The series RT 451 – 455 is constructed entirely from industrial components in order to teach control engineering in a practical manner. The use of smart sensors lays the foundations for Industry 4.0 applications. Smart sensors provide signal processing in addition to the capture of measured values thanks to integrated evaluation electronics. Besides process data, it is also possible to exchange configuration, diagnostic or statistical data. In practice this makes it faster to change over production lines, for example, or enables predictive maintenance.
The RT 451 trainer has all components required for an open and closed control loop. The controlled system represents a transparent tank. This is fed with water from a storage tank via a pump. The measuring element in the tank is a smart level sensor which detects the level as the controlled variable. An electropneumatic control valve with a positioner is installed in the feed line to the tank as an actuator. This is fitted with a bypass. Defined disturbance variables can be generated via a proportional valve with motor drive in the tank outlet.
The level is detected by the smart level sensor using electromagnetic pulses (principle of the guided microwave). The sensor has an IO-Link interface for interference-free transfer of measured values and the exchange of configuration data.
For further experiments, a cascade control system can be set up together with RT 452.
The trainer is controlled and operated via the integrated PLC and the touch screen or via GUNT software (external PC required). The control response is displayed in the form of a time function. The network capable software makes it possible to follow and analyse the experiments at any number of workstations via a LAN/WLAN connection to the local network.