ABB Expands Industrial Automation Portfolio with Three New Solutions

Over the summer, ABB has recently introduced its latest hardware and software technology innovations: a rugged, durable flow measurement device, ProcessMaster FER620 sensor, a vendor–neutral firmware update software for automation field devices, and an AI-driven Visual SLAM–guided forklift truck that takes ABB’s AMR technology suite offering to new heights.

ProcessMaster FER620 is ABB’s hermetically sealed, 0xD/0xD solution for advanced flow measurement. Image used courtesy of ABB

ABB’s Ability FIM 3.5

ABB’s Ability Field Information Manager (FIM) 3.5 is designed to help reduce the labor involved with manual device management, help industrial operators maintain cybersecurity standards across multiple device vendors, and reduce lengthy maintenance work. The new ABB Ability FIM 3.5 leverages field device integration (FDI), facilitating broad device connectivity and management across an extensive, complex, automated facility. Using a single graphical user interface in this way provides visibility across devices for assessing and monitoring conditions. FIM 3.5 is intended to help reduce the complexity and labor associated with facility management by:

• Managing devices centrally.
• Updating firmware for many devices automatically.
• Supporting the latest standards like Ethernet-APL, FDI, and PA-DIM.
• Reducing manual tasks while maintaining operational security.

Field engineers and instrumentation technicians can use FIM 3.5 to connect to devices, assign drivers, and access diagnostics and configuration data within minutes. ABB Ability FIM 3.5 works synergistically with ABB Ability System 800xA and ABB Ability Symphony Plus, providing native device management so that engineers do not need to switch between applications to configure a HART or PROFIBUS transmitter.

ABB’s ProcessMaster FER620 Sensor

Next up is ABB’s latest flow measurement solution in the form of the rugged, IP68–rated ProcessMaster FER620 sensor. The dust–proof enclosure is waterproof (usually) up to 1.5 meters submerged in water for 30 minutes to support frequent flooding and withstand the harsh conditions of water industries.

Customers can opt for Modbus RTU communication for collecting more device and process data and benefit from simultaneous communication through 4-20mA and Modbus. The embedded sensor memory technology is designed to improve usability and provides an automatic self-configuration sequence.

One notable feature of the ProcessMaster FER620 is its reduced bore, which enables it to measure extremely low velocities up to 10 m/s. This feature is intended to help capture precise measurements in low–flow conditions (including night flow rates). Modularity and embedded IoT capabilities provide customers with an adaptable device for changing operational requirements and monitoring assets in-house or in the field remotely.

Another feature includes a sensor coil and electrode diagnostics to monitor essential process conditions in advance of issues that could cause disturbances and unwanted downtime. The ProcessMaster provides zero-clearance Installation via an advanced "0xD/0xD" design, intended to deliver precise measurements in confined spaces without the need for straight piping.

ABB’s F712 forklift operates autonomously via AI–backed Visual SLAM and features a modular design with counterbalanced mechanics. Video used courtesy of ABB Robotics

ABB’s Flexley Stack F712

ABB announced the recent addition of the Flexley Stack F712 to its visual-SLAM-enabled AMR product portfolio. The forklift provides an added level of capacity in terms of maneuvering parts and/or goods of different sizes, and at different heights. The Flexley forklift joins the Flexley Tug and Flexley Mover, adopting the same AI-backed perception capacities brought to the floor with Visual SLAM. This capacity to navigate without added infrastructure, such as painted or magnetic strips or reflectors, saves on installation and deployment time and costs.

In addition to the ability to navigate autonomously, avoid objects, execute safety stops to work safely around human workers, and maneuver itself with a market-competitive positioning accuracy of ±10 mm (and ±1°), the Flexley Forklift can work in concert with other ABB AMRs in a coordinated fleet through the company’s AMR Studio software. The software provides customers with an intuitive interface to mark up fleet setups and scale accordingly when operational requirements demand.

With a payload of up to 2,000 kg and an 8.5 m lifting height, the AI-backed Flexley Forklift is designed to facilitate part/product mobility across end-of-line, line supply, and warehouse storage and retrieval operations.