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Week 6 Training Curriculum

ITS PLC Sorting Mechanism
NFI

This document is created for NFIers to review the topic

covered in Week 4.
Note:

NFI Industrial Automation &

CAD Training Academy
Chandigarh| Panchkula

Kindly download the Automation Studio file & Code

(present in the directory/ CD provided) where you can find
the Schematic Diagram & Programming Code of the control
circuit made in this document. You can run & simulate that
schematic diagram in respective software for better
understanding.

0172-5078767| 0172- 2573331

www.nfiautomation.org
www.nfiinnovation.org

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Copyright@NFI

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Welcome

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what is ITS PLC Professional Edition?

ITS PLC Professional Edition - Interactive Training System for PLC - is an education and training tool for PLC programming. Based
on the latest PC technology, ITS PLC makes PLC training easy and fun. Virtual environments have never been so real, featuring
cutting-edge 3D real-time graphics, physics, sound and total interactivity. The result is an immersive simulated environment that
allows highly realistic training systems, without any risk of injury to man or damage to machine.
ITS PLC offers problems with increasing levels of difficulty so that users can progress to more advanced exercises as they improve
their skills.

how does it work?

ITS PLC offers five virtual systems for education and training in PLC programming. Each system is a visual simulation of an
industrial system including virtual sensors and actuators, so its state can be sensed by the PLC. The objective is to program the
PLC to control each virtual system as if it was a real system.
The information is exchanged between the PLC and the virtual system by a data acquisition board (DAQ) with 32 I/O isolated
channels and USB interface.

Information exchange between the systems, DAQ board and the PLC:

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Installation

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Minimum System Requirements

The minimum system requirements to run ITS PLC Professional Edition are:

Processor
Memory
Disk Space

Pentium IV or AMD K8 at 1GHz

256 MB of RAM

200 MB of available disk space

Operative System

Windows XP (Service Pack 2)

Graphics Card

Compatible with DirectX 9.0, 64MB and support for vertex/pixel shader 1.1

USB

One USB 1.1/2.0 port

PLC

PLC with 16 digital inputs and 10 digital outputs*

* It is possible to control the systems with a 12 inputs and 8 outputs PLC, if you are not using the Start, Stop, Reset, Emergency
buttons and the LED indicators from the Start and Reset buttons.

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Hardware Configuration
The information exchange between a PLC and ITS PLC Professional Edition is made with an USB DAQ board from Advantech,
with 32 isolated I/O channels.

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Advantech DAQ board (USB-4750).

To establish a connection between a PLC and the DAQ board, follow the schemes below:

PLC Outputs

Type

How to Wire

Relays/Sink Type Transistors

Source Type Transistors

When using a PLC with source type
transistor outputs, the logic values are
inverted. Invert the actuators values
on the options menu

Resistors R

We suggest resistors with values between 1K and 4.7K with a power

rating of 0.5W

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Installation

PLC Inputs
Type

How to Wire

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Source Type Transistors

Sink Type Transistors

When using a PLC with sink type

transistor inputs, the logic values are
inverted. Invert the sensors values on
the options menu

Resistors R

We suggest resistors with values between 1K and 4.7K with a power

rating of 0.5W

Note: The DAQ board supports input voltages from 5V to 50V, and output voltages from 5V to 40V. If youre not sure on how
to properly wire the device, consult the Advantech manual.
Important: The DAQ board must be configured with BoardID = 0 (default configuration).

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Installation

The relation between ITS PLC inputs/outputs and the DAQ board:

ITS PLC
Sensor 0
Sensor 1
Sensor 2
Sensor 3
Sensor 4
Sensor 5
Sensor 6
Sensor 7
Sensor 8
Sensor 9
Sensor 10

DAQ Board

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IDO0
IDO1
IDO2
IDO3
IDO4
IDO5
IDO6
IDO7
IDO8
IDO9

IDO10

Manual/Auto Selector Switch

IDO11

Start Button

IDO12

Stop Button
Reset Button

IDO13
IDO14

Emergency Stop Button

IDO15

Actuator 0

IDI0

Actuator 1
Actuator 2
Actuator 3
Actuator 4
Actuator 5

IDI1
IDI2
IDI3
IDI4
IDI5

Actuator 6

IDI6

Actuator 7

IDI7

Start Button Light

IDI8

Reset Button Light

IDI9

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Installation

Electrical wiring between DAQ board and PLC.

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USB interface between PC and DAQ board.

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Installation

10

User Interface

Menus

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After ITS PLC Professional Edition is started, the main menu is displayed.
Click Systems to enter the systems menu or Options to enter the options menu. Click Exit to exit and close the application.

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

11

In the systems menu select the desired system and click Launch. If you wish to go back to the main menu click Main Menu.

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

User Interface

12

Sorting

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Sorting

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Sistemas

26

Sorting - System Description

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This is a sorting system where the main goal is to transport cases from the entry bay to the elevators, sorting them by height.

Production Circuit
Manual/Auto
Automatic
This sorting system is composed of an entry bay, transport tables and two exit bays.
The feeder belt (A) randomly delivers high and low cases, loaded on pallets. The pallets are transported by the transport tables
(B) to the turntable (C) and are loaded through the rollers (D). The pallets are rotated 90 by the turntable (C) according to the
cases height, which is detected at the entrance of the transport tables (B). The pallets are then deployed through the rollers (D)
to the transport tables (E or G). Finally, they are shipped to the automatic elevators (F or H).

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

27

low case

high case

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Suggestions:
Start sorting one case at a time. Stop the feeder belt (A) after a case enters the transport table (B). Repeat the process
after the case gets shipped to the automatic elevator (F or H).
Use the transport table (B) as a buffer of cases. Note that the measuring of the case height is done at the entrance of the
table (B).
Change the cases sorting order using a HMI console or a SCADA.

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

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Sorting - Sensors

Sensor
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

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Description

Feeder belt exit detector

Lower case detector

Higher case detector

Exit detector of the entry conveyor tables

Detector of the turntable loading position

Detector of the turntable unloading position

Turntable pallet detector

Entry detector of the exit conveyor table

Entry detector of the exit conveyor table
Exit detector of the exit conveyor table

Exit detector of the exit conveyor table

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

30

Sorting - Actuators

Actuator
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

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Description
Feeder belt

Entry conveyor table

Turntable rollers (loading)

Turntable rollers
Turntable

Exit conveyor table

Exit conveyor table

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

31

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2011 REAL GAMES LDA. All rights reserved.

Systems

32

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MISSION 1: AUTOMATED CONVEYING AND SORTING

OF CASES ON PALLETS
OBJECTIVE: To move cases from the entry bay to the exit elevators, sorting them by height

25

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Part 2: The Problems

About this Mission

he movement of materials and parts on automated transportation systems, such as conveyers

or transfer units, is very common in industrial plants. From a functional point of view, a
unidirectional conveyer is the simplest transportation device, as its present state, handles or does
not handle materials, can be represented by just a binary variable. Yet, most practical devices are
far more flexible and complex than this, having a considerable number of internal states. That is the
case of the sequential transporters, like the turntable included in this application which, performing
both transferring and sorting jobs typically have several entry and exit interfaces.
At the entry (or tail) of a conveyer there is something that provides the materials to be moved;
e.g., another conveyer, an operator or an automatic feeder. At the end (or head) of the conveyer,
another system retrieves the moved materials; e.g., a sorting device, another conveyer, an operator
or a packing station. The mission of a conveying system is thus to move materials from a location to
another in an efficient way. Efficiency typically means that materials should be correctly conveyed
and routed from a pre-defined origin to a pre-defined destination in minimum time and with the least
power consumption possible. This is synonymous of saying that:
A conveyer should not be running if it is not handling any material;

A conveyer handling a material should not be stopped, unless this is absolutely necessary;
The sorting devices should properly route all the materials.
The main goal of this mission is to show that, even in a complex plant, the exact characterization
of the devices existent at the entry and end of a conveyer are not relevant for its effective control; the
central issue in this matter is the synchronisation of each conveyer with the systems that feed and
retrieve the moved materials. Mastering this notion is the key element for designing a centralised or
distributed modular solution perfectly adaptable to the large conveying systems commonly found
in real industrial plants.
Particularly important in any flexible conveying and sorting system is being able to manage all
the information required for the proper routing of the materials. For such, the information related
to the materials in transit no matter if they originate from more or less sophisticated identification
systems such as bar code or RFIDs readers, or just from ordinary proximity sensors, as in the case
of the present application , usually has to be acquired, routed and tracked in a very similar way to
that of the conveyed materials.
Also important in any conveying system is the openness of the local controllers to the interchange
of information with human-machine interface consoles and supervisory systems. Last, but not least,
one must also consider the effective detection and proper handling of those situations that may lead
to the damage of the conveyed materials or the physical degradation of the conveying system itself.
This mission covers all these issues, starting with the basic ones.

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ITS MISSION - PLC SORTING

TASK 1 Automatic Feeding of Boxes on Entry Conveyor

1) Feed the boxes from feeder conveyor to Entry conveyor. The feeder conveyor should be ON
using Start Button & Entry conveyor should be ON on detection of the pallets. Entry conveyor
should turned OFF is there is no pallet on it for 5 seconds.
2) Entry conveyor should turned ON again on detection of pallets
3) Turned on the Rollers forcefully to avoid jamming
4) Feeder conveyor should stop by pressing Stop button

TASK 2 Sensing & Counting the Boxes

1) In addition to above task, count the following:

Total number of boxes fed
Total number of Small Boxes
Total number of Large Boxes
Total number of boxes on the Entry conveyor
2) Indicate the operation & number of Boxes on HMI Screen

TASK 3 Sorting of Boxes

1) In addition to the above task here the objective is to Sort the boxes based on height such that:
The smaller boxes should be fed towards Exit conveyor 5 & larger boxes to exit
conveyor 6
Make sure there are 3 boxes on the entry conveyor at any moment
Indicate the Plant Status (RUN, STOP, IDLE), Actuator & Sensor indications on HMI
Make a provision to enter the batch size for sorting (Number of Boxes to be fed)
On HMI indicate the following:
i. Total Boxes fed
ii. Total number of Small Boxes
iii. Total number of Large boxes
iv. Total Boxes Sorted
v. Boxes under processing
vi. Time taken to complete the Batch

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