Thesis Work for updating the network communication for ABB 3D-Sensor i Västerås

Om tjänsten

You will be a part of Industrial Automation – Marine and Ports – Ports – Motion Control & Sensors unit ABB Ports is specialized in advanced automation and information systems for motion control of all types of container cranes. We are the leading supplier of crane systems and are active worldwide. In the large terminal automation projects, we deliver electric and automation systems for 50 to 100 cranes, to the major container ports in Europe, Asia and North America. In a modern container terminal there are remotely controlled Ship-To-Shore cranes, which handle the loading/off-loading of the container ships. These are in the storage yard supported by stacking cranes, robotized cranes weighing hundreds of tons, which automatically move and with high precision stack the containers. The operation of all the cranes is controlled from a central control room to optimize the productivity of the terminal. Your thesis work will be done in collaboration with the motion control and sensor department that focus on software development in the areas of automation, control theory and sensor technology.

One of the backbones in getting the cranes to run automatically is the “Target Position Sensor”, abbreviated as TPS. The TPS is an ABB developed laser sensor that can measure objects in three Cartesian dimensions. With these measurements the crane is able to handle a variety of objects within the container terminal and perform work orders automatically. A typical work order would be to pick up a container standing on the ground. The sensor is used to locate and verify the container position and size.

The TPS sensor communicates with a programmable logic controller (PLC). The communication mainly consists of the PLC sending work orders and status of the crane to the TPS and then the TPS responds with subsequent measurement results. This communication is currently using network and datagram messages (UDP). In today’s application, the communication implements a very basic resend procedure. In the current form it’s still possible to lose a message, which will therefore be lost, causing delays and production loss for the terminal.

The proposal for the thesis work is to investigate and redesign a new message handling system between the TPS sensor and PLC and perform case studies on how to best handle both backward and future proofing between two communicating nodes, in this case PLC and TPS.

In addition to the TPS, there are also other sensors which works in a similar fashion. These should also be taken into consideration when creating a new network communication design. This new design is a building block to achieve a future distributed sensor network where sensors can share their data. Part of the thesis could be to investigate and present contemporary network designs for similar concepts, for example a sensor fusion using Time-Sensitive Networking.

The TPS software implementation should be written in the language C and preferably without third party libraries, due to various limitations towards customers. Implementations will be done in an embedded system with the language C on one end, as well as on a PLC on the other end.

We are looking for a student that have studied programming and are familiar with C programming and have worked with sockets and their implementation.

The thesis work is of 30 ETCS (högskolepoäng) and for one student. The student is not required full attendance at the ABB office. Much of the work can be done remotely, but the initial design phase and final testing will require full attendance at ABB office.

Extra information

Status

Stängd

Ort

Västerås

Typ av kontrakt

Heltidsjobb (förstajobb)

Typ av jobb

Produktion / Industri

Körkort önskas

Nej

Tillgång till bil önskas

Nej

Personligt brev krävs

Nej