standardises control cabinet layouts, smaller footprint reduces cabinet costs and space requirement in compact machine designs. Large individual manifolds The new VTUX valve terminal and the AP connectivity platform provides machine builders with the opportunity to save costs and increase their machines’ performance individually or most powerfully when combined. Seamlessly combining centralised and de-centralised IO and valve terminals
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