Yokogawa has sent a couple of process automation announcements recently. It’s been quiet on my radar for a few years. Nice to see some investment in product development. The first is the release of OpreX Robot Management Core, an application in the Asset Management and Integrity family. The second concerns strengthened industrial network support in CENTUM in the Control and Safety System family of solutions.
OpreX Robot Management Core
Yokogawa Electric Corp. announces the development and release of OpreX Robot Management Core, a software application in the OpreX Asset Management and Integrity family.
OpreX Robot Management Core is a key product in the Yokogawa robot operations solution. By integrating the management of various types of robots that perform plant maintenance tasks conventionally carried out by humans, this software will help customers maintain their facilities in a safer and more efficient manner. In addition, when connected to a plant’s control and safety systems, it enables the utilization of manufacturing site data that has been acquired by robots, and the issuing of procedural instructions to robots, thus enabling the first step to be taken toward autonomous plant operations.
In plants that have been designed around people, there is a need for the efficient management of different types of robots to carry out a variety of tasks. In response to this need, Yokogawa began discussions with robot manufacturers in 2019 and in the following year went on to develop a prototype robot management and operations platform that has since been used in proof-of-concept field tests with several customers. Leveraging the experience gained through these tests, Yokogawa has developed this software to make it easier to introduce robots in plants.
OpreX Robot Management Core is a software application that improves safety and efficiency in plant maintenance operations by facilitating the utilization of robots. Depending on customer requirements, it can be provided for use in either an on-premises or cloud environment.
1. Integrated management of different types of robots
This software enables the registration, management, and operation of multiple types of robots in a unified manner. It supports the Spot four-legged robot from Boston Dynamics and the EX ROVR autonomous, explosion-proof, plant inspection robot from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The software’s management screen, which allows users to check the status of individual robots, is viewed in a web browser, enabling remote operations.
2. Connection with other systems
This product was developed with the ability to link to Yokogawa’s OpreX Collaborative Information Server. When doing so, the data collected by robots can be combined with data from control systems, safety instrumented systems, and integrated asset management systems for centralized management. This means that application development and data analysis can also be performed easily not just for maintenance tasks, but other operational tasks too. If an interface for robot utilization is built on the OpreX Collaborative Information Server, this enables the dispatch of robots to plant sites and the performance of safety inspections based on alarms detected.
The development of OpreX Robot Management Core enables Yokogawa to fully rollout its robot operations solution aimed at increasing workplace safety. By providing consulting, assistance in the selection and procurement of hardware and software from strategic partners and other sources, and engineering, operational support and other services, Yokogawa is able to help customers resolve issues encountered in their businesses and can develop specific robot and drone applications. Through this one-stop solution, Yokogawa will ensure the reliability, availability, and sustainability of robot operations and help to achieve autonomous plant operations.
Yokogawa Upgrades the CENTUM VP Integrated Production Control System
Yokogawa Electric Corp. announces the May 31, 2024 release of CENTUM VP R6.11.10, an enhanced version of the CENTUM VP integrated production control system that is a core product in the OpreX Control and Safety System family of solutions.
With this new version of CENTUM VP, plant uptime is improved through the addition of a redundancy function to a new IO card that supports communications via the PROFINET communications protocol for industrial networks. Furthermore, to reduce project costs and improve efficiency in plant operations, functional enhancements have been made to the Unified Alarms and Conditions Server (UACS) and the CCC Inside for the Yokogawa CENTUM VP compressor control solution.
Yokogawa has developed a new PROFINET IO card that supports a redundancy function, and by doing so, has made high reliability and high uptime a reality.
