With CODESYS through space and time

The requirements of aufwind Group

The goal was to create an interactive adventure ride called “World of Memory®,” in which the audience travels through various themed worlds in rail vehicles, plays Memory® against each other, and immerses themselves in the action. A comprehensive automation solution was sought that could meet a wide range of requirements.

The following aspects had to be covered:

• Motion control of the individual vehicles on the tracks, both in the direction of travel and for tilting, shaking, lowering, lifting, and rotating movements, including teach-in via joystick
• Building automation and special effects, such as control of the partitions between individual themed worlds, fans for scent diffusion, or strobe lighting systems
• Visualizations for operating the ride and monitoring important system functions
• Remote access to control technology, associated automation projects, and visualizations
• Flexible communication options, particularly for communication via 2-wire Ethernet over the 400-volt rail system and for seamless interaction with standalone media technology
• Simple sensor integration, e.g., of LIDAR systems for measuring the distance between vehicles or of electronically lockable seatbelt buckles with closure monitoring
• Efficient and rapid update capability for all control systems in individual vehicles during commissioning and subsequent adjustments
• Vendor independence for easy retrofitting of existing control hardware

The solution with CODESYS

Thanks to its versatility, CODESYS has proven to be the ideal platform for handling the diverse requirements:

• For the control system, each vehicle is equipped with PLCs from Berghof Automation GmbH featuring CODESYS Runtime and fieldbus interfaces.
• The PLCs can be programmed using the free CODESYS Development System.
• In addition to programming the control logic, this system also allows users to create the necessary graphical user interfaces, connect all I/Os via fieldbus, and implement the complete motion control within the same project.
• This allowed all sensors and actuators, particularly the numerous drives, to be integrated quickly and efficiently via CANopen and EtherCAT.
• In addition, CODESYS WebVisu was used to create UIs for all key functions and values, through which the entire system can be monitored and operated.
• The project is completed by the connection to the CODESYS Automation Server. This enables simple and secure remote access to the UIs, controllers, and logs, for example for PLC login and debugging.
  It also provides a central repository for all key project and application data, including versioning. Key feature: The simultaneous rollout of new control applications to all connected PLCs. Instead of having to install application updates one by one on each PLC individually, updates are rolled out centrally and simultaneously across all PLCs in seconds. With 10 updates per day per controller during the commissioning phase, the aufwind Group saves several hours of valuable on-site working time.