Kraus automation technology (KAT) specialises in providing tailored testing systems for life-span, fatigue and material tests. To offer testing systems which meet the needs of their diverse customer base, KAT use National Instruments’ LabView software to create custom user interfaces for engineers.
KAT turned to Bosch Rexroth to provide a solution which removed the need for its engineers to work two programming environments – a move which would significantly reduce engineering costs. Rexroth’s Open Core Engineering solution makes it possible to seamlessly integrate, model and automate all drive and control functionalities into the LabVIEW environment, providing full programming control without creating separate PLC code.
A specific library, which can be imported into LabVIEW, enables engineers to directly access the control functionalities of Rexroth’s IndraMotion MLC and ILC systems. It provides the programmer with more than 550 virtual instruments and controls within a single, familiar software environment.
Before working with the Rexroth team, KAT engineers had to program I/O queries and axis motions separately and transfer them into a joint machine programme throughout all of their development phases. As well as being time-consuming, the additional programming and commissioning gave rise to the additional possibility of errors. Using LabVIEW and the Open Core Interface technology, combined with Bosch Rexroth’s modern automation solutions and drive technology, precise movements can now be carried out on KAT’s measuring and testing machines even without any PLC programming.