High-performance control solutions for mobile machines at bauma 2022

One of the leading themes at bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, is "The road to autonomous machines". Development is progressing rapidly, but the road to fully autonomous processes on construction sites is still a long one. This is something STW are well aware of and the automation specialists from Kaufbeuren will be presenting solutions for both partially and highly automated construction machinery at the trade fair.

With the ESX.4 controller family, the company has developed a flexible, high-performance control unit series with optimized robustness and performance. The control unit variants share a common processor platform. Based on the multicore Aurix processor, with its 300 MHz cores, the platform is powerful enough for the most demanding applications. In addition to the usual CAN interfaces, all ESX.4 variants have at least one managed Ethernet switch with up to 1 Gbit transfer rate and a BroadR-Reach interface. The implementation of functionally safe applications is significantly simplified with pre-certification according to PL d / SIL 2. With a wide range of different sizes and variants available, machine manufacturers will find the right control solution for their machines.

In order to visualize the machine status and for an operator control, STW offers the VSX.4 range of HMI displays. The VSX.4 family will also be presented at bauma. Offering a range of hard and soft key input options, they too are pre-certified as SIL2-compliant.  The Xilinx processor and FPGAs with MicroBlaze processors allow parallel image generation, comparison of the result and a functionally safe visualisation. Data processing capacity on the display can be used to reduce the load on the main machine control processors. A range of preconfigured icons and control elements and an intuitive development environment simplify application development.

For intelligent power distribution on mobile machines, STW will present on-board power distribution units, and a new housing for custom developed units. This housing was developed for decentralized power distribution in mobile machines, especially for use in harsh environments. Due to its small dimensions, the housing can be easily integrated into the machine and offers machine developers enormous flexibly in defining their system architecture. The integrated power elements and the 39-pole LEAVYSEAL output connector mean it can deliver high currents to onboard consumers.

Alongside the control products, STW will present other product innovations in sensor technology, battery management, connectivity solutions and integration services at bauma, booth 225 in hall 2.