Me ya sa Audi ta zaɓi fasahar Virtual PLC?

Yadda Fasahar Virtual PLC Ke Sauya Hanyar Kera Motoci

Wurin Audi na Ingolstadt yanzu yana gudanar da manyan layukan samarwa ta amfani da masu sarrafa dabarun shirye (virtual programmable logic controllers). Wannan sauyi daga sarrafawar kayan aiki zuwa sarrafawar da aka ayyana da software yana wakiltar babban sauyi a masana'antar kera motoci. Farkon bayanan aiki sun nuna gagarumin ƙaruwa a sassauci, saurin commissioning, da ingancin amfani da kayan aiki gaba ɗaya.

Fahimtar Virtual Fasahar PLC

Virtual PLCs suna aiwatar da dabarun sarrafawa a kan sabar masana'antu na ƙa'ida maimakon na'urar sarrafawa ta musamman. Suna raba injin lokacin-gudana (runtime engine) da jikin I/O ta amfani da yarjejeniyoyin sadarwa na ainihin-lokaci kamar PROFINET IRT ko EtherCAT. Wannan tsari yana bai wa injiniyoyi damar tura, sabunta, da faɗaɗa tsarin sarrafawa da saurin da ya yi kama da software. Ga manyan masana'antun motoci da ke gudanar da dubban ayyuka dabam-dabam, wannan sassauci kai tsaye yana rage lokacin tsayawa kuma yana hanzarta canjin samfuran mota.

Fasahar tana dogara ne da virtualization mai amfani da hypervisor, inda nau'ikan mai sarrafawa da yawa ke gudana a ware a kan irin wannan kayan aikin uwar garke ɗaya. Kowace irin tana kiyaye aikin daidaitacce (deterministic) tare da lokacin sake zagayowa ƙasa da millisecond. Injiniyoyi na iya yin snapshot, cloning, ko mayar da tsarin mai sarrafawa baya kamar yadda suke yi da injunan kama-da-gari (virtual machines) a mahallin IT.

Aiwan Audi: Bayanai na Ayyuka

Audi ta ƙaddamar da shirin ta na virtual PLC a farkon shekarar 2024 a shagon buga karfe na Ingolstadt. Wurin yana samar da bangarorin jikin mota ga nau'o'in Audi da dama, wanda ke buƙatar yawan sauya mould (die) da daidaita shirye-shirye. Bayan mayar da servo presses 18 zuwa masu sarrafa kama-da-gari, masana'antar ta rubuta waɗannan ingantattun sakamakon:

• Canjawa tsakanin salon jiki da sauri da kashi 30%, yana rage lokacin tsayawa daga mintuna 45 zuwa mintuna 31 a kowane canji
• Rage girmar kwandon sarrafawa da kashi 50%, yana 'yantar da sararin bene don ƙarin kayan aiki
• Rage lokacin injiniya da kashi 40% don haɗa sabon samfani, daga sa'o'i 200 zuwa sa'o'i 120 a kowane shiri
• Kashi 99.96% na samuwar tsarin aiki a cikin zangon auna na tsawon watanni shida

Shagon buga karfe yanzu yana gudanar da dukkan servo presses da masu sarrafa kama-da-gari (virtual controllers) da aka rarraba a kan kwamfutoci uku na Dell PowerEdge na ƙa'ida. Kowane uwar garke yana ɗaukar nauyin sarrafawa da ya yi daidai da PLC na gargajiya 15, yana nuna amfanin cunkoso da ke cikin amfani da virtualization.

Aikace-aikacen Duniya ta Gaskiya: Sakamakon Layin Tattara Kofar

Bayan nasarar a dakin buga karafa (press shop), Audi ta faɗaɗa amfani da virtual PLC zuwa layukan taron ƙofofi. Waɗannan layukan suna kera ƙofofin mota 1,200 a rana, suna daidaita robots takwas, tsarin conveyor, da tashoshin binciken gani (vision inspection). Manyan sakamako sun haɗa da:

• Raguwar cycle time daga daƙiƙa 58 zuwa daƙiƙa 52 a kowace ƙofa, wanda ya ƙara fitarwa na kullum da raka’a 120
• Loda shirye-shiryen robot ya ƙare cikin mintuna 20 maimakon sa’o’i 4, wanda ya bai wa damar yin changeover a cikin wannan shif ɗin
• Lokacin sake kunna layi bayan katsewar wuta ya ragu daga mintuna 12 zuwa daƙiƙa 90
• Lokacin commissioning na sabbin nau’in ƙofofi ya ragu daga makonni uku zuwa kwanaki huɗu

Yanzu injiniyoyi suna gwada duk lambar sarrafawa a cikin mahallin digital twin kafin a tura ta zuwa layin aiki. Wannan hanya tana kama kashi 85% na kurakuran shirye-shirye ba tare da dakatar da samarwa ba, a cewar ma’aunin cikin gida na Audi.

Tsarin Fasaha da ke Bayan Maganin Audi

Tsarin virtual PLC na Audi yana ta’allaka ne a kan wasu manyan sassa:

• Server hardware: Dell PowerEdge R750 tare da Intel Xeon Gold processors da real-time hypervisor
• Virtualization platform: Real-time hypervisor da ke tallafawa instances na controllers da yawa tare da keɓancewa a matakin kayan aiki (hardware-level isolation)
• Control runtime: Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500V virtual PLC da ke gudana a kan hypervisor
• Remote I/O: ET 200SP rarrabben I/O da aka haɗa ta PROFINET IRT tare da zagayen sabuntawa na 1ms
• Engineering software: Siemens TIA Portal tare da S7-PLCSIM Advanced don yin kwaikwayo a wajen layin aiki (offline simulation)
• Network infrastructure: Cikakkun maɓuɓɓugan sadarwa na PROFINET da ake sarrafa su gaba ɗaya tare da redundancy da daidaita lokaci (time synchronization)

Tsarin (architecture) yana kiyaye bin ƙa’idar IEC 61131-3, wanda ke ba da damar sake amfani da lambar PLC da ake da ita. Injin iyoyi suna shirye-shirye cikin ladder, structured text, da function block diagram daidai yadda za su yi wa na'urorin sarrafawa na kayan aiki (hardware controllers).

Nazarin Lamari: Ƙaurawar Taron Powertrain

Layin taron powertrain na Audi a Győr, Hungary, ya fara ƙaurawar virtual PLC a ƙarshen 2025. Layin yana kera injuna 1,800 a rana a cikin nau'ikan guda huɗu. Canjin samfur (changeover) na gargajiya yana buƙatar mintuna 90 na tsayawar layi don sauke shirye-shirye da tabbatarwa. Bayan virtualization, lokacin changeover ya sauka zuwa mintuna 25. Hakanan masana'antar ta rage ajiyar kayan gyara ta hanyar kawar da PLCs na musamman 32 da kuma modules ɗinsu.

Ingancin bayanai ma ya ƙaru. Virtual controllers suna yin rajistar duk sigogin tsari a kowane tazara na 10ms, wanda ke ba da damar statistical process control da a da ba zai yiwu ba saboda ƙarancin ƙwaƙwalwa. Gano lahani da wuri ya ƙara yawan kayan da ke wucewa gwaji tun a zagayen farko (first-pass yield) da kashi 2.3%.

Mafi kyawun dabarun Shigarwa da Ƙaura (Migration)

Ga masana'antu da ke shirin rungumar virtual PLC, kwarewar Audi na nuna a bi waɗannan matakai:

• Kimanta tsarin cibiyar sadarwa: Tabbatar cewa cibiyoyin sadarwa na yanzu suna tallafawa ka'idojin ainihin-lokaci da daidaiton ƙasa da ms 5. Sabunta switches da igiyoyin sadarwa idan ya zama dole.
• Fara da layukan da ba su da matuƙar mahimmanci: Zaɓi wuraren da ɗan katsewa na ɗan lokaci ba zai kawo matsala ba. Manyan shagunan latsa takardu ko layukan kwalliya/packaging sau da yawa suna yin kyau.
• Fara da ƙirƙirar digital twin: Haɓaka cikakkun samfuran kama-da-gani na layin kuma gwada dukkan lambar sarrafawa a layi-na-kai (offline). Daidaita lokutan juyin aiki (cycle time) da martanin I/O daidai.
• Kasancewa kuna sauya tsarin a hankali: Matsar da yanki guda ko tashar guda a lokaci guda. Ajiye tsohon kayan aiki a matsayin madadin yayin canji.
• Horas da ma'aikatan gyara: Muhallin kama-da-gani yana buƙatar sabbin dabarun gano matsala. Ba da horo na hannu kai tsaye tare da kayan aikin kwaikwayo.
• Aiwana matakan tsaro na yanar-gizo: Raba cibiyoyin sadarwar PLC na kama-da-gani daga cibiyoyin sadarwar IT. Yi amfani da firewalls da tsarin gano kutse.

Tasirin Ga Masana'antu da Sabbin Hanyoyin Nan Gaba

Nasarar Audi da PLC na kama-da-gani tana nuna manyan canje-canje a fagen atomatik na masana'antu. Mai yiyuwa ne masu sarrafa kayan aiki na zahiri su koma ne ga aikace-aikacen tsaro-ƙwarai da kuma waɗanda suke da matuƙar sauri. Yawancin ayyukan atomatik na yau da kullum za su riƙa gudana ne a kan uwar-garken kasuwa na yau da kullum, inda a ɗauki lambar sarrafawa a matsayin kayan software. Wannan yana ba da damar yin sarrafa sigogi (version control), gwaje-gwajen da aka sarrafa ta atomatik, da tsarin aikin injiniya na girgije, waɗanda gargajiyan PLC ba za su iya tallafawa ba.

Kama-da-gani kuma yana hanzarta amfani da digital twin. Idan lambar sarrafawa tana gudana a kan kayan aiki na gargajiya (standard hardware), injiniyoyi na iya kwaikwayon dukkan layin samarwa da irin ɗaya tsarin software. Wannan yana rage tazara tsakanin kwaikwayo da ainihin aiki, yana rage haɗarin da ke tattare da fara aiki (commissioning).

Sai dai, masana'antu dole ne su zuba jari a cikin tsarin sadarwa da tsaron IT kafin kama-da-gani ya ba da cikakkiyar fa'idarsa. Cibiyoyin sadarwa na ainihin-lokaci suna buƙatar tsari mai kyau, kuma uwar-garken da aka mayar da hankali a kansu suna kawo sabbin nau'ikan gazawa da ya zama tilas a warware ta hanyar maimaita kayan aiki ko ajiyar gaggawa.

Dubar Marubuci: Abubuwan Da Aka Lura a Fagen Aiki

Bayan lura da ayyukan girkawa na PLC na kama-da-gani da dama a masana'antar kera motoci da sauran masana'antu, an ga wasu alamu da suke maimaituwa. Na farko, ƙungiyoyin da suka zuba jari a fasahar digital twin tun da wuri suna samun saurin sauya tsarin da kuma ƙarancin katsewar samarwa. Na biyu, tawagar masu gyara suna saba da sabuwar hanyar aiki cikin sauri idan aka ba su horo yadda ya kamata—sau da yawa damar bincike da gano matsala a muhallin kama-da-gani ta fi wadda ake da ita a tsarin kayan aiki. Na uku, ribar kuɗi ba ta tsaya ga rage kashe kuɗin kayan aiki kaɗai ba; rage lokacin aikin injiniyoyi da hanzarta sauya layi suna kawo ci gaba da ƙarin amfani a harkokin aiki.

Ga masana’antun da ke tunanin wannan fasaha, ku fara da ƙanana amma ku yi tunani na dabaru. Layin samarwa guda ɗaya da ba shi da mahimmanci sosai zai ba da ƙwarewa mai amfani yayin da yake takaita haɗari. Ku yi amfani da wannan sanin don ƙirƙirar ka’idoji don faɗaɗa amfani a nan gaba.

Tambayoyi da Ake Yawan Yi (FAQ)

• Shin virtual PLCs za su iya maye gurbin dukkan tsofaffin controllers? Ba gaba ɗaya ba. Safety PLCs da aikace-aikacen da ke buƙatar amsa a cikin microseconds har yanzu suna buƙatar na’urorin hardware na musamman. Amma, ga kusan kashi 90% na layukan samar da motocin mota, virtual PLCs suna cika ko ma wuce buƙatun aiki tare da bayar da ƙarin sassauci.
• Waɗanne cycle times virtual PLCs za su iya samu? Sabbin virtual PLCs na zamani suna iya samun deterministic cycle times ƙasa da 1ms idan an haɗa su da ingantattun real-time networks. Layin haɗa ƙofofin Audi yana aiki da zagaye na 2ms, yayin da aikace-aikacen sauri sosai za su iya kai 500μs da ingantattun saituna.
• Ta yaya virtualization ke shafar ajiyar kayan sassa (spare parts)? Ta hanya mai ƙarfi ƙwarai. Server ɗaya da ke gudanar da virtual controllers da yawa yana maye gurbin daruruwan PLCs na musamman da kayayyakinsu na ajiya. Audi ta rage ajiyar kayan sassa da kashi 40% a yankunan da aka aiwatar da virtualization.
• Me zai faru idan server ya gaza? Tsarukan server na redundant tare da automatic failover suna ci gaba da kare samarwa. Audi na amfani da active-standing pairs da ke daidaita matsayin controllers. Canjawa daga ɗaya zuwa ɗaya yana faruwa a cikin zagayen sarrafawa guda, ba tare da a lura da shi a samarwa ba.
• Shin ana iya gudanar da tsohon lambar PLC a kan virtual controllers? E, muddin muhalli na virtual ɗin yana goyon bayan waɗannan harsunan IEC 61131-3 ɗin iri ɗaya. Yawancin masu kaya suna ba da kayan aikin hijira (migration tools) da ke maida tsoffin ayyuka tare da ƙaramin gyaran hannu.

Duban Gaba: Matakan Gaba na Audi

Audi na shirin faɗaɗa amfani da virtual PLCs zuwa dukkan sabbin layukan samarwa zuwa shekarar 2028. Kamfanin kuma yana binciken amfani da machine learning a gefen na’ura (edge-based) don hasashen lalacewar kayan aiki, yana amfani da ƙarfin sarrafa bayanai da virtual controllers ke da shi a ciki. Gwaje-gwajen farko sun nuna yiwuwar gano lalacewar kayan aiki awanni 48 kafin su lalace gaba ɗaya, wanda ke rage tsayawar na’ura ba tare da shiri ba da ƙarin kashi 20%.

Kamfanin yana aiki tare da Siemens da wasu abokan hulɗar fasaha don ƙirƙirar daidaitattun dandamalin sarrafawa na virtual da za a iya faɗaɗa su a dukkan masana’antu na duniya. Idan aka yi nasara, wannan na iya ba wa ƙungiyoyin injiniyoyin da ke tsakiya damar aikawa da sabunta tsarin kowane shuka a duniya cikin sa’o’i maimakon makonni.

Jinjin ɗin Audi tare da virtual PLCs yana nuna cewa automation mai dogaro da software ta wuce matakin tunani ta koma gaskiya. Bayanai na aiki suna bayyana sarai: virtualization na kawo gagarumin ci gaba a sassauci, inganci, da dogaro.