Industrial Application of Time Sensitive NetworkingKristopher Fargo (ME), Erik Gustafson (ME), Bradley Olsen (ME), Brandon Smith (CS)

Advisors: Se Young Yoon, Yannis Korkolis

In a traditional control system, the slave response to the master will increasingly lag over time. With TSN, the slave system will still experience some small lag, but this will remain constant over a long period of time. In other words, the difference in absolute time between two samples of data from different devices will remain constant in the master-slave outputs.

Abstract:Traditional industrial control systems are often rudimentary and wasteful, which leads to lost productivity and efficiency. Companies are beginning to turn to Industry 4.0 as the solution, a concept which is composed of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), sensor fusion, cyber-physical systems, and networking. Connecting various systems can often be quite complicated and expensive. Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a method of utilizing standards-based protocols to facilitate the connectivity of devices by ensuring that they are all operating on the same time-base. TSN is fundamental to ensuring that machinery exchanges time-relevant data to act upon quickly and reliably.

One of the primary purposes of this project is to connect the UNH Interoperability Lab (IOL) to research projects conducted in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The intent of IOL NeXt is to promote the exploration of new ideas leveraging emerging concepts in networking, cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, advanced manufacturing, the internet of things, and other areas of research.

XMOS is a semiconductor company with various projects providing voice, music processing, and control ICs. They were gracious enough to donate the TSN capable multicore microcontrollers for this project.

Project Sponsors:

This project is a demonstration of the TSN protocols in an electromechanical system. Two motors, which represent industrial machinery, are synchronized using TSN to ensure they operate at a set output velocity. The resulting outputs are used to produce standing waves in a cord. With TSN controls applied, the system will remain stable with the desired standing wave output.

Key Components: • Aluminum T-Slot Frame • Brushless DC servo motors (BLDC motors) • BLDC speed controllers • Control panel for manual or digital operation • XMOS xCORE-200 multicore microcontrollers Master – the reference speed for the system Slave – synchronizes to the master • Safety shield and emergency stop • Custom CNC machined components (control panel brackets, motor shaft to rope interface)

XMOS(Master) DAC ESC Motor

Encoder

ManualControl

XMOS(Slave) DAC ESC Motor

Encoder

eω ω

ω

TSN

A known input signal eω is provided into the system through

the microcontroller. When using TSN, output from the microcontroller passes through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The signal is then used as an analog input in the electronic speed controller (ESC). The ESC, which has a built-in PI controller, then operates the motor.The demo also incorporates manual control to emulate a traditional analog system with independent inputs.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Absolute Time (sec)

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Traditional Control System

MasterSlave

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TSN Control System

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Functional Differences Between Systems:

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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1Position Along Cord Length (m)

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Standing Wave Simulation

Mode 1 Mode 3 Mode 6Simulations show that given an input velocity into the cord, a standing wave will be produced at a given frequency mode.

This output is observed from the rotational motion of the system.

Mechanical Analysis:

Frame vibration analysis was conducted to ensure system stability when in motion. The resonant frequencies were determined and compared against the expected motor operating speeds. It was determined that there were no conflicts with the speeds achieved during typical operation.