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Uni1
- Integration
in customer plant
- network connection -
The need to connect a test equipment to the manufacturer' s plant computers network arises from many reasons.
The
most important points are the following:
The
need of allowing the test of modular harnesses
for J.I.T. supplies.
It
requires the connection to the computer
of plant to know the configuration of the harness
to be tested. In this case the barcode, read on the test post and relevant
to the product code, is used to find
out the actual configuration of the harness itself,
and to create automatically the program
of the harness in question in order to make it.
To
centralize all test programs, as the test
programs are created independently from the configuration of the table,
those can be
"centrally made".
To
have a back-up copy of all configuration
data about each test equipment. It's a good thing
to have a backup copy of all information memorised
on each test equipment. The method of centralized
filing can substitute the floppy-disk method and in this way to facilitate
and make more reliable a maintenance intervention in case of substitution
of equipment.
To
give a centralized service to the users in difficulty. By means of a remote
assistance function it is possible to follow the operations on a remote
workstation, having the capability to operate on the test cycle. The operator
in difficulty can therefore issue an help request.
To
collect information about the production and the finished product quality.
For a subsequent statistical analysis it is necessary to collect information
from the test equipment and store them on a centralized archive.
The
network connection of all the Uni workstations
is made by means of standard commercial devices and protocols.
While the Uni4 workstations,
based on Personal Computer architecture, can be connected
directly to an Ethernet (10/100 Kbit) link, the Uni2 and Uni3 equipment are connected to a CAN-bus network,
to a Server Uni1, acting as
a concentrator for the above
mentioned web.
For both network types
(Ethernet or CAN) a standard wire and
a wireless connections are available.
The Uni1 Server is composed
by a PC carrying a Windows NT
â Operating System and is fitted
with interface cards to perform:
·
a link between the Manufacturer's Host computer (connected to the same
or a separate net)
and the test equipment
·
a link between the Uni2 and Uni3 equipment
and the CAN-bus network
·
a bridge-link between the Ethernet and the CAN networks.
The data flow is completely
full duplex between Server and Uni systems.
The structure of possible connections
is drafted here below:
