Our X90 controllers provide seamless connectivity from cloud to field devices.

B&R solutions allow automation concepts for construction equipment to be implemented easier than ever.

Saurabh Kulkarni
Mobile Automation Expert – India

B&R is an innovative automation company with headquarters in Austria and offices all around the world. As a global leader in industrial automation, B&R combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers in virtually every industry with complete solutions for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. Mobile equipment built with advanced and green technologies for all stages of road construction ensures better time utilization by meeting deadlines and achieving efficient results,” states Saurabh Kulkarni – Mobile Automation Expert – India. Excerpts from the interview.

What contributory role B&R plays in the value chain promoting ‘advanced and green’ technologies for the construction of better and quality roads on a faster pace, especially with regard to automation?

Increased environmental awareness and the accompanying automated processing of all types of waste, places special demands on the control systems used. The automation systems being used here are subject to adverse conditions caused by environmental factors such as dust, dirt, heat, cold, vibration, etc. Reliability, robustness together with ease of operation are essential factors that must be met by a control systems working in such environment. B&R an innovative company and a technology leader is well known globally for our product quality, performance, robustness and reliability. B&R has a unique, integrated and modular control system, which couples a high IP rating with excellent flexibility and applies the power of industrial automation to mobile automation applications including scrapers, dozers, loaders and excavators. Thus, mobile equipment built with advanced and green technologies for all stages of road construction ensures better time utilization by meeting deadlines and achieving efficient results.

What are the major challenges in spreading advanced technology? How do you address the same?

OEMs globally are working towards providing next generation connected solutions in their mobile equipment. Data analytics, business intelligence and connected assets are of prime importance. However, digitization itself provides numerous challenges on its path of adoption and implementation. Seamless connectivity and interoperability are two of the major challenges OEMs encounter in their endeavor for digital transformation. A combination of serial bus, proprietary networks and Ethernet networks in the equipment controls make it difficult for achieving a standard interface and network for connectivity in mobile machinery. This results in interoperability issues and serial bus limits the possibility of digitization for the OEM.

B&R has been a strong supporter of open source solutions and these have been effectively put to use in our X90 controllers, providing seamless connectivity from cloud to field devices. This makes the dream of OEMs a reality. CAN open and Ethernet POWERLINK are the open source, vendor independent networking protocols provided on X90 controllers for real time connectivity on the field for sensors, actuators, drives, cameras, joystick, radar and other peripheral systems. This is coupled with MQTT, OPC UA (Unified Architecture) and OPC UA TSN (Time Sensitive Networking) for equipment-to-equipment and equipment-to-cloud connectivity satisfying the IoT needs of the OEM.

Could you elaborate on the solutions B&R is providing?

B&R has been part of asphalt mixer manufacturing for over a decade. Many global and Indian manufacturers trust in B&R for automating their asphalt mixer manufacturing process. These mixers are based on a frequency-controlled device, a high-speed communication bus and last but not the least, high performance visualization and control technology from B&R. Our APROL process control system gives them a fully integrated and comprehensive automation package for the processing industry. With the scalable and open nature of this solution, it is flexible to adapt to the demands of today and tomorrow, ensuring investment security.

If the projects time is brought down considerably by project authorities, will it help the adoption of such advanced technologies?

Time and cost are main factors to consider in successful completion of project in construction industry. It is common in India to experience delays during construction projects, which results in substantial increase in project cost. If project time is brought down, major cost savings can be achieved. This can be the motivating factor for OEMs to invest in advanced technology and build equipment, which promises improved quality, decreased time to completion, lower maintenance in cost effective ways.

What are your suggestions to bring down the time of completion of a road project without impacting the quality, rather enhancing the quality and life of the end product within the specified time period?

At present construction industry in India is struggling to cope with issues related to productivity, performance, labor shortage, health, safety and environment therefore importance of technology is growing rapidly in this sector. Faced with unrelenting demands for higher productivity, construction industry is turning to increasingly automated and networked machinery. B&R solutions allow automation concepts for construction equipment to be implemented easier than ever. Customers benefit from an easy-to-use development environment, high-performance real-time operating system and ready-made software components. The modular X90 control and I/O system together with condition monitoring enables identification of problems in their early stages and corrected before they result in unplanned downtime. Condition-based predictive maintenance can maximize machine availability and save considerable cost of outages and unplanned service calls. The X90 control allows operators to continuously monitor the status of mobile equipment. The results help determine exactly which components require maintenance and when. Typical applications include continuous monitoring of rotating machine components such as hydraulic assemblies, belts, gears and motors. The processed sensor data is also available for further use in the application. Predictive maintenance, remote access to mobile equipment, digital twin, virtualization, data logging, open connectivity, analytics among other technologies will definitely play a vital role in shaping the future of mobile equipment and B&R today is already helping OEMs to be ready for the future.

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