5 Design Challenges and Solutions for Machine Builders

Machine builders can virtually prototype their machine control systems with LabVIEW and the NI SoftMotion Development Module for motion profile generation as well as mechanically simulate and detect collisions with SolidWorks and COSMOSMotion.

Intense competition is putting pressure on machine builders to deliver machines with higher throughput, reduced operating cost, and increased safety.

By Nipun Mathur, National Instruments

Faster, better, cheaper, safer is the name of the game for machine builders. For this reason, today’s machine builders have switched from rigid, single-purpose machines – relying purely on mechanical gears and cams – to flexible multipurpose machines by adopting modern control systems and servomotors.

Although these improvements have made machines more adaptable, they also have introduced a significant amount of complexity to the machines and subsequently to the machine design process. Along with designing the mechanicals, machine builders now incorporate control logic, human machine interfaces (HMIs), networking, and machine condition monitoring systems into their designs. The added complexity has created inefficiencies in the machine design process that lengthen design time and increase design cost.
Solving this multidisciplinary engineering problem requires improvements in three key areas – development techniques, design tools, and embedded control technology. The term mechatronics is gaining popularity as a way to describe this evolution. It represents an industry-wide effort to improve the design process by integrating the best available development practices and technologies to streamline machine design, prototyping, and deployment. A mechatronics-based approach can lower the risks associated with machine design and meet the following five key challenges that machine designers face today. Read more