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Industrial IoT for Brownfields

B&R’s Orange Box is the smart-factory upgrade for legacy equipment

At the 2017 Hannover Messe, B&R presents its new Orange Box solution. The Orange Box enables machine operators to collect and analyze data from previously isolated machines and lines and get them fit for the smart factory with a minimal effort.

An Orange Box consists of a controller and B&R mapp Technology’s preconfigured software blocks – known as mapps. The controller collects operating data from any machine via its I/O channels or a fieldbus connection. From this data, the mapps generate and display OEE ratings and other KPIs, and can also share the information with higher-level systems via OPC UA.

Simple as a smartphone

Installing the Orange Box requires no changes to existing hardware or software. Equipment owners can achieve a substantial boost in productivity with a remarkably small investment in time and cost. Thanks to the mapps, the Orange Box is as simple and intuitive to operate as a smartphone.

B&R’s Orange Box enables machine operators to collect and analyze data from previously isolated machines and lines and get them fit for the smart factory.

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Many IFP Automation customers are interested in adding machine vision to their applications. In many cases, machine vision can add enhanced levels of quality inspection and part verification in a very powerful way. Are you looking for a sensor where maximum functional and operational flexibility go together with easy process integration? Our VeriSens® vision sensors offer all these benefits – and still many more.

What exactly is a VeriSens® vision sensor?
VeriSens® is a complete image processing system in the form of a sensor. An image sensor, illumination (or illumination connection), optics (also interchangeable lenses), hardware/software, as well as Ethernet and digital interfaces, e.g. for PLC connection, are
integrated in a compact, industry-suited housing. After typical one-time configuration on PC, a vision sensor is ready to perform a specific task like a conventional sensor. VeriSens® vision sensors solve inspection tasks and can perform up to 32 feature checks simultaneously:

• Presence and completeness checks
• Determination or inspection of object position and orientation
• Reading and verifying human-readable imprints (OCR / OCV)
• Reading and checking matrix codes and barcodes including GS1 codes

How does a VeriSens® vision sensor work?
VeriSens® acquires images, evaluates them and communicates the results to the system control or to individual components in your system. Initial configuration on PC allows you entry of image
acquisition parameters, selecting tools for feature checks and setup of the required interfaces.

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Comprehensive system diagnostics for industrial PCs
Performance data and diagnostics in B&R’s HMI Service Center

Industrial PCs from B&R have always offered extensive system diagnostics that go above and beyond those of a standard PC. Not only is it possible to read information like serial numbers and part numbers, but also statistical data like power-on cycles and temperature sensor values. This data is managed by the Maintenance Controller. The goal is maximum system transparency for the user.

Newly Developed HMI Service Center from B&R Automation 

To offer optimum support whenever service is required, all informational and diagnostics features will be provided via the newly developed HMI Service Center. The HMI Service Center is a software tool used to test B&R’s industrial PCs and Automation Panels.

Easy to use (more…)

Belted conveyor systems have been conventionally employed for transport in industrial applications for quite some time. While these systems have proven to be enormously useful, they do come with limitations on performance, maintenance, and usability. What should machine engineers do when a higher speed of product transport is required, possibly even varying speeds of transport across the same transport line?

B&R’s service-friendly intelligent transport technology combines optimized productivity and flexibility with industrial-grade reliability to ensure maximum uptime.