Objective
In spite of the increasing importance of the activities related to the automation of machine tools, there is no methodology or tool which supports software work in this area. The fast evolution of the CNCs and customer demand for different types of control requires machine tool producers to create and maintain different versions of automation for their products. This implies the existence of qualified personnel on different types of controls, more involved in getting adapted to them than with the automation itself.
So, the main goal of this project is to improve the productivity of the machine-tool builders by generating a specific programming platform, a complete software toolkit, with several modules to design, develop, test, set-up and manage PLC automation programs. This will isolate the technician from that variety, allowing him to carry out his work independently of the control selected thereby reducing the time needed to set-up the machine.
This is to be achieved through the development of a specific methodology and implementation of various computer aided tools that will support and assist in the area of design and programming of automation for machine tools. This methodology and tools will include design, programming, simulation, documentation, management of changes during the set-up phase and automation software maintenance.
The AUTOMAT consortium consists of eight EU companies. The partner roles are of four types : users, (covering a wide spectrum of different types of machine-tools), research centres, (supporting the methodological and instrumental developments of the project), NC supplier (supplying the needed skills from the CNC point of view) and a software developer (specialised in technical software for automation simulation and testing).
The project is subdivided into four main phases:
- Definition of a structured methodology for machine-tool automation improvement, based on the concept of 'functional units' (e.g. the tools change module, the alarms handling module, the axis command module, etc.). These functional units can be standardised and reused in different machine configurations.
- Definition of common programming language for PLC programming, able to support the particularities of the machine tool automation tasks (i.e. interconnection between CNC and PLC).
- Integrated software for automation support, covering all phases involved, from the design to the final setting-up of the machine.
- Implementation and testing at user sites.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- social sciences sociology industrial relations automation
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
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Coordinator
20870 Elgoibar
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.