Highly dynamic measuring, control and drive systems for test stands: flexibly usable with PC-based control

With product development times that are steadily getting shorter, from very small components to large gearboxes, customers are placing increasing demands on the test benches for ensuring the product properties. The bandwidth extends from the table setup for laboratory use up to the large component test bench for wind turbines and ship motors. At the same time, many commonalities are recognizable: modern test benches must be capable of being adapted to changing requirements for examinations to accompany development – and this requires a modular concept. Only a high synchronicity of measured data with minimal measurement uncertainties makes it possible to evaluate the effects of constructive changes quantitatively and reproducibly.

In addition, an automation system for test benches serves a variety of interfaces to the test specimen and to further specialized measurement and test systems. The integration of compact and distributed drive technology for positioning tasks as well as the control of large drive controllers, e.g., for dynamometers, are central components of a test bench. Physical sensors, including for temperatures, pressures, forces, torques, positions and displacements, must be acquired precisely and their correct function must be monitored continuously. With the deep diagnostics of all test parameters, the users can concentrate on their test specimens and advance quickly in the development process. Measuring signals and process parameters are acquired synchronously, visualized for the user and at the same time reliably saved in files or databases for further analyses.

The integration of complex control algorithms and Machine Learning into the PC-based controller links reliable measurement and control technology with agile, model-based product development. Models can be used both in a simulation environment and on a real test bench without further adaptation.

With its modular system, Beckhoff offers the optimal foundation for demanding test bench projects:

• Highly synchronous EtherCAT measurement data acquisition, drive and control technology, scalable by PC-based control technology − with access to all process data
• Interfaces for all sensors − centralized in the terminal system or decentralized as a box
• Precise, calibrated measurement technology with long-term stability with a sampling rate of up to 100 kSps and a measurement uncertainty of 25 ppm, also calibrated to ISO17025 or DAkkS
• Scalable EtherCAT drive technology for up to 255 axes − from the small servomotor to the XTS linear transport system
• High-performance visualization and signal analysis with TwinCAT Scope View
• Database connection via the TwinCAT Database Server to SQL, Oracle and InfluxDB, among others
• Target and interface for MATLAB^® and Simulink^®, inference machines for Machine Learning and neural networks via ONNX
• Connection to LabVIEW™ via ADS-Client-VIs
• IoT interfaces including OPC UA, MQTT, REST and fieldbuses including PROFINET or CANopen