Machine control bysmartphones and tablets

On October 11, the headquarters of Cesap (European Centre for the Development of Plastic Applications) in Verdellino-Zingonia (Bergamo) will be the venue for a seminar organised to illustrate the opportunities offered by smartphones or tablets as interface with industrial machinery and systems. The event will provide a practical demonstration of how, using a standard smartphone (loaded with a special application developed to suit the user's needs) and an electronic card (gateway) able to communicate with the machine control systems already in use, it is possible to carry out a range of functions: machine reconfiguration, resetting the system parameters to optimise performance levels, maximise energy efficiency and ensure operator safety in all working conditions; diagnosis of faults or malfunctions of components (sensors, actuators, etc.) and subsystems, through signal filtering and analysis; data-logging operations for the remote transfer of data and statistics on performance and productivity; remote monitoring of the machine through the transfer of audio and video signals synchronised with the process data.
Whereas there are many different electronic cards (even inexpensive ones, costing around 100 euros) readily available on the market, smartphone software for particular production line reading and control needs has to be specially developed and personalised (with costs starting at several thousand euros and varying according to the number of screens and the complexity of the information to be displayed). The seminar will be given by teachers and researchers from the Automation institute at the University of Bergamo, led by Prof. Fabio Previdi, which assists companies in the development and personalisation of smartphone applications at lower costs and in time frames compatible with business requirements. The seminar is aimed mainly at: technical staff involved in the design and maintenance of plastics and rubber processing machinery and equipment, processors wanting to improve the servicing of their machinery and, in general, anyone wanting information about the new control systems available on the market.