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This blog looks at how motor control architectures and functions are evolving to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 – from simple grid-connected motors to complex multi-axis servo drive solutions. This evolution has been accelerated by the increasing complexity of automation required to deliver the higher levels of productivity, flexibility, and autonomy required by the rapid digitalization of consumption, supply chains, and smart manufacturing [1]. The demand for agile production and greater access to production data have both contributed to the increasing complexity of motor control systems. The previous blog in this series looked at the importance of making motors more sustainable.
Agile Production
As industries are adapting to keep up with consumer demand and changing buyer behaviors, agile production, based on reconfigurable production lines, is required to deliver more customization and faster turn-around times. Consumer demand is driving a shift away from low-mix, high-volume manufacturing toward high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, which demands greater flexibility on the factory floor. Complex, repetitive, and often dangerous tasks can now be performed by industrial and collaborative robots, leading to higher throughput and increased productivity. This shift in production patterns has resulted in a higher demand for more complex, customizable, autonomous, and intelligent automation hardware, at the heart of which are motor control systems. For example, systems such as conveyors and handling machines are required to be smarter, have more axes of motion, and be highly configurable.
Access to Production Data
Global spending on digital transformation will reach $6.8 trillion globally by 2023 [2]. Variable speed drives can provide access to machinery data in the form of voltages, currents, position, temperature, power, and energy consumption combined with external sensors for monitoring vibration, and other process variables. With a converged information technology/operating technology (IT/OT) Ethernet network motor and machine data and insights are now more accessible and can be analyzed by powerful cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize manufacturing flows and monitor the current state of health of the assets across the entire installation. This optimization of manufacturing flows will further reduce energy consumption in smart manufacturing.
Figure 1: Digital transformation enabled by seamless Industrial Ethernet connectivity.
To deliver this, motion control systems are moving towards a converged connectivity scenario, where legacy, mixed Industrial Ethernet communication protocols are being gradually displaced by Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN)-based systems, standardized around the IEEE802.1 network standards [3], as illustrated in Figure 1. This will enable time-synchronized data from end equipment to be available across all areas of the network in real-time.
A Spectrum of Motor Control Solutions
Ultimately, modern production systems will include a mix of simpler and more complex motor control systems, as those highlighted in Figure 2, with the grid-connected and simple inverter drives being replaced more and more by interconnected, sensor-integrated, synchronized systems. Each of these “flavors” of motor control is described briefly here, along with the applications served by them.
Figure 2: The range of motor control solutions used in modern automation
Grid-Connected Motor: These basic motion solutions run at a relatively fixed speed. True constant-speed applications are fairly limited in industry, but these will continue to be used in situations where motor operation is very intermittent, and the cost of a VSD is not justified (e.g. low power, intermittently used blowers, pumps, valves, actuators).
Inverter Driven Motor: The addition of a simple open-loop inverter to the motor control enables significant reductions in energy consumption by running the motor at the optimum speed for the load and application. Pumps, fans, blowers, and cruder control systems, such as platform movers are typical applications.
Variable Speed Drive: For higher-performance motion control applications, a variable speed drive (VSD) enables accurate torque, velocity, and position control. To achieve this, current and position measurements are added to the basic open-loop inverter drive. Conveyors, winding, printing, and extrusion machinery are typical examples of applications needing VSDs.
Servo-Driven System: Synchronized, multi-axis servo-driven systems are used in more complex motion applications. Machine tools and CNC machines require synchronization of multiple axes, with extremely accurate position feedback. Precision machining and additive manufacturing are key applications that utilize multi-axis servo drives.
Industrial Robot/Collaborative Robot/Mobile Robots: Industrial robots require multi-axis servo drives combined with mechanical integration and advanced machine control algorithms to achieve complex 3D spatial positioning. Collaborative robots (cobots) build on industrial robotic solutions by adding power and force limiting (PFL) and safety sensing to deliver functionally safe, multi-axis machine control where an operator can work safely alongside the cobot. Mobile robots add localization sensing and collision avoidance. The applications served by robotics systems are growing, from traditional automotive manufacturing to handling, palletizing, pick-and-place, packing, and logistics.
In the next blog of this series, we will begin to look into the architecture of the motor drive itself and start breaking it down into its subsystems and components.
References
[2] Shawn Fitzgerald, Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, Serge Findling, Yukiharu Yorifuji, Megha Kumar, Lianfeng Wu, Giulia Carosella, Sandra Ng, Robert Parker, Philip Carter, and Meredith Whalen. “IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Digital Transformation 2021 Predictions.” IDC, October 2020.
This blog series will look at motor drives from many different angles - from architectures to power management, from connectivity to cybersecurity, and much more in between. We are starting from the top down and this first blog looks at how making motors more energy efficient can play a significant role in reducing the harmful emissions which are contributing to climate change.
The Paris Agreement in 2015 set out a plan to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2050. Meeting the 1.5°C target in 2050 requires an approximately 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2018 levels. The current trajectory of global warming has the potential to cause major economic, societal, and environmental disruptions. The world has already warmed by 1.1°C and experts say that it is likely to breach 1.5°C in the 2030s.
Figure 1 outlines a path to the 1.5°C target by reducing CO2 emissions to under 10 Gt CO2, as covered in World Energy Outlook 2019 [1]. In that report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) looks at two scenarios for the trajectory of global emissions. The first is the Stated Policies Scenario, which estimates emissions based on publicly announced government policies. The second is the Sustainable Development Scenario, which looks at additional paths to mitigating emissions. The largest opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions as part of the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario is gains in energy efficiency, accounting for 37% of the Sustainable Development Scenario’s reductions when compared to the Stated Policies scenario With 25% of CO2 emissions coming from industry in 2022 [2], accelerating industrial energy efficiency investments will be an important part of the path to net zero emissions in 2050.
Figure 1: Path to CO2 emissions reductions [1]
The global electricity supply in 2022 was 28,642 terawatt-hours, contributing 13.2 Gt of carbon emissions [3]. Industry consumes an estimated 30% of global electricity and within industry, electric motors make up approximately 70% of electricity consumption [1]. Clearly, the efficiency of these components is a potentially critical contribution to the efficiency savings identified in Figure 1. The most basic and lowest efficiency motion solutions are based on direct AC grid-connected 3-phase motors that use switchgear to provide on/off control and basic protection. These motion solutions run at a relatively fixed speed, independent of any load variation. Adjustments in output variables (such as fluid flow in pumps and fans) are implemented with mechanical controls such as throttles, dampers, and valves, whereas significant speed changes are implemented with gears.
Figure 2: The part played by Industrial Motors in global energy usage
The addition of a rectifier, DC bus, and a 3-phase inverter stage, as illustrated in Figure 3(b) creates an inverter with variable frequency and a variable voltage output that is applied to the motor to enable variable speed control. This inverter driven motor significantly reduces system energy consumption by running the motor at the optimum speed for the load and application. Examples include higher efficiency pumps and fans. When added to the existing motor of a pump, fan, or compressor, an inverter can potentially reduce power consumption between 25% and 60%, depending on the motor and application[4,5]. For higher performance motion control applications, a VSD (Figure 3(c)) enables accurate torque, velocity, and position control.
Figure 3: (a) Grid-connected AC motor (b) Inverter fed motor (c) Variable speed motor drive
It is estimated that only about 1-in-6 of all deployed motors in the industry are inverter driven or connected to a VSD[6]. By moving more deployed motion assets from grid-connected motors to inverter-driven or VSDs, it is possible to significantly reduce the energy consumption and CO. These reductions in energy consumption would enable more sustainable manufacturing with reduced CO2 emissions. It has been estimated that if all deployed motor driven systems were operated at maximum efficiency, it would reduce global electricity demand by 10% and remove 2490 Mt of CO2 emission in 2030 [7].
To accelerate the deployment of higher efficiency motor driven systems, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has contributed to the definition of energy efficient electric motor standards. This includes the IEC 60034-2-1 test standard for electric motors and the IEC 60034-30-1 classification scheme comprised of four levels of motor efficiency (IE1 through IE4), with the IE5 level due to be introduced in the future. The higher-level standards can be achieved either through more efficient motor design or through the addition of an inverter or VSD to a standard motor design. As the efficiency classes become more stringent, meeting them by improved motor design alone is becoming more and more challenging, and costly. Alongside the additional benefits provided by variable speed control in the application, the case for VSD-attach to most industrial motors is becoming more compelling.
The next blog in this series will highlight the other trends in industrial automation – apart from energy efficiency – that have been driving the evolution of motion control away from simpler grid-connected machines to highly controllable multi-axis VSD-based systems.
[1] World Energy Outlook 2019. International Energy Agency, 2019.
[2] World Energy Outlook 2022, International Energy Agency.
[2] Electricity Market Report 2023. International Energy Agency, February 2023.
[4] Achieving the Paris Agreement: The vital role of high-efficiency motors and drives in reducing energy consumption. ABB, 2021.
[5] Applications of variable speed drive (VSD) in electrical motors energy savings. R. Saidur, S. Mekhilef, M.B. Ali, A. Safari, H.A. Mohammed, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Jan 2012.
[6] U.S. Industrial and Commercial Motor System Market Assessment Report, Volume 1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, January 2021
[7] Energy-Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven Systems. International Energy Agency 2011.
Guaranteeing the authenticity of an edge device and the data it provides is increasingly critical as the potential for security threats grows. In the fifth blog of our remote IO blog series, we will discuss how cybersecurity is a topic of concern within the industry as connectivity and IP addressability opens up the possibility of hacking and system attacks. With edge-to-cloud connected factories generating larger volumes of data in remote locations across the factory, automation vendors must consider how to overcome several new design challenges which weren’t a problem years ago.
Why is security a problem now?
We all have heard about the connected factory of the future; well, the future is here today with all types of sensors and actuators connected together and sharing information to help the factory run as efficiently and as flexible as possible. Realizing Industry 4.0 involves increased access to edge devices in the factory and accessibility in controlling them. The resulting transparency and data insights can reduce network planning, CapEx and OpEx. Increased bandwidth and optimized machine interworking are also enabled. With that, the famous quote from the Spiderman movie comes to mind, “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.” Similarly, you cannot have all this interconnectivity that provides the power to make smarter decisions without considering the consequences.
Providing a data path from edge to cloud introduces new threat vectors, meaning that cyber security risks to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) must be reassessed. ICS cyber security solutions need to adapt to address the changing risk, and traditional countermeasures applied to the system, such as firewalls and placing a device behind a locked door, are counterintuitive to the goals of Industry 4.0. This means devices will need to be security hardened to enable increased functionality in a secure method. Identity and integrity will be at the core of every device in the field to enable trusted data and secure operation.
System designers for automation vendors, and system integrators may encounter the following issues as they are planning their system’s design (see figures 1 & 2).
Figure 1- Common Design Challenges Parts 1 - 4
Authenticity
Third-party clones or counterfeit components could enter the system and pose safety risks while not meeting the customer’s expectations and specifications, affecting system integrity and reliability.
Figure 2 - Common Design Challenges Parts 5 – 8
IoT security
A variety of security techniques to protect against malware attacking an entire infrastructure that has not been properly secured.
Figure 3 - Moving Security Closer to the Edge where the Data is Born
Is there a solution?
The ultra-low power MAXQ1065 Cryptographic Controller with ChipDNATM is an ideal security coprocessor for embedded devices. It can provide turnkey cryptographic functions for root-of-trust, mutual authentication, data confidentiality and integrity, secure boot, secure firmware update, and secure communications with generic key exchange and bulk encryption or complete TLS support.
Figure 4 - MAXQ1065 Block Diagram
DeepCover® embedded security solutions cloak sensitive data under multiple layers of advanced security including active die shield, encrypted storage of keys using the ChipDNATM PUF technology, and externally callable algorithmic subroutines. Along with this, the MAXQ1065 has 8 KB of secure flash memory that can be used for keys, secrets, certificates, or user data.
The encryption (ECDSA, AES-256, SHA-256) and secure boot ROM features of the MAX32672 MCU also protect against intrusion and support the secure root of trust to ensure no malicious execution.
How does this secure the system?
The root of trust begins with safe key management. Sophisticated invasive attacks are frequently launched in an attempt to obtain cryptographic keys from secure ICs. If obtained, the security provided by the IC is thoroughly compromised. A key derived from a physically unclonable function (PUF) provides an unprecedented level of protection against invasive attacks, since the PUF-based key does not exist in memory or another static state.
Attackers can’t steal a key that isn’t there. ChipDNA provides symmetric key for encryption and decryption, as well as private keys for ECDSA and/or ECDHE. ChipDNA derives a cryptographic key from a precise analog characteristic of the IC. This key is based on a physically unclonable function and is not stored in memory or any other static state where it could be compromised. Each IC’s unique ChipDNA-generated key, since it is based on a physical unclonable function, is repeatable over temperature, voltage, and IC operating life conditions.
With legislative requirements such as the upcoming European Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), security will not only become more important, but mandated, for manufacturers of factory automation equipment/modules.
References
By Conal Watterson & Brian Condell
Knowing that communication is key, this blog focuses on Industrial Ethernet and real-time networking, what it is, why we need it, and how it can be made simple. This fourth blog in our Remote IO blog series follows on from our previous blog Getting Tight on Space.
Industrial Ethernet is a key Industry 4.0 technology that enables real-time communication. Realizing the benefits of deterministic communication involves discussion of how to support multiple protocols and software platforms while minimizing development time and solution size.
Using Industrial Ethernet with Remote IO modules
Industrial Ethernet allows controllers to access data and send instruction commands from PLCs to sensors, actuators, and robots dispersed across the factory floor. Industrial Ethernet aims to solve the main challenges of the existing fieldbus/4-20mA technologies, like interoperability, lack of scalable bandwidth, and lack of available power at the edge node. Ethernet supports more data bandwidth, with speeds of 100 Mbps deployed today, and the option of Gigabit speeds. Ethernet also has the benefit of its ubiquity and long-standing usage outside Industrial use, with the existing knowledgebase allowing for less training and faster commissioning.
Remote IO modules that are Ethernet-connected allow existing sensors and actuators connected via 4-20 mA and traditional digital IO, to be accessed via the Ethernet-connected automation control system, realizing the benefits of increased bandwidth, addressability, and digitization.
Real-Time Communication
The key difference between standard Ethernet and Industrial Ethernet, is Real-time, deterministic performance. “Real-Time” or “deterministic real-time” describes communication that is employed when < 1ms cycle times are required. In non-real-time applications, if information such as a webpage is slow to update, the impact is minimal. Standard Ethernet is the best effort, so the packet may be there in microseconds or a minute, or may never get there, it could get dropped, depending on the traffic in the system, data corruption during transmission, etc, there are no guarantees.
Conversely, in a manufacturing environment, the impact of delayed updates can be high, from wasted materials to accidental human harm. This means that control applications need determinism in packet delivery and timing guarantees, to ensure the correct operation of the task or process at hand. The TCP/IP protocols for routing traffic do not inherently guarantee this level of deterministic performance.
Traditional Industrial Ethernet networks address this by adding latency control and real-time awareness to Ethernet. The challenge is that adding these features requires modifying almost all layers of the communication stack. Specifically, specialized hardware must be added to guarantee latency. This has resulted in several vendors developing independent solutions for the same problem, at the cost of adding a variety of specialized layers for PROFINET, Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT, etc.
Multi-protocol Industrial Ethernet with ADIN2299
With such proliferation of various Industrial Ethernet protocols, one flexible solution is to use a multiprotocol Ethernet Switch such as the FIDO5210 and the appropriate pre-certified communication stack. The ADIN2299 RapID Platform Generation 2 (RPG2) is a complete 2-Port, 100Mbps Multiprotocol Industrial Ethernet module, comprising two integrated Ethernet PHYs (ADIN1200), integrated FIDO5210 switch, and an ARM Cortex M4 MCU for the protocol stack. Depending on the system design requirements, these components can be placed individually into the design. However, as an off-the-shelf verified solution, RPG2 enables Real-Time Industrial Ethernet communication to be simply added to existing or new IO module designs, as well as field instruments.
Figure 1 - ADIN2299 RapID Platform Generation 2 (RPG2) Solution Size
Using the ADIN2299 brings many advantages, such as:
Figure 2 - ADIN2299 Complete Software Solution
This in turn brings some high-level benefits such as:
Figure 3 - Benefits of using ADIN2299 Platform
References
By Conal Watterson & Brian Condell
This blog focuses on the distribution of IO modules within factories. Following on from the previous blog post Changed Your Mind? No Problem, which looked at flexible manufacturing within smart factories.
Distribution of IO modules, relocating them closer to the sensor/actuator with remote IO, requires smaller enclosures to increase IO channel counts. Efficient power management and integrated solutions are key to enabling higher-density circuit designs for these compact remote IO modules. Here we will explore the various solutions available to manufacturers for both power and isolation within remote IO modules.
Power Management within Remote IO Modules
Typically, industrial control modules including remote IO will be powered by a 24V DC supply. Within the module, appropriate power components must be selected to protect the system from power supply faults and generate the appropriate supply rails needed for processing, communication, and analog front end. The latter typically includes a negative supply rail, increasing circuit complexity such as external components needed to regulate.
Compact module form factors drive minimal use of PCB area, so fewer, smaller external transformers, inductors, capacitors, resistors, and diodes are preferred. Increased circuit density also requires higher efficiency solutions, so that power dissipation is minimized (large PCB areas allow heat to dissipate more easily, but in a smaller area, compact devices simply can’t run as hot).
Just 3 mm2 is needed for the MAX17523A current limiter, which offers high robustness to overcurrent and overvoltage. The solution space is minimized too with the MAX20075 buck regulator, with integrated FETs, providing the lower voltage supply needed for the communications and processor.
Isolation within Remote IO Modules
Isolation barriers within remote IO modules are critical as they must allow information to travel across the barrier while at the same time preventing any current flow to protect both humans and equipment, eliminate grounding problems, and improve system performance (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Isolation
This isolation can be channel-to-channel isolation or group/bank isolation depending on the configuration of the remote IO module. When designing channel-to-channel isolated modules, the main trade-off is usually between power dissipation and channel density. As module sizes shrink and channel densities increase, the power dissipation per channel must decrease to accommodate the maximum power dissipation budget for the module.
Standalone isolators can be used if additional isolation channels need to be added to the design, or for designs where an isolated power supply is available so an integrated solution isn’t required. The ADuM340E/ADuM341E/ADuM342E quad-channel digital isolators based on Analog Devices, Inc., iCoupler® technology integrate back-to-back monolithic air core transformer technology for high levels of EMC and isolation robustness. To extend to six channels of isolation, these can be complemented by the ADuM320N/ADuM321N dual-channel digital isolators. Compared to the previous generation of iCoupler® isolators, these parts allow faster more precise transfer of information, at lower power and with lower emissions.
Best of Both Worlds / Integrated Solution
To address the above space constraints, there is an integrated Power management and isolation chip that can be used. ADP1034’s integrated power and data isolation (Figure 2) eliminates the use of an optocoupler and the associated problems by integrating iCoupler technology for feedback, which reduces system cost, PCB area, and complexity while improving system reliability without the issue of CTR degradation. The isolated micropower management unit (PMU) combines an isolated flyback and a DC-TO-DC regulator providing two isolated power rails all in a compact form factor, including the negative supply rail required by the AD74115H. For communication, it contains four high-speed serial peripheral interface (SPI) isolation channels as well as three slower channels for GPIO (General Purpose I/O) control signals.
This part optimizes low-power solutions by the introduction of an integrated PPC (Programmable Power Control) functionality. PPC gives the user the ability to adjust the VOUT1 voltage (AD74115H AVDD supply voltage) on demand. This method minimizes power dissipation in the module under low load conditions, particularly in current output modes.
Figure 2 ADP1034’s Integrated Power and Data Isolation
References
