New protocols added to PlantStar

Three new machine/auxiliary interface protocols have been added to the Syscon-PlantStar (South Bend, IN) library of machine interfaces after thorough testing and installation throughout its user base.

A recent installation is utilizing the PlantStar Portrait system mapped via an Ethernet interface to Milacron’s newest Mosaic control, in which PlantStar is monitoring four machines equipped with Mosaic Control via a single PlantStar data collection module. The Portrait system permits the user to select the parameters from the control that best suit the application.

Also at this facility, Plant­Star is interfaced to a Conair weigh blender. Using OPC (Open Process Control) protocol communications, the PlantStar system gathers information regarding the exact amounts of each type of material being used at the machine. The Conair OPC Modbus/PlantStar interface provides a detailed record of what material was used, when, and under what process conditions. That data is combined for in-depth process analysis.

PlantStar also recently completed development and installed an interface to Toshiba’s new V30 all-electric machine control. Toshiba’s Ethernet interface provides the PlantStar data collection module with process conditions and provides details for the module to divert parts as scrap during the molding cycle when needed. Unlike most serial interfaces that offer the data after a cycle has completed, this enables immediate isolation of suspect parts.

These interfaces can be used in PlantStar’s Portrait and Panorama level systems. In addition, a new stand-alone Process Data Acquisition Module can be implemented with existing and new machine/auxiliary interfaces. The PDAM unit is designed for those looking for machinery process data acquisition that can be used in higher-level SPC/SQC software such as PlantStar’s SPC2 or Hertzler’s GainSeeker.

Syscon-PlantStar
www.plantstar.org