The integrated software PLC which is a standard feature of all Reis robots can been used to control complete production lines, including parts of the system which do not directly interact with the robot. Olympus Technologies recently supplied two 300kg payload Reis robots to handle heavy industrial steel pressings. The system also included conveyors and presses which the customer had sourced separately.
Olympus provided the system integration, using the Reis integrated PLC.
Such a system would normally need one or more PLCs to control the conveyors and presses and to co-ordinate with the robots.
The Reis RobotstarV robot controller can take on this role however, with its virtual PLC.
The virtual PLC runs continuously in the background, in parallel with the standard robot programs.
This facility was used to control every part of the production line.
As well as saving the expense of physical PLCs, the Reis system offers greater integration with a common set of inputs and outputs accessible by both robot and PLC programs and a shared set of markers for communication between robot and PLC without physical I/Os.
The CAN bus architecture of the Reis system also allows for I/Os to be distributed at convenient locations around the system, rather than in the robot control cabinet.
The PLC programming can all be done through the robot teach pendant, removing the need for additional PC-based hardware and software for PLC programming.
Programmers can also monitor the actual PLC signals through the teach pendant, whilst the system is running, in order to test and verify their programs.