Product category:
Plantwide control
News Release from: Industrial Electronic Automation | Subject: Anti-lock brake valve test rig
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 07 September 2000
Brake valve testing under Opto 22
control
Opto 22 control lies at the heart of a new high-speed, anti-lock brake valve test rig developed by Cardiff-based Industrial Electronic Automation.
Opto 22 control lies at the heart of a new high-speed, anti-lock brake valve test rig developed by Cardiff-based Industrial Electronic Automation The rig was commissioned by Haldex Brake, one of the world's largest manufacturers of anti-lock braking systems for trucks and lorries
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 8 Feb 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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IEA has supplied six other rigs to Haldex UK and four to their parent company Midland Brake in the USA, this is the second to run Opto 22 software on the Windows NT 4.0 operating system.
"The earlier rigs were bespoke embedded VME based systems.
Haldex was keen to move up to NT to meet Y2K compliance and because of Opto 22's level of control and ease of access it was an ideal choice," noted IEA Systems Manager John Colbourne.
The control equipment was supplied by Letchworth-based System Devices, sole UK supplier of Opto 22 devices.
The new rig had to meet a very demanding specification: it had to be able to run in either automatic or manual modes, it had to include a facility to allow Haldex to monitor the results of any valve being tested and to view the results of every valve tested in a batch; it also had to allow Haldex to set up new valve test specifications and alter the test rig engineering parameters by use of a password.
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Key to success of the new rig are Opto 22's display screens.
These are primarily used to allow the test rig control PC to initiate and monitor the testing of valves and read the results of the batch being tested.
Letchworth On system start-up, the user is presented with the Mimic screen which includes a number of options.
The Batch Data button gives access to the Batch Data screen, the Alarms Button takes the user to the Alarms Screen and the Automatic Button allows change of operating mode of the test rig from manual to automatic.
The Initialise Button puts the system into a state to allow selection of the automatic sequence.
This screen also allows the operator to switch valves manually by pressing the relevant picture of the valve on a touch-screen monitor.
The test results button takes the user to the test results screen, which displays the results in real time when the system is running in automatic.
The Batch Data screen lists batch number, current part number and operator's user number.
As with the other screens, it allows the operator to select alternative information and to run the test rig in other modes.
Both leakage and performance have to be tested for the anti-lock valves to qualify the relevant national and international standards.
Another important selection which can be accessed from the Batch Data screen is the Selectable Test Sequence screen.
This allows users to define their own particular sequences of test operations.
These could include, for example, single tests, multiple repeats of single tests, sequences of tests and multiple repeats of sequences of tests.
A report is generated for each test completed, but the valve will only be stamped as passed if all tests within a full test sequence have been successfully completed.
The Test Rig Statistical Data screen indicates certain performance statistics, for example the number of hours that the test rig has been running, the total number of valves tested within that time and the number of valves that have passed as well as the number that failed.
It also gives access to the Planned Preventative Maintenance screen, which displays information relevant to the number of operations executed by supply valves, control valves, delivery valves, solenoid, stamp and lever clamp.
Given the correct password, from the Batch Data screen a user can access the Engineering Parameter Set-up screen.
This gives access to eight other screens and allows the user to set up test rig engineering parameters.
Control pressures and settling times, clamping and lubrication parameters - plus those relating to the solenoid identification test - can all be accessed from this level.
The end-result is a fast, dynamic rig which is powerful and easy to use.
"Because of its functionality Opto 22 is very unrestrictive.
It has really given us great flexibility," concluded Colbourne.
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