Bionade Relies on SPEEDWAY

WAGO SPEEDWAY is being used in initial applications. A CANopen application is running at Bionade in Ostheim. There, SPEEDWAY successfully passed a test run in the plant's own filtering plant.

The success of Bionade will bring investments. Just last year, the bottling plant was renovated; there, the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM and IP67-protected passive distributors are used. Now the plant's own filtering system for the liquid waste from production and bottle cleaning is being replaced and expanded. This system, which is housed in a separate building, will be largely automated. In the final stage, remote monitoring from several stations is envisioned, for a failure is not acceptable.

Plant under construction, controller is running

The controller is already running, although pipelines are still being laid; even the building looks like it is still under construction from the outside. The people in charge, the chief of the Bionade e-workshop, Matthias Hansmann, the automation specialist Martin Hußlein of Husslein Controls & Automation Ltd. & Co. KG in Eltmann, and Bionade programmer Matthias Falk, declared themselves ready after consulting with the plant management to test the SPEEDWAY CANopen line on the property. Therefore, the pumps, valves, sliders, etc. are already cabled, tested, and ready for operation weeks before the plant will be started up.

WAGO components cover the entire field level. Analog values via the classic WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM, IFM level probes run using WAGO JUMPFLEX 857-420 Isolating Amplifiers. For the digital inputs and outputs, the pneumatic drives, the end switch monitoring of the pneumatic valves, etc., SPEEDWAY passes its first test at Bionade; a CANopen coupler and three digital input and output modules are installed. Matthias Hansmann explains: "We have taken the opportunity to do extensive testing and we really went full throttle, e.g. we laid 20m lines between the modules. We wanted to know whether SPEEDWAY could do that. And it turned out to be no problem at all "Overall, the entire installation and startup was unspectacular. SPEEDWAY makes it easy for the user. This begins with the packaging, which has a drill template printed on it. Since SPEEDWAY does not require a switch cabinet, there is no need to lay cables through grommets. Cabling errors during the module cabling and the application of the sensors and actuators are practically prevented by the coded connectors. Another plus is the identification possibilities. Even in the fully-installed state, the labels are still easy to read.

Startup made easy

During the programming, the Bionade team was supported by the automation specialist Martin Hußlein. He too confirms the positive impression: "The support provided by WAGO technical support was perfect as ever. But a lot of things are easier with the new system. Thus, for example, the baud rate can be set via DIP switches. "This can be done when the system is taken "out of the box", without connecting the module to a computer. Martin Hußlein especially emphasizes an innovation in the programming: "WAGO's new EDS files for the configuration in the CoDeSys programming environment represent a significant advance. The modules must only be selected from a catalog that provides the EDS file. Mapping is carried out entirely automatically with default values. Things like bit counting or leafing through the manual as one previously had to do for CANopen projects under CoDeSys are a thing of the past. Now, this works exactly the way a PLC user is familiar with the Profibus configuration or like the S7. Matthias Falk adds; "Wiring is made much easier and extremely reliable, thanks to the coded plug. In addition to the sophisticated concept, there are also many details that make working with SPEEDWAY so easy, e.g. the terminating resistor for the bus line. For this, there are pre-assembled blind plugs from WAGO with a soldered-in resistor. This is faster and more reliable than any self-made special solutions. "Matthias Hansmann summarizes: "We do not regret the extra effort required for the test. Most of the work was on the documentation. In our E-CAD there are still no symbols for the SPEEDWAY. I had to draw these myself. In contrast to this, the start-up was easy."