MiConnect Technology for Post-Machining Automation – Caron Engineering

MiConnect Technology is flexible application builder used by our integration specialists to create custom automation and process control solutions that are unique to a manufacturer’s operations.

We can use this technology to:
• Connect devices and operations on a shop floor
• Automate and simplify manufacturing processes
• Guide and verify process flow
• Data interchange

Full Video Transcript

So today we’re going to show a small example of an automation cell and kind of the pieces that go along with it, and how the software from Caron Engineering can help our customers really make this a smooth and seamless process. So the components of the system basically are the Omron collaborative robot with an integrated camera does all the parts handling also locating the part and position the rotation with the camera as well. Then it places the part into a My Jet air actuated parts cleaner, which has many jets in it and basically cleans the part, removes chips debris and cooling from the part. From there the Fowler portable CMM will actually measure the part, all the features required and present that data downstream for automatic compensation. So every automation cell includes a lot of different components. We have a few here as an example, but there’s many more things that get integrated into automation. Well Caron Engineering created a technology called MiConnect that allows integrators to be able to more seamlessly connect all these devices together. So this software is a tool-kit that allows you to build applications. For every device that’s out there in the system, we have what’s called plugins. Plugins basically include all the signals and data points that each device would have that needed to be read or written to. Once plugins are developed, we create what’s called routines. Routines include a variety of steps into the system, and each routine includes a flowchart of how data is handled, how screens are shown, how events are handled, messages to operators, and a variety of different functions, and they’re all done with a flowchart style programming like this. Once this flowchart is built, the system runs as a general application that will control the entire process.  [Music]