MachineCustom-built machines

STACKER - insulation board stacking machine

A mobile robotic system that precisely stacks insulation boards at the end of the production line, ready for packaging or handover to the downstream robotic line.

SolidWorks CAD render of the STACKER machine with its inclined infeed conveyor and outfeed table

Control

Siemens S7-1200

Number of axes

9 (SMC drives)

Board formats

2 sizes

Actuators

Cylinders, servo axes, conveyors

Safety

Emergency stop, safety door

Design

Mobile unit

How it works

On-the-fly pickup and recipe-based stacking

Processed pieces of insulation arrive continuously at the end of the production line. STACKER takes the insulation on the fly and, depending on the entered recipe, stacks it to the desired height. After that, the stack leaves the machine onto the outfeed table, ready for packing.

The task looks simple, but it is mechanically demanding - infeed speeds are high, so the machine operates at the very limit of its mechanical endurance. On the software side, the challenge was to develop logic fast enough, because a large number of devices communicate with each other and the machine has to react practically within a single PLC scan cycle.

Control

Interface and control logic

A standard operator interface: an HMI panel with physical switches below it for selecting the operating mode (manual/auto) and start/stop buttons.

Physical control station

HMI panel
Manual/auto selector switch
Start/stop buttons
Safety interlocking with the rest of the line

Functionality

Error logging
Archiving of errors and variables to USB
Manual control with full permissions
Monitoring of automatic operation through sequence tracking
Display of all relevant software data
Machine recipes for different product types
Production counters

Installed equipment and features

Technical details

Two board sizes

One machine handles both board formats without reprogramming the whole cycle - the format is selected through a recipe.

S7-1200 control

A Siemens PLC coordinates the entire stacking cycle and synchronizes all axes.

9 axes on SMC drives

Precise positioning at high infeed speeds, at the limit of mechanical endurance.

Mobile design

The machine is brought to the line when needed and removed when other product types are running.

Custom axis blocks

Software modules developed specifically for synchronous control of each axis within the PLC scan cycle.

Process visualization

A clear HMI interface shows operators the machine status and stacking progress in real time.

Gallery

Control cabinet and controls

The STACKER machine in the workshop with infeed conveyor, control cabinet, HMI panel and signal tower

Inside the control cabinet with servo drives for axis control

Siemens Sinamics V20 frequency inverters driving the conveyors

Video

Machine in operation

Videos of our other machines and devices are available on:

ENSO Automation YouTube channel

Case study

Delivered for: Knauf Insulation

Read how STACKER cut the number of workers from six to three and prepared the line for robotization.

Read the case study →

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