New iCube9226 controls highly dynamic packaging cell. A single central controller for servo drives, robots and IOs

Yaskawa is using a highly dynamic packaging cell to highlight the potential of its latest generation of iCube Control systems: the complex system, including its robots, is controlled and programmed from a single central iC9226M-FSoE controller. The demo cell is also equipped with the new Sigma-X high-end AC servo system. 

By its very nature, the automation of packaging processes presents a set of complex challenges. Extremely precise processes, that are ever more complicated, and run at speed, must be controlled whilst, at the same time, a variety of different components, including those supplied by third parties, need to be integrated. For example, when chocolate bars are packed into tubular sleeves, the robots, conveyor belts, camera systems and roll cutters all have to work together to feed the products in, separate them, package them and then transport them to the next processing steps.

Yaskawa's demo cell

In Yaskawa's demo cell, which demonstrates this type of process, a SCARA robot works together with a Delta robot and a number of different servo drives. An iC9226-series controller with an integrated safety function is used as a central control unit. This operates as an FSoE Master and is linked to the servo drives and additional SLIO IOs via EtherCAT. The controller is also connected to the HMI via OPC UA and to the camera system via EthernetIP.

As the drives in the robot are controlled directly via the Sigma-X servo pack amplifier, there is no need for an additional robot control unit. With this latest evolution in the Sigma series, Yaskawa is once again setting new standards in performance and ease of use.

New controller

The Linux-based iC9226 controller, based on the Phoenix PLCnext platform, works with Yaskawa's TRITON profichip®, which is an industrial processor chip. The new feature is that you can now use EtherCAT not just to control servo drives and frequency converters, but also Delta and SCARA robots, customer-specific kinematics and other third-party devices. Thanks to its modular design, the iC9226's features can be activated to configure it to suit specific applications, reducing layout and implementation costs. For ease of implementation, the controller can be programmed in a wide range of programming languages. These not only include the international standards as defined in IEC 61131 but also languages such as C#, C++, Python or Mathlab Simulink.

iCube Control automation platform

A single iC9226 controller can be used to control up to 64 servo axes and eight robots at the same time. On request, it can also be fitted with an integrated FSoE Master. The iC9226 – and therefore the entire system – is programmed using iCube Engineer software, which is based on the PLCnext Software supplied by Phoenix. This also includes the PackML standard, on which the entire demo system runs, as an integrated library.

The iCube Engineer software tool is also a central element of Yaskawa's iCube Control automation platform. This platform has been designed as a comprehensive technical solution, tailored to suit industry-specific control requirements, ranging from engineering software through controller hardware to the HMI. Thanks to its pioneering design as a modern motion concept, the iCube Control can be extended, step-by-step, to form an all-embracing motion control and automation system.

Yaskawa is using a highly dynamic packaging cell to highlight the potential of its latest generation of iCube Control systems: a single iC9226 controller handles all the control and programming tasks in the complex system.