Open Systems Enhance Flexibility and Integration

Thanks to open standards and the CNC MTX system conceived by Bosch Rexroth, end users can easily integrate automated machine tools in the context of the “Factory of the Future”. Let’s have a look at the latest trends in machine tools, according to Bosch Rexroth.

The supply, programming and maintenance of network interfaces calls for ever more substantial investments by machine manufacturers, and the effort involved grows with each additional new interface. That’s why it’s now proven that the best solution for users is that of open standards. Open systems, in fact, make it easy to integrate the software of third parties in the control block, like for example the CAD / CAM programs. Bosch Rexroth’s MTX supports all the protocols most widely used right from the first generation, thanks to an Ethernet protocol. Manufacturers can therefore meet a series of requests from their customers, without any further effort. What’s more, nearly all the main control system manufacturers in Europe and the United States have announced they want to facilitate M2M communication via OPC UA; MTX was one of the first CNC systems to offer OPC UA server connectivity.

The advantages of Open Source Interface when it comes to machine development

Nowadays, the standard functions of CNC control systems provide predefined solutions for almost any type of machining operation. Within this context, machine manufacturers are at the same time developing certain functions that combine in a precise way with the machining technology and sequence, specialising their machines more and more. It’s also true, however, that this scenario limits the manufacturers’ possibility to stand out by providing innovative, diversified solutions. The developers often come up with the right ideas, but those ideas involve extremely high costs. In fact, proprietary CNC systems share their know-how with the control system producers in the moment when they access the core functions. In addition, projects of this type call for significant investment in terms of both time and money. As a supporter of open systems, Bosch Rexroth adopts an innovative approach, providing a unique software technology called Open Source Interface. This technology lays the foundations for a new level of freedom in implementing the user’s own functions, via new languages, alongside the standard core functions. The spectrum of innovations already implemented ranges from process functions with a guarantee of proven quality, to IT connections for a digitalised value flow.
Amongst the foremost advantages for machine manufacturers there’s the fact that, thanks to this system, they can apply the expansion of the CNC standards independently, at the same time protecting intellectual property in the best possible manner. Open Core Interface paves the way for new possibilities for the development work flow too. Machine manufacturers combine MTX with the most commonly used simulation environments: this speeds up construction and enables the virtual commissioning of the CNC system architecture before and during machine assembly. One of the results is reduced “time to market” for newly conceived machines.

Umati, a shared language for Industry 4.0

Automation system manufacturers like Bosch Rexroth are working on a project to standardise “Connectivity for Industry 4.0”, organised by the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW). Thanks to the universal machine tool interface, or Umati, the data of a series of machines can be read with a number of control systems of various generations, and transferred in a standardised data format. This means a significant reduction in the effort required to ensure more efficient communication, both at machine level and in terms of communication with the automation peripheral assigned or in higher management systems. The first machine manufacturers have already used Umati with the MTX CNC system.

The impact of 5G on wireless communication

With the introduction of the new 5G mobile communications network, with a band 10 times wider than today and notably boosted robustness, end users will share increasing amounts of data in wireless mode. In this case too, Bosch Rexroth is working with the leading network equipment manufacturers to integrate stable solutions directly in MTX, immediately after the 5G launch.