Roll Forming Machine

Studmeister had a custom roll forming machine which creates custom parts based on CAD recipe files. The machine was running on an outdated Mitsubishi PLC with a Microsoft .NET PC based user interface. The motherboard stopped working and replacements were no longer available. Source code for the machine and CAD recipe decoding was not available either.
Maskine worked with Studmeister to capture the functionality of the old machine including how to interpret the CAD recipes. Maskine then programmed the machine using the latest Beckhoff controls system to recreate the old functionality and improve the user interface.
In addition, Maskine implemented a new duel encoder system which switches from controlling the servo via the built-in motor encoder to an encoder running on the material on-the-fly. The second encoder compensates for any slippage in the roll form dies, which improved tolerances from +/-1/8″ to +/-1/32″. In addition, this eliminated the need for calibration and setup by the operator, reducing operator training time by 85%.