News From Hannover Messe: Rockwell’s Motor, Drive, and Edge Solutions

The first day of Hannover Messe, the massive automation trade show in Germany, revealed a number of exciting company news announcements and demonstrations. One highlight was a set of new product and software solutions from control and motor industry leader Rockwell Automation.

In a series of briefings, Rockwell announced a new line of centralized motor control center (MCC) solutions, a partnership with Microsoft to bring new capabilities to FactoryTalk edge and data platforms, and a set of new capabilities for medium-voltage PowerFlex VFDs.

 

FLEXLINE 3500 Motor Control Center

Motor technology is one of the largest consumers of electricity in the commercial and industrial world. It makes sense, therefore, that the latest advancements in motor control solutions would include critical data monitoring and device diagnostics to ensure both a reliable and efficient continuity of operation.

 

Rockwell’s new FLEXLINE 3500 MCC. Image used courtesy of Rockwell Automation

 

The new FLEXLINE 3500 is a medium-voltage motor control center (MCC) designed to meet international regulations according to the IEC 61439 standard. Internally, an Ethernet/IP network connects all the smart devices, a term that largely points to the ability to monitor and prevent failures through the collection of data, within the MCC.

By taking advantage of this connectivity technology, several benefits can be made more readily available to users:

• Reducing costs by monitoring and optimizing the consumption of power
• Preventing failures by monitoring critical operational data metrics (vibration, temp, current, etc)
• Reducing downtime, which aids in saving on maintenance costs and increasing throughput
• Supporting installation and maintenance with greater visibility into operational needs

MCC assemblies are common in a variety of industries, including food & bev, oil & gas, lumber, and conveyor processes.

 

Microsoft and Rockwell: Edge Solutions for FactoryTalk

The crossover between physical and digital worlds is poised to grow exponentially in the future, a trend that is illustrated by developments in AI, digital twins, and cloud analytics. Computing power from Microsoft linked with automation expertise from Rockwell are blending these realms in a demonstration by Microsoft at the Hannover Messe show.

Connecting data between the plant floor and the cloud is the goal of FactoryTalk edge solutions, powered by Microsoft Azure. Streamlining the pipeline of data will allow better access to maintenance analytics, production optimization, and AI-assisted design tasks.

 

Edge and AI solutions are taking center stage in many new industrial automation industries. Image used courtesy of Rockwell Automation

 

Another recent collaboration rises to the forefront by way of the recent NVIDIA conference, outlining many companies taking advantage of graphical processing capabilities to streamline digital twin productions. Rockwell and Microsoft are collaboratively providing benefits to customers by digitizing these production models.

Another benefit arising from Microsoft’s software abilities is the FactoryTalk DataMosaix MES system, which incorporates AI tools to achieve superior insight into actions and root-cause analysis for enhanced operations.

 

PowerFlex 6000T VFD Enhancements

Another motor solution from Rockwell is a series of upgrades to the popular 6000T VFD line from PowerFlex.

The VFD now fully supports the integration of permanent magnet (PM) AC motors for applications up to 120 Hz speeds on voltages from 2.3 to 11 kV.

 

The new updates to the PowerFlex 6000T VFD. Image used courtesy of Rockwell Automation

 

In another bid to reduce downtime and provide reasonable, actionable analytics, the VFD is outfitted with predictive maintenance ability using Rockwell’s TotalFORCE data analytics architecture, already a staple in some of the other PowerFlex VFD lines.

 

Rockwell at Hannover Messe

To see these products in action, visit Rockwell for the reminder of Hannover Messe at partner booths: CUBIC in Hall 12, booth D52, and Microsoft in Hall 17, booth G06.