Custom Software for Industrial Machinery Automation

Industrial Machinery Automation

PC Control of Machinery

We specialize in designing software to automate industrial machinery. We have automated machinery in the woodworking, packaging, ceramic powder, powdered metal, fabric cutting, and entertainment fields. We have designed these machines from the ground up including the realtime control engine, motion control, optimization algorithms, and human machine interfaces (HMI). The machines run robustly 24/7 in factories.

Industrial machinery has to be reliable and robust and we have numerous customers and machines in the field that can attest to that. As you read this, our software is producing wood for furniture and hardwood flooring, powedered metal parts for the auto industry, cutting fiber for upholstry, and moving a 150 ton hydraulic stage in Las Vegas for the entertainment industry.

Lumber Defect Recognition

The lumber defect scanner system uses a 2k line scan camera in order to identify an assortment of defects. The system is based on statistical analysis.

Lumber Identification

The lumber identification system uses a 2k line scan camera in order to identify lumber by its unique grain pattern.

Cow Hide Digitizer

The Digitizer maps 4 types of defects using an Ultrasonic digitizer by GTCO. The Hide profile was detected by a Dalsa line scan camera interfaced to a Bitflow Raptor frame grabber. A single axis PCX-DSP card by Motion Engineering was used to read an encoder, drive an AC Drive, and handle the 16 inputs and 8 outputs.

Tunnel Vision

The tunnel vision is a lumber scanning device which detects wane, crook and splits. It uses the IVP MAPP2200 smart camera using the embedded Ranger software. The PC side software was written in Borland Delphi and uses LocoMotion.

Industrial Machines
Cirque du Soleil - KA	We wrote the software to move the stage and safety nets for Cirque Du Soleil's KA show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The stage moves 70 feet vertically and tilts 100 degrees. There are 18 winches controlling 2 safety nets. We incorporated our VCR, locoMotion, and Code Generator technologies for a robust product. Click here for more information.
Eagle Talon Cutoff Saw	The Talon cross cuts lumber in an optimal fashion. It uses our motion controller package which consists of the Delta Tau controller and the Advanced Digital logic PC104 computer. The HMI runs on Windows 2000. The optimization algorithms produce superior cut decisions as compared to the competition and they are fast. The saw is capable of blowing waste as small as 1/4 of an inch on a conveyor running at 130 inches per second. View Application Note
250-750 Ton Hydraulic Press	This hydraulic press has 1 upper punch and 1 lower punch. It uses the Delta Tau Turbo PMAC controller in a UMAC configuration. Position is repeatable to 3 ten thousands of an inch. Force control is overlayed on position with an accuracy of 0.1 tons. Each of the upper and the lower have two 3-way valves and one 4-way valve controller. This allows for both high speed travel and accurate positioning. View Application Note
20 Ton Hydraulic Press	This hydraulic press has 2 upper punches and 3 lower punches. It uses the Delta Tau Turbo PMAC controller in a UMAC configuration. Position is repeatable to 3 ten thousands of an inch. Force control is overlayed on position with an accuracy of 0.1 tons.
FiberMaster	The FiberMaster is a two dimensional fiber/fabric Cutter CNC machine. It uses 2 axis for X axis motion coordinated with a single axis for Y axis motion. The machine cuts the fabric on the fly. It has 16 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs. Motion control is via a 6 axis PCX/DSP card from Motion Engineering, Inc. The software was written in Borland Delphi, and uses LocoMotion.
Compu-Rip II	The Compu-Rip is a Rip Saw optimizer used in the rough mill. It has a sophisticated Arbor Generator that produces near optimal blade arrangement. It has 16 digital inputs and 8 digital outputs. Motion control is via an 8 axis PCX/DSP card from Motion Engineering, Inc. The software was written in Borland Delphi, and uses LocoMotion.
Wonder Saw	The Wonder Saw is used in the rough mill to optimize cross-cutting of long strips of wood. We used the Motion Engineering PCX-DSP single axis card and the Contec IRT16 interrupt card. It is driven by a Yaskawa Servo drive and has 16 inputs, 32 outputs, and 16 interrupt inputs. An analog input is used to measure the width of the input lumber. The software is written in Borland C++ and runs in DOS protected mode. The device is networked to other machines via a central Command Center using RS-485.
Compu-Rip	The Compu-Rip is used in the rough mill to optimize ripping of wide boards. We used the 8 axis Motion Engineering PCX-DSP card and the Contec IRT16 interrupt card. It is driven by 8 Yaskawa Servo drives and has 32 inputs, 16 outputs, and 16 interrupt inputs. The software is written in Borland C++ and runs in DOS real mode. The device is networked to other machines via a central Command Center using RS-485.
See Me Bag Machine	The Bag Machine produces bags to cover furniture. This bag is both see through and padded and so may be used both on the showroom floor and during shipping. The machine is driven by 12 Endramat servo motors and uses two 6 axis Motion Engineering PCX-DSP motion control cards. It has 16 inputs and 16 outputs. The software was written with Borland Delphi.