Standard Software Template for Automatic Machines: Design, Implementation and Validation Through the Virtual Commissioning Approach

The objective of this project is to realize a reusable Software Template for the Packaging Division of the Körber Tissue Business Area. The template will be the software base of the development for all the new concept machines of the factory. It should be compliant with the OMAC PackML Standard to provide a completely general and reusable solution, including user, recipe and signal management, easy to integrate in existing production lines. In order to provide a practical ready to use solution, the software is developed analysing a new going on project on a new bundler machine for the tissue packaging area. In the first stage, the process that the machine needs to carry out and all the functionalities involved are studied. Then, the structure of the software is decided and the template is developed, including concepts of modularity and reusability. In the second stage of the development process, a study on the trajectory planning for automatic machines is made, in order to generate a software structure that takes into account the needs of a modern machine. The VDI Guideline 2143 is considered to have a standard approach for the trajectory planning procedure. The mechanical details of the new bundler machine are still under development. For this reason, a simulation model of the machine is created. It can already be used to test and compare different software concepts. Thanks to the virtual commissioning, the physical behaviour of a relevant part of the machine and the product flow have been simulated digitally. The simulation allowed to test the implemented template, coded into the PLC, for the single mechanical components and their synchronized movements in a safe virtual environment.