An industrial automation giant sought to optimize its network servo debugging process.
The CustomerA Chicago area industrial automation company has one objective - to provide quality solutions to manufacturers' automation requirements. Creating reliable solutions that exceed customer expectations, improving productivity through automated control of products and processes, this company has grown to become one of the leading suppliers of AC servos, AC inverters, CNC controller systems, robotics, and systems integration.
The ProblemField Engineers for this chicago area comany often had problems debugging servo controllers. Field Engineers had to figure out if the problem came from the customer's master software on the DeviceNet network, which commands the servo controllers, or if they had a faulty servo controller. Most often the problem was not their servo controller, but the master software giving the wrong commands. Debugging code that was written by the customer was time consuming and costly.
The SSI SolutionSSI Software Engineers took on the task of building a custom software application, the Fieldbus Network Analyzer, to solve their dilemma. SSI started from the ground up doing active research on the protocols involved and came up with a solution by building a Windows™ based application, which would analyze a DeviceNet network. The Fieldbus Network Analyzer can set triggers, show messages before and after triggers, and show all product specific settings in a graphical format. Formerly, debugging industrial networks was like debugging C/C++ code; now, with the Fieldbus Network Analyzer, the field engineer can check the command to the servo and see the response in a user-friendly graphical interface. Field Engineers can now see if the commands from the master software are wrong, or if the servo is not responding correctly within minutes of arriving at the customer's site -- thus saving time and cutting costs.
This chicago area company also wanted the Fieldbus Network Analyzer to be extensible. SSI took object-oriented programming to another level by adding all the "hooks" for future development. "Hooks" are already in place for being a master on the network and working with a Profibus network!
SSI showed the Fieldbus Network Analyzer to the field engineers for feedback and the response was incredible. "Awesome," said one of the field engineers. "COOL!" said another.
They were clearly impressed.
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