Milltronics Support for MTConnect

11/19/2008

Milltronics Support for MTConnect

The Association for Machining Technology (AMT) has defined a protocol or interoperability standard for communication between shop machinery and the manufacturing office.  The premise is to create a uniform language for gathering data.  The protocol is open and free.

Machines from a variety of manufacturers, if they implement the MTConnect standard, all communicate their process information in a common language to a central data gathering point, a client application, in the manufacturing office.

Some of the data passed up to the office from a machine might include its operating state (estopped/standby/run), current job number, number of parts produced, spindle speed, spindle load, tool number, axis federates.  Without going out to the machine and taking a look, the machine shop manager has a good idea what is happening at the tool.

MTConnect is a standard in its infancy; AMT is promoting its usefulness and trying to reach consensus on how the protocol should operate and what data it should carry.  Milltronics has taken the initiative (along with many other CNC machine tool producers) to support the draft standard and implement it on the CNC8000 control.

Connection between the machine tool and the office is made via standard Ethernet (the building network).  At the office, the plant manager brings up a browser-like client application that displays information for each machine tool.  In response to requests from the client application for information, the CNC8000 sends data back to the office.  The code size and overhead to support MTConnect in the CNC8200 is tiny.  MTConnect is not a burden to the CNC.  The user does not need to do anything to enable MTConnect.  It runs by default in the background.  When queried by the client, it responds.

See the MTConnect web site at http://www.mtconnect.org/.

Figure 1:  The “Simple Client” provided as freeware by AMT.  The MTConnect protocol is new.  Its full capabilities have not yet been exploited.  This screen shot of the freeware client shows a limited amount of machine information.  As the standard and client applications evolve, information provided by MTConnect will become more useful and comprehensive.