RFID systems Archives - AUTOMATION INSIGHTS

A SUV and a medical device used in a lab aren’t very similar in their looks, but when it comes to manufacturing them, they have a lot in common. For both, factory automation is used to increase production volume while also making sure that production steps are completed precisely. Read on to learn about some ways that sensors are used in life science manufacturing.

Sensors with switching output

Automation equipment producers are creative builders of specialized machines, as each project differs somehow from previous ones. When it comes to automated processes in the lab and healthcare sectors where objects being processed or assembled are small, miniaturization is required for manufacturing equipment as well. Weight reduction also plays an important role in this, since objects with a lower mass can be moved quickly with a smaller amount of force. By using light-weight sensors on automated grippers, they can increase the speed of actuator movements.

Conveyor system using photoelectric sensors for object detection

Photoelectric sensors are quite common in automated production because they can detect objects from a distance. Miniaturized photoelectric sensors are more easily placed in a production process that works with small parts. And photoelectric sensors can be used to detect objects that are made of many different types of material.

A common challenge for lab equipment is to detect clear liquids in clear vessels. Click here for a description of how specialized photoelectric sensors face this challenge.

Specialized photoelectric sensors for clear water detection

Image Processing

Within the last several years, camera systems have been used more frequently in the production of lab equipment. They are fast enough for high-speed production processes and support the use of artificial intelligence through interfaces to machine learning systems.

Identification

In any production setting, products, components and materials must be identified and tracked. Both optical identification and RFID technology are suitable for this purpose.

Optical identification systems use a scanner to read one-dimensional barcodes or two-dimensional data matrix or QR codes and transmit the object information centrally to a database, which then identifies the object. The identification cost per object is pretty low when using a printed label or laser marking on the object.

When data must be stored directly on or with the object itself, often because the data needs to be changed or added to during the production process, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is the best choice. Data storage tags come in many different sizes and can store different amounts of data and have other features to meet specific needs. This decentralized data storage has advantages in fast production processes when there is a need for real-time data storage.

Data of RFID tag at pallet are read and written with RFID read/write head and transferred via bus module

There are numerous parallels between automation in the life science sector and general factory automation. While these manufacturing environments both have their own challenges, the primary automation task is the same: find the best sensor for your application requirements. Being able to choose from many types of sensors, with different sizes and characteristics, can make that job a lot easier. For more information about the life sciences industries, visit https://www.balluff.com/en-us/industries/life-science.

With the recent widespread adoption of RFID technology in manufacturing plants I have encountered quite a number of customers who feel like they have been “trapped” by the technology. The most common issue is their current system cannot handle the increase in the requirements of the production line. In a nutshell, their system isn’t scalable.

Dealing with these issues after the fact is a nightmare that no plant manager wants to be a part of. Can you imagine installing an entire data collection system then having to remove it and replace it with a more capable system in 3 years or even less? It’s actually a pretty common problem in the world of technology. However an RFID system should be viable for much longer if a few simple questions can be answered up front.

Is decreasing production time an objective of your organization? I assume the answer to this is yes in most cases. Decreasing production time means an increase in line speed which means the RFID system has to be able to read and write faster. Some RFID systems are designed for reading a tag while the part is static or sitting in front of the reader for a period of time, while others are designed for reading a tag dynamically as it flies by the read head. Taking the time to determine if a system is capable of reading on the fly is worth the extra research time to avoid the “trap”.
Will you use more data in the future than you do today? Basically, will you need to write more data to the tag as the line matures? That seems like another no-brainer considering the huge demand for data storage in other realms of our life. Countless times I have heard customers say all they want to write to the tag is a four digit identifier and a year later they want to add quality information, lineage data, build data, process data and so on to the tag. Couple that with an increase in line speed and now you are talking about some serious throughput. It is imperative to make sure the tag has the necessary capacity and the reader has the necessary cycle time to handle the increase in demand for throughput.
Will you ever expand the line to have more read/write stations? This is a big one especially in quality intensive applications where multiple inspections throughout the process are required. The critical error here is lack of foresight into the networking capabilities of the system. Whether the processor is capable of handling multiple readers or it is just a single read point solution it is important to know how the system is expanded. Some systems are expanded by daisy chaining processors which is less complicated than adding additional switching equipment to expand the system.

None of us are capable of telling the future, but we can put a pretty good plan together to accommodate growth. Keep it simple and ask as many questions as you can dream up before you pull the trigger. Just make sure the three questions above are addressed and the technology trap can be avoided.

To learn more about RFID solutions visit www.balluff.com.