Hello all, Integrated Manufacturing

[cannon87]

Hello all, I am new to the form and looking for some help. I am doing a project for school (CAM class) on how cylinders (Pneumatic and hydraulic), relays and solenoids have their part in a integrated manufacturing cell. I have some ideas but no solid reliable information. I am just looking for some general applications of these technologies in relation to automation and cnc machining. If anyone could push me in the right direction or would even be willing to discuss this with me it would be more than appreciated. Please contact me via PM or even reply to my posting, as I was not sure what area to place it. Best regards. Lucas

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[Al_The_Man]

Not sure what specifics you are looking for, but relay's are used extensively from power control to the outputs driven by the M-codes in a CNC program, these also control the solenoids which can be either Hydraulic or pneumatic.
The preference for solenoids is to use DC, they tend to last longer than their AC counterparts which tend to burn out or cause circuit damage if the armature does not shift or is pushed over manually by maintenance personnel etc..
The application are numerous from tool changers to automatic pallet loading.
Al.

[cannon87]

I am a bit more familiar with the pneumatics and hydraulics although not hugely. I guess I'm looking for applications of those devices within specific relation to integrated manufacturing. Some I can logically reason out, but finding hard fact to corroborate my instincts are hard to come by. Would you know any good reference sites or documents? thanks again my friend and fellow Canadian

[Al_The_Man]

It sounds as though you are looking for information on CIM which if so, covers a wide area, I am not sure of anything that covers the whole gamut of the subject.
As a previous CNC retrofitter I am familiar with the CNC at the machine level and have worked with Flexible manufacturing assembly line type machining and integration.
Pneumatic's and hydraulic's are just a small part of the individual machine control, the core of which of course is the computer control.
I guess if there is a place to start, it is with the process of CNC control at the machine level, unless you are already familiar with it.
Al.