Olis Robotics launched a remote diagnostics solution for industrial automation cells at IMTS 2024 in Chicago. The company showcased what it called "powerful new PLC capabilities to its Olis solutions."
Olis provides video and telemetry-based diagnostics for industrial cells, enabling technicians to diagnose the root cause of downtime events, such as a robot failure. The company said that immediate access to diagnostic data enables the robotic cell to be debugged quickly and remotely, slashing manufacturer downtime and empowering integrators to take on more business.
Robotic cells monitored, diagnosed and debugged
According to the company, the new capabilities now extend the power of Olis to entire industrial cells from the PLC to the fingertips of the robotic gripper, including conveyors and other hardware.
Using Olis software, users can monitor and set alerts for pre-defined runtime parameters through the PLC, including I/Os, registers, and custom tags. Common uses for PLC tags include measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), monitoring cycle times, and fault detection.
“The PLC often contains important diagnostic data required to understand the causes of unplanned downtime,” said Fredrik Ryden, CEO, Olis Robotics. “Olis’ new PLC capabilities enable real-time access to that data, effectively closing the loop on video-based diagnostics for industrial automation systems.”
Remote access
Visitors to the com[pany IMTS booth will be able to remotely access a machine tending cell in Seattle via the Olis application running on a tablet PC in partner Universal Robots’ IMTS booth #N 236131. Olis’ new PLC features are specific to Rockwell Automation’s Allen Bradley PLCs, while robotic arms compatible with Olis include Universal Robots, Kawasaki, and FANUC. In the near future, additional brands of PLCs and robotic arms will be Olis compatible.
The PLC orchestrates all of the robots and manages all of the logic for the whole cell. “Sometimes, when a failure occurs, the robots may not even know that there's a problem,” said Bill Ordakowski, Sales Engineer, Olis Robotics, adding how early testers of the new PLC
Solving problems
Steve Solack, Controls Engineering Manager at Michigan-based integrator Mission Design & Automation, said, “Diagnosing the cause of failure in modern automation cells is notoriously difficult and requires considerable expertise. This is due to the complexity and variety of components involved. With the most crucial diagnostic information often being found in PLC tags and robot data, being able to quickly access such data via Olis’ easy to use interface reduces the time and skill set required to understand the problem, making us more efficient and reducing downtime costs for our customers.”
Kilen Multop, IT Director at Idaho-based integrator Kaitech Automation, sees Olis as a key component of the firm’s future growth. “Kaitech expects to deploy a large number of robot cells to a variety of customers, including a major warehouse club retailer, in the coming years. To support this rapid growth, we need to ensure that robots are deployed quickly and without problems. We will also need to track cell performance for many years to come. Olis enables Kaitech to scale with added confidence by helping with these key elements of automation deployment and management.”
For integrators, the new PLC capabilities enhance their ability to debug a system before shipping, and their ability to successfully monitor the system after deployment and remotely monitor and debug entire industrial cells.
Improve production throughput
For end users, this means reduced downtime costs –not just in cases of robot failure, but across the entire cell. The new functionality can even be used to maintain and improve standards in production throughput. For example, in an application involving a robot inserting bolts into a part, users could create an alert that indicates when the feeder is running low on bolts. The PLC can then send Olis an alert informing the operator that it’s time to refill the feeder.
“We look forward to showing both manufacturers and integrators at IMTS what a difference Olis can make in reducing overall downtime,” said Fredrik Ryden, CEO, Olis Robotics.
Related Glossary Terms
- robotics
robotics
Discipline involving self-actuating and self-operating devices. Robots frequently imitate human capabilities, including the ability to manipulate physical objects while evaluating and reacting appropriately to various stimuli. See industrial robot; robot.
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