Prevention is the best remedy

In order to ensure productivity, system availability and process reliability, the individual automation components in a system need to be intelligent. Diagnostic capability is the key here, a facility that has long been associated with pneumatic valve terminals. In the fight against high maintenance and repair costs, quick diagnostic data is the answer to downtimes.

A horror scenario – short circuit in the system and system breakdown! With the Festo controller module CPX-FEC, the error is quickly located. The electrical peripherals for pneumatic valve terminals link the factory to the mobile and render machines accessible from all quarters. By counting cycles, it is possible to determine whether maintenance is required. In the event of a breakdown, the module relays the error location. If all critical values are known, downtime can be eliminated by means of timely maintenance, production sequences optimally controlled and error causes quickly eliminated. Valve terminals which combine controls and pneumatics are the ideal situation for machine-oriented diagnosis. In the CPX concept, basic diagnostic functions are already integrated.

The direct link

Monitoring machines from the office, configuration and diagnosis via the Internet – the CPX-FEC establishes the direct link between automation and information technology. The integrated Ethernet interface not only facilitates the networking of automation components but also provides system users with access to all standard IT services. This enables them to monitor their machines from any location by means of remote maintenance and – if necessary – change configurations and device parameters via online access.

New applications and features can also be conveniently downloaded via the Internet. Diagnostic information and device status is visualised via the built-in web server. Analysis via TCP/IP ensures transparency in matters of process data. E-mail or SMS alarms keep you continually up-to-date with regard to exceeded limit values and other malfunction. In other words, errors can be diagnosed more quickly, downtimes reduced and costs due to downtime lowered.

Support is provided in the form of volumetric flow and pressure sensors, which quickly detect the status of a pneumatic system and output the basic information for diagnosis. Controllers and software interpret and evaluate the results, deduce maintenance-relevant information from these and communicate the result to master control systems. Displays on the machine visualise the information.