Innovative network design

September 2008 Fieldbus & Industrial Networking

Industrial Ethernet in VW-Golf production.

Increasing expectations on the side of the consumer with regard to safety, environmental protection and comfort, combined with increasing pressure to cut costs poses challenges for the automobile industry. With regard to efficiency, transparency and magnitude, the Wolfsburg production line of the fifth Golf generation of Volkswagen sets new standards; an innovative Ethernet structure services the complete manufacturing facilities and offers increased saving potential. Wolfsburg is the main production location for the fifth Golf generation.

In its fifth generation, the Volkswagen Golf offers more than ever. The compact wagon is available with different types of drives, transmissions, engines, and equipment. But all models are the same concerning active and passive safety. The clear advantage with regard to car body stability and crash safety, which was awarded five stars in the Euro-NCAP-Test, is combined with significant weight optimisation. 140 special robots with a total of 70 metres of laser-welded seams provide body stiffness. The predecessor had only five metres.

Project parameters

In Wolfsburg, the largest vehicle/automobile plant in the world is combined with the largest production network in the world in the automobile construction industry. For decades the car has been the heart of the city's economy.

The seamless generation change enables the timely planning and completion of new production lines. In 2002, the most modern production plants in halls 1 (pressing plant), 3 and 4 (body shell work), 15b (paintshop), 54 (assembly) and 12 (discharge) were established. The production capacity of the Wolfsburg location covers 4000 vehicles per workday. Dynamics and transparency at all levels of the company must be ensured through realtime, constant communication.

Implementation

Highlights of the chosen network architecture include:

* 16 modular backbone-switch MACH 3000 in redundant HIPER-ring structure span all halls throughout the production plants. For a clean IP-sub network structure in all areas of production, as well as the incorporation of the MACH 3000 systems in the communication network, enabled by redundantly connected M-Router modules. The Ethernet backbone for manufacturing of the body operates at Gigabit speed, using optical fibre for transmission.

* More than 1500 rail-switch systems, MICEswitches mainly MS2108 and MS3124, in over 100 HIPERrings, which are connected to the plant network via redundant optical fibres, link the cells and ensure the highest level of availability.

Requirements

The scale of the system is illustrated by the fact that it has to cater for:

* 8000 operators.

* 1000 robots.

* 10 000 IP-addresses.

* 2900 cars/day.

* Laid LWL cable > 1000 km.

* Exchange and update of components during operation.

* High temperatures.

* High EMV.

* End-to-end management.

* Redundant network design.

* Possibility of simple diagnosis.

For more information contact Profitek Industrial Communication, +27 (0)12 664 4998, [email protected], www.profiteksa.com

Further reading:

Comprehensive solutions for the food and beverage sector
RS South Africa Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
RS South Africa is reinforcing its commitment to the country’s dynamic food and beverage sector, backed by a comprehensive portfolio of over 800 000 products, extensive technical expertise and end-to-end service capabilities.

Read more...

---

Case History 198: Cascade control overcomes valve problems
Michael Brown Control Engineering Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A large petrochemical refinery asked me to perform an audit on several critical base layer control loops. This article deals with a problem found on a valve controlling the flow of fuel to a heat exchanger.

Read more...

---

Improved networking technology for fire and gas detection
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Critical alarm and event management technology supplier, Omniflex has worked with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to upgrade equipment providing digital and analogue signals for its safety critical fire and gas alarm systems.

Read more...

---

PC-based control for fertiliser
Beckhoff Automation Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
On a farm in the USA, valuable ammonia is extracted from slurry and processed into ammonium sulphate. NSI Byosis has transformed this complex process into a flexible modular system. This modular approach requires an automation solution with flexible scalability in both hardware and software, which this Dutch company has found in PC-based control from Beckhoff.

Read more...

---

Loop signature 28: Things to consider when tuning.
Michael Brown Control Engineering Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
I was giving a course at a remote mine in the middle of the Namibian desert. We were discussing tuning responses, and as I always do on my courses, I mentioned that in my opinion ¼ amplitude damped tuning is not desirable, and is in fact not good.

Read more...

---

How industrial network design impacts ESG commitments
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In safety-critical industries like nuclear, petrochemical and oil and gas, installing a new industrial cable network is an extremely complicated task. Gary Bradshaw, a director of industrial network specialist, Omniflex explains why this is often unnecessary as plants are likely to have existing cabling capable of being used to create new industrial networks.

Read more...

---

Minelert industrial solutions
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Profitek provides cutting-edge industrial networking, automation and IoT solutions for harsh environments.

Read more...

---

The ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The GW-101-LORA-4AO is the ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway, combining advanced IoT connectivity with expandable I/O.

Read more...

---

Industrial Power-over-Ethernet DC injector
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The ML-NET-INJECT series sets the standard for industrial PoE, featuring IP68-rated RJ45 connectors and military-grade components for extreme reliability.

Read more...

---

Industrial networking IO-Link
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Balluff IO-Link Network Modules enable seamless, intelligent communication between sensors, actuators and control systems. Designed for Industry 4.0, they provide real-time data exchange, simplify wiring, and enhance diagnostics.

Read more...

---