DeviceNet, PROFINET, KUKA Robot, Electric Vehicle

In recent years, the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry has experienced rapid growth and development which has lead to an increased demand for auto parts. However, OEM auto parts supplier production lines have struggled to keep up with this growing demand for orders and require upgrades to increase production volume.

In a manufacturing plant located in Texas, a production line for automotive aluminum alloy wheels is being upgraded to keep up with this new demand by introducing more robots into the manufacturing process. To ensure stable, safe and efficient operation of the wheel production line, the central control system needs to monitor the robots movement commands and parameters on the entire line in real time.

In the manufacturing plant, the on-site production line introduces KUKA robots to increase production volume. These robots communicate via DeviceNet (as a DeviceNet master), and the central control system's Siemens 1500 PLC communicates via PROFINET (as a PROFINET master).

In order to ensure safe, efficient, and orderly operation of the wheel production line, there needs to be a way to establish a safe and reliable connection between the Siemens PLC and the KUKA robot. SST Automation provides a real-time and highly reliable data communication solution between PROFINET and DeviceNet networks with the GT100-PN-DM gateway.

Configuration of the DeviceNet side of the gateway:

In the end, the integrator chooses SST Automation GT100-PN-DM gateway to connect each KUKA robot on-site to PROFINET at a relatively economical cost, with added convenience in programming the Siemens PLC control system. With the integrator now having a clear network topology for the whole system, the master control system for the EV wheel production line can now easily communicate to each robot. The control system can send real-time action commands and work parameters to the collection of robots, ensuring that the whole production line operates safely, efficiently and orderly.