Press Release
DRIVES FOR TOP-NOTCH "SPRINTER"
DaimlerChrysler opts for Control Techniques Drives
More than 800 AC drives, supplied by the Control Techniques
Drive Centre in Chemnitz have been installed in the new "Sprinter"
production facility in DaimlerChrysler's Ludwigsfelde plant, near
Berlin.
All drives above 1.1 kW used in the vast, new factory – which
was built specifically for a new model of the Mercedes "Sprinter" –
are supplied by Control Techniques. Why? "Programming
flexibility and openness are the main reasons", says the Technical
Engineer, Mr Wagner. "We had already gained a lot of experience
with Control Techniques Unidrive and Commander SE drives on the
"Vaneo" project", he explained, "and we particularly liked the
Unidrive SP's versatility".
Around 600 Control Techniques drives were used in the "Vaneo"
production facility in Ludwigsfelde, and production was optimised
by direct communication between PLCs and the drives.
After the decision was made to produce a new Sprinter model in
the Ludwigsfelde plant, Unidrive SP was specified as the standard
for all applications over 1.1 kW. These included open loop and
closed loop applications – for both synchronous motors and
induction motors, and all position-controlled axes in the entire
facility. This embraces a tremendously wide range of different
tasks, from control of conveyor belts, scissor lifts, automated
guided transport vehicles and advanced compact storage systems, up
to ventilation and extraction systems.
Control Techniques drives control essential functions throughout
the three core areas of the facility: body shop, paint shop
and final assembly.
In the body shop, the Sprinter bodies are built from preformed
sheet metal, using welding robots and a fully-automatic material
transport system. Over 200 Unidrive SP drives are used in this
area. They are operated in open loop mode for transport tasks (in
the buffer store, for example, where up to 86 bodyshells are stored
temporarily on eleven rails) and in closed loop mode for hoist
units. A typical precision application can be seen in the
automatic welding cells where two Unidrive SPs, coupled with the
UMD Unimotors are used in a master/slave configuration for the
lifting mechanism, synchronised with a third Unidrive SP with
Unimotors in position control.
Most of the Unidrive SP drives in the Ludwigsfelde plant are
fitted with an application module for additional onboard processing
and Interbus communication. Profibus DP or CANOpen bus protocol is
used on some axes, this depends on the particular controller type
used. Others have an additional encoder module to enable a second
transmitter signal, from a laser measuring instrument, for example,
to be processed.>>>>>>>
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