hopper setup procedures - merrick industries, inc. · hopper controls cyclic loss-in-weight...

Hopper Setup Procedures

Design Specification

Version 2

MERRICK INDUSTRIES, INC. 10 Arthur Drive Lynn Haven, FL 32444 U.S.A Tel: +1 850.265.3611 Fax +1 850.265.9768 www.merrick-inc.com

Revision History

01/29/09 <HopperTune_01.doc>

11/07/12 <HopperTune_02.doc>

PROPRIETARY NOTE

The information in this manual, including technical data and copies of drawings, embodies information proprietary to Merrick Industries, Incorporated. This manual is provided to the user of equipment purchased from Merrick Industries, Inc. for use only in operation or maintenance of such equipment. Such information in this manual is not to be used, disclosed, copied, or reproduced in whole or part for any use other than that indicated above, or for any other purpose detrimental to the interests of Merrick Industries, Inc. Patents owned by Merrick Industries, Inc. have been issued or are pending on at least some of the information in this manual, and unauthorized use of this subject matter of such patents is a violation of such patents and is prohibited

CONTENTS

The Hopper Application ................................................................................................................... 3 Setting up ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Enter design parameters .......................................................................................................... 3 Set functional switches ............................................................................................................. 4 Execute Quick Set-up............................................................................................................... 4 Run Zero Procedure................................................................................................................. 5 Run Weight Calibration Procedure........................................................................................... 5 Check Design Parameters ....................................................................................................... 5 Run Hopper Stability Calibration Procedure............................................................................. 5

Monitoring Feeder Performance .................................................................................................. 5 Closed Loop Feedrate Control ..................................................................................................... 7

Weight Averaging ..................................................................................................................... 8 Weight Stability Calculation ...................................................................................................... 8 Loss Calculation ....................................................................................................................... 9 Raw Loss Filtering .................................................................................................................... 9 Rate Stability Calculation.......................................................................................................... 9 Feed Factor Calculation ........................................................................................................... 9 PID Control ............................................................................................................................... 9 User Feedrate Indication .......................................................................................................... 9 Parameters Handling................................................................................................................ 9

Quick Setup .......................................................................................................................... 9 Auto Hopper Parameter Calculation ................................................................................... 10 Auto LIW Parameters Calculation ...................................................................................... 10 Auto PID Parameter Calculation......................................................................................... 11

LIW Diagnostics ..................................................................................................................... 11 PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics......................................................................................... 11 PD, PID and Setpoint Diagnostics ...................................................................................... 13 PP, Hopper Diagnostics...................................................................................................... 15 PQ, Filter and Tuning Diagnostics ...................................................................................... 17

Hopper Tuning HopperTune_02.doc 3 of 19

THE HOPPER APPLICATION

HOPPER controls cyclic Loss-In-Weight feeders, replacing MC2 3000, MC3 3000 and MC3 3010. It is designed to meter and control the feedrate out of a hopper, by means of weighing the hopper and calculating the feedrate as weight lost over time.

While the hopper is re-filled, it is not possible to calculate the feedrate, so a volumetric model of the feeder properties is used. This volumetric model is maintained and updated during normal feeding.

The nature of Loss-In-Weight control leads to complexity. For that reason, automated set-up and monitoring procedures have been added, so that typical feeders are relatively easy to set up. In extreme cases, manual methods have to be used. This requires a thorough understanding of the theory of operation. Trending software and access to the Genetix diagnostic monitor is also helpful.

SETTING UP

The set-up procedure for the Genetix Hopper application is complex. This is due to the fact that the domain of operational parameters is enormous. Hopper weights can vary from a few pounds to several tons, and feedrates from less than 1 lb/h to over 50000 lb/h. The resulting cycle time varies between 3 seconds and several days.

It is not possible to set up a loss-in-weight system if the design parameters are incorrect. This may lead to a recursive process where you have to start over if specifically the design federate you entered is different from the actual design federate, which you can find by running material at 100% feeder speed, or CV.

To help deal with this situation, and with the fact that there are over 50 parameters to set, support functions have been created to simplify set-up.

Enter design parameters

The following parameters must be entered first.

Param Monitor Description

Unit selection 1)

PH M: UnitSel Unit Selection

UnitSel Total Feedrate Weight

0 lb lb/min lb

1 lb lb/h lb

2 TN lb/min lb

3 TN lb/h lb

4 TN TN/h lb

5 TN TN/H TN

6 kg g/s kg

7 kg g/min kg

8 kg kg/min kg

9 kg kg/h kg

10 t kg/min kg

11 t kg/h t

12 t t/h kg

13 t t/h t Design Weight 2)

PH A: Dsgn Ld Hopper design weight, typically equal to the max allowed net weight in the weigh hopper. This is normally based on hopper volume and material density.

Design Feedrate 2)

PH E: Dsgn Fdr Design Feedrate, the max feedrate the feeding device can produce including control action margin.

Low Setpoint Limit 3)

PD Q2: LoFdrSP Low feedrate setpoint limit. This is the lowest feedrate at which the feeder must operate. Low Setpoint Limit / Design Feedrate is the feeder turn-down. A value of Zero is not acceptable.

Fill Weight 2)

PP D: FillPt The desired or expected material weight in the hopper at the end of the fill cycle. Must be 20 -120 % of Design Weight.


Param Monitor Description

Heel Weight 2)

PP C: HeelPt The weight at which the feeder calls for a re-fill. Must be less than the Fill Weight and 2 – 70 % of Design Weight.

1) In CUI: Basic Setup…| Units…

2) In CUI: Basic Setup…| Design Capacities…

3) In CUI: Advanced Setup…| Limits…| Setpoint

Set functional switches

Set the following functional switches

Switch Monitor Description

LIW Control 1) PH HasLIWCtl [L8] Set to on. Loss In Weigh control.

Bi-directional feeder

PO [Z]IsReversible Set to off. For future bi-directional feeding devices. There are instances where you want to run the feeder backwards, such as at first fill or foreign objects stuck in screw.

Auto Start 2)

PO

[Y]IsImmediateSt Set to off. If on, the feeder will immediately start, maybe with a fill, when the power is turned on or when clearing faults, if Run Permission is on.

Run permission start behavior 2)

PO

[M]RPStartsInLocal Set to off. If on, the feeder will start, maybe with a fill, when Run Permission goes from off to on, even if you are in local control at the user interface.

Control Method change allowed 2)

PO

[W]AllowMethChange Set to on if you can allow the user to change between Closed Loop Feedrate, Closed Loop Speed (not supported yet) and Open Loop control. NOTE does NOT block switching between Auto and Manual.

Control Source change allowed 2)

PO

[V]AllowSrcChange Set to on if you can allow the user to change between Local, Remote and Network control.

Use FeedFactor Adjustment 2)

PO [X]UseFFAdj Set to off initially.

Learn FeedFactor Adjustment 2)

PO [N]LearnFFAdj Set to off initially.

Use Fill Preact compensation 2)

PO

[O]UseFillPreact Set to off initially

Learn Fill Preact compensation 2)

PO

[(]LearnFillPreact Set to off initially

Fill Gate control 2)

PO [)]HasFillGate Set to on if the controller controls the hopper fill gate. If set to off, the controller will still call for filling, using the Fill output, but the fill cycle will not end without user intervention, by means of the user interface or the Stop Fill input.

Auto set PID parameters 2)

PO [<]AutoSetPid Set to on initially. There are few cases where PID parameters have to be set manually

Auto tweak Filter 2)

PO

[>]AutoTweakFilter Set to on initially. Feedrate and scale integrity will be monitored, and filter settings will automatically be adjusted. This switch is typically turned off after commissioning is done, unless material and feeder properties are expected to change with time.

Setpoint stability check 2)

PO [}]SetptStbChk Set to on initially. This switch will cause a volumetric response to setpoint changes, typically improving response time an order of magnitude for feeders with long cycle times.

1) In CUI: Advanced Setup…| Configuration…

2) In CUI: Advanced Setup…| Feeder Control…| Settings…

3) In CUI: Advanced Setup…| Limits | Setpoint

Execute Quick Set-up

With parameters and switches above entered, execute quick set-up. This will set up all necessary parameters to reasonable values, based on design capacities. Quick set-up can be invoked from Monitor page PH, Q command. Quick Setup invokes Auto Hopper Parameter calculation, Auto


Loss-In-Weight parameter calculation and Auto PID parameter calculation. See “Quick Setup” on page 9.

Run Zero Procedure

The weigh hopper scale must be calibrated. The first step will be a zero procedure. With the hopper empty, start the procedure from the user interface or from monitor page PG.

Run Weight Calibration Procedure

Hopper based scales are almost always calibrated using weights. This is also the best available method. The procedure measures the difference between the weight indications with the calibration weights off and on, and adjusts the scale factor accordingly. The hopper does not have to be empty, but the weight has to be low enough not to overload the load cells when the calibration weight is added. Run the procedure from the user interface or from monitor page PG.

Check Design Parameters

Check that the design weight is reasonable by filling the hopper with material and taking the weight. Typically, the design weight is equal to the safe filling level in the hopper. Watch out for aerated material. If you let the material sit in the hopper, the level may decrease, sometimes as much as 30%. Correct the design weight if the found weight is more than 30% off.

Check the design federate by running material through the feeder and 100% CV. Switch to Manual, and set the manual speed to 100%. Use the graph screen to determine the actual design feedrate. If more that 20% off, change either the feeding device or the design federate parameter.

If you had to change either design federate or design weight, you have to start over from scratch with the set-up procedure.

Run Hopper Stability Calibration Procedure

The following procedure is intended to assess the dynamic properties of the feeder. It will not always work. For very long (> 2 hours) or very short (< 1 minute) cycle times it typically will not work. If non-scale related disturbances exist, the found dynamic parameters may be way off. In such cases, the dynamic parameters calculated by the quick set-up procedure may be more usable.

With the hopper empty, run the feeder in manual at 50%. No abnormal activity is allowed on or around the scale during this procedure. Start up the procedure from the user interface (Calibration | Feeder Dynamics) or from monitor page PQ, parameter WtState, and using Q command. WtState should be 1 before starting. If not, you are not running the feeder in manual (WtState is 0) or an earlier attempt to run the procedure failed (WtState is 5). Start by setting WtState to 2. This will initialize the procedure. WtState will flip between 2 and 3 during the procedure, and end up 4 (completed) or 5 (failed).

The procedure will increase filter settings in steps until a consistent signal quality above 50% is observed. A failure will occur if filter settings reaches max allowed. This means that there are mechanical or electrical problems or the design feedrate is outrageously low.

MONITORING FEEDER PERFORMANCE

There are four parameters to observe when running the actual material:

Hopper Weight Weight of material in the hopper, in unit of weight. Should decrease steadily during normal feeding and increase rapidly during fill. The peak weight, at the end of the fill cycle, should be consistent between cycles.

Raw Loss The rate of change of the weight, in units of feedrate, eventually used to calculate the feedrate. It should be positive and ideally constant during normal feeding, hugely negative during fill.

Feed Factor This the inverted value of the feeder efficiency, in percent, meaning that the higher the number, the lower the feeder efficiency. Ideally it should be almost constant and just below 100%. A value greater than 100% indicates that the feeder can’t attain design feedrate. A low value means


that we can’t take advantage of the drive system’s full turn-down. In many cases, Feed Factor will vary slightly in sync with Hopper Weight.

Quality Credibility and quality of Raw Loss, in percent. 100 % is perfect, 0% is useless. Ideally it should vary between 50 and 95 %, and go to zero on a disturbance to the scale. It is also zero at setpoint changes if the SetptStbChk switch is on, during fill and when the feeder is stopped.

If Auto Tweak Filter is on, Quality statistics will be collected during feeding, and the filtering will be adjusted up or down at the start of fill. You can monitor the Tweak Factor in PQ. It is also possible to temporarily override it to study the effects of changing the filtering and tuning. Limits are 0.2 – 5. Higher number means more filtering and, typically, higher Quality and slower control action.

The aggressiveness of control action is dependant on the Quality. When high, the PID controller is typically Bessel tuned (one overshoot on a set-point step change). When low, almost no corrective action is taken unless the set-point changes.

The user feedrate indication is weighted between Raw Loss and a volumetric assumption (Feed Factor multiplied by CV, the drive demand) using Quality. When low, the volumetric assumption is mostly used. There is a lime limit for volumetric indication when Quality stays at zero. When expired, feedrate indication is based on Raw Loss only. See “PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics” on page 11, Parameter FrIndDly.

If the dynamic parameters are incorrectly set, a very confusing federate indication can occur. The indication will cycle between a value close to the setpoint and another, seemingly arbitrary value. This is due to the fact that any PID action (change in CV) will cause quality to immediately jump to zero (causing the federate indication to approach the setpoint) and then, as the quality increases, approach the true federate. This behavior indicates that the feedfactor is way off. It will eventually home in on the correct value, by that may take a long time. You can push a value into the feedfactor (using monitor page PC) to expedite this process. There is also a switch in PC to use an alternate federate indication method (based on the weight lost since the end of the last fill) that can be helpful to reach reasonable tuning quicker. This switch should never be left on after commissioning.

Useful Monitor pages include

PC Weight, Loss and Feedrate

PD Feed Control

PG Calibration

PP Hopper related

PQ Tuning

There is a diagnostic graph screen available in CUI, which indicate the interesting parameters. The intended use is for qualified service technicians. It is typically disabled for normal use. To enable it, set LIW Dynamics in Display Settings | Graph Setup to Yes. The diagnostic graph screen will now show up after the regular graph screen when you use the right arrow to flip between main screens.

You must keep this screen up to get an idea of the LIW dynamics. There is no buffering of data when the screen is not active. Confusing graphs can also occur if you go out of and then in to this screen.


Typical diagnostic graph screen. Dark Blue: Weight, Red: Loss, Black: Feed Factor, Light Blue: Quality.

CLOSED LOOP FEEDRATE CONTROL

Normal feeding follows the fill and stabilization after fill sequences and ends when the weight reaches the heel point, is externally commanded to fill or is stopped. This is a block diagram for the control algorithm during normal feeding.


FeedRate Control

Weight Averaging

The Net Weight is typically not usable for calculating weight loss. Some sliding averaging is necessary. It is also necessary to maintain high resolution time stamps of the weight samples, so a special averaging routine (as opposed to RingUpdate()) is used – LIWAvgLoadTime() in LIWAvgLoadTime.c, called from LCLoadFnc.c. This routine takes the (zero track) weight and the associated sample time and calculates the average weight and average sample time of the last n samples, where n = LOA.LOASlots. See “PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics” on page 11, Parameter Averslots.

Weight Stability Calculation

Weight stability is determined by checking weight samples spread over a set number of samples. Default: 3 samples, 0.05% of design weight. It is used in calibration procedures, including Hopper Stability. Weight stability and its parameters are available in PG. This parameter is used for calibration purposes only and is not used for LIW control.


Loss Calculation

Averaged weight samples and the associated averaged sample times enter into a circular buffer. Weight loss over time is then calculated by taking the difference in weight and dividing with the difference in time between two buffer members. The distance between the two (in samples) is called Loss Slots. The result is Raw Loss, calculated in engineering units for feedrate. See “PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics” on page 11, Parameters LossSize and RawLoss.

Raw Loss Filtering

Raw Loss samples enter into two sliding average filters. One is used to produce the Process Variable (PV) for PID control of the feeding device. The other is used for feedrate reporting. See “PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics” on page 11, Parameters PIDFeedrt and UsrFeedrt.

Rate Stability Calculation

The PID rate (PV) is subject to credibility and quality assessment, resulting in Quality, expressed in percent. The spread of PID rate samples is compared to a set limit (Default 5% of Design Feedrate) over a set number of samples (default 8).

Limit

Spread100100Quality

∗−=

If the spread is greater than the limit, Quality equals zero and the system is not considered stable or credible. Quality is a key system parameter, affecting feedrate control and display. The rate of positive change of Quality is limited to 2 % of the current cycle time (the time it would take to feed from Fill Weight to Heel Weiht with the current setpoint) per sample. See “PQ, Filter and Tuning Diagnostics” on page 17, parameters FlSamples, MxFlwSpan and SQuality.

Feed Factor Calculation

A measurement of the relation between the PID CV and the Feedrate (PV), called Feed Factor is maintained, when Quality is high. Feed Factor is the nominal CV required for Design Feedrate, and expressed in percent. The lower the Feed Factor, the higher the feeder efficiency. Updating is limited in step and weight between new and old valued (damping). See “PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics” on page 11, parameters FFMaxStep, FFUPDFact, PrelFF, FeedFact, MaxFF and MinFF.

PID Control

This is a classic, recursive PID controller. The P (Gain) parameter is multiplied by Quality so that little or no control action takes place for non-credible PV. When the Quality is zero, CV is generated from SP and Feed Factor. See “PD, PID and Setpoint Diagnostics” on page 13.

User Feedrate Indication

Raw Loss is not usable for feedrate reporting. During fill or for non-credible PVs, Feed Factor and CV is used instead (Volumetric Feedrate). When the feeder is running with a non-zero Quality, a weighted value between Raw Loss and Volumetric Feedrate is used. Feedrate is zero when the feeder is not running, equals setpoint while filling if not in fill timeout and as long as the weight is increasing, Raw Loss when running in manual and weighted during normal feeding. The weighted indication is time limited if Quality stays at zero.

Parameters Handling

Quick Setup

Quick Setup uses basic design parameters to calculate reasonable down-stream parameters. It is always executed on a RAM reset or Parameter Fail boot and from the ExeQsetup execution switch, available in PH. Executing Quick Setup is a drastic action that should only take place on a new or drastically changed installation.

Parameter Definition Monitor Calculation, comments

Weight Decimals GLO.Decpt1 PH: Load DPs Set for four significant digits, limited to [0..4] 3 –

10Log(Design Weight + 0.001)



Total Decimals GLO.Decpt2 PH: Total DPs 2 for TN and t, 0 for lb and kg

Feedrate Decimals GLO.Decpt4 PH: Fdr DPs Set for four significant digits, limited to [0..4] 3 –

10Log(Design Feedrate + 0.001)

Weight Stability ACC. ACCStabSpan PG: SSpan 0.0005 * Design Weight

Calibration Weight WHT.WHTCalWeight PG: CalWht Design Weight

Hi Feedrate Limit LIM.LIMHiFeed PC: HiFeed 0.9 * Design Feedrate

Lo Feedrate Limit LIM.LIMLoFeed PC: LoFeed 0.1 * Design Feedrate

Hi Abs Deviation LIM.LIMHiAbsDev PD: HiADev 0.1 * Design Feedrate

Lo Abs Deviation LIM.LIMLoAbsDev PD: LoADev 0.1 * Design Feedrate

Hi Weight Limit LIM.LIMHiLoad PS: HiLoad 1.1 * Design Load

Lo Weight Limit LIM.LIMLoLoad PS: LoLoad -0.1 * Design Load

Hi Feedrate Setpoint LIM.LIMHiFdrSP PD: HiFdrSP Design Feedrate

Lo Feedrate Setpoint LIM.LIMLoFdrSP PD: LoFdrSP If greater than 0, unchanged (should have been set) else 0.05 * Design Feedrate

Fill Weight CYC.CYCFillPt PP; FillPt If unreasonable *, 0.8 * Design Weight

Heel Weight CYC.CYCHeelPt PP: HeelPt If unreasonable *, 02 * Design Weight

Max Fill Rate BC.BCMaxFillFlow PP: MaxFillFR 100 * Design Feedrate

Analog In Feedrate Setpoint Full Scale

LAIN[0]. AINFullVal PV: FeedSp, HiVal

Design Feedrate

Analog In Weight Full Scale

LAIN[4]. AINFullVal PV: Load, HiVal

Design Weight

Analog Out Feedrate and Setpoint Full Scale

PAUT[i]. AUTFullVal PV [Mapping dependant] HiVal

Design Feedrate. Definition and row in PV is dependant on the actual mapping.

Analog Out Weight Full Scale

PAUT[i]. AUTFullVal PV [Mapping dependant] HiVal

Design Weight. Definition and row in PV is dependant on the actual mapping.

*) To be considered reasonable: 0.2 * Design Weight < Fill Weight < 1.2 * Design Weight and 0.02 * Design Weight < Fill Weight < 0,7 * Design Weigt.

Note: Quick Setup will invoke Auto Hopper Parameter calculation, Auto Loss-In-Weight parameter calculation and Auto PID parameter calculation.

Auto Hopper Parameter Calculation

This calculation takes place as a part of Ram Reset, Quick Setup or the LIWCalc execution switch, available in PH: X. It should be used, together with “Auto LIW Parameters Calculation” (page 10) when basic hopper parameters have changed.


Empty Weight CYC.CYCEmptyPt PP: EmptyPt 0.05 * Design Weight

Max Fill Preact CYC.CYCFillMaxPreact PP: MaxPre 0.05 * Design Weight

Min Fill Preact CYC.CYCFillMinPreact PP: MinPre -0.02 * Design Weight

Max Preact Change CYC.CYCFillMaxPreact Change

PP: MinPre 0.01 * Design Weight

Settle Time After Fill CYC.CYCSettleAfter FillTime

PP: SettleAFTime

0.01 * Short Cycle Time *

High FeedFactor hold-off time

CYC.CYCHiFF HoldOffTime

PP: FFHoffTime

0.05 * Short Cycle Time *

Max Cleanout Time CYC.CYCMax CleanTime

PP: CleanTime The time it takes to feed at Low Feedrate Setpoint Limit from Fill Weight to Zero Weight.

Extre Cleanout Time CYC.CYCExtre CleanTime

PP: ExClnTime 20 * The time it takes to feed at Low Feedrate Setpoint Limit from Empty Weight to Zero Weight.

*) The Short Cycle Time is calculated as the time it takes to feed at Design Feedrate from Fill Weight to Heel Weight.

Auto LIW Parameters Calculation

This calculation takes place as a part of Ram Reset, Quick Setup or the LIWCalc execution switch, available in PH: X. It should be used, together with “Auto Hopper Parameter Calculation” (page10) when basic hopper parameters has changed. The Short Cycle Time is used to look up


parameters in a table as follows. Use the row with the shortest time greater then the Short Cycle Time.

Time Sec.

Weight Slots ATUAverSlots PQ: Slots

Loss Slots ATULossSlots PQ: ATULossSlots

PID Slots ATUPIDSlots PQ: ATUAverSlots

FF Apply % LIWFFUPDFactor PC: FFUPDFact

Max Step Allowed LIWFFMaxStep PC: FFMaxStep

3 3 3 3 30 5

10 4 4 4 25 3

30 6 6 6 21 1

100 12 12 12 17 0.5

300 24 24 24 12 0.2

1000 48 48 48 7 0.08

3000 96 96 96 4 0.03

10000 128 128 128 2 0.008

30000 192 192 192 1 0.003

100000 255 255 255 0.5 0.002

The operational filter slots settings are unaffected. The slots set here are the base for automatic tweaking. This means that with Auto Tweak Filter off, operational slots do not change. With Auto Tweak Filter on,

• Operational Weight Slots is overwritten with ATU Weight Slots,

• Operational Loss Slots is overwritten with ATU Loss Slots multiplied with Tweak Factor,

• Operational PID slots is overwritten with ATU PID Slots multiplied with Tweak Factor

NOTE Running the Stability Calibration Procedure overwrites all three ATU Slots settings.

Auto PID Parameter Calculation

PID parameters can be set automatically, based on feed factor and filter time. Filter time is the total time a weight sample resides in the control loop, To enable, set AutoSetPID in PO or in Advanced Swtup | Feeder Control | Settings. If Auto Tweak filtering is on, it is highly recommended that AutoSetPID is also on, because slot settings can change.. Use 0.250 s as the Average Sample Time.

55.0FeedFactorP •=

( ) pleTimeAverageSamPIDSlotsLossSlotssWeightSlot

1I

•++=

( ) pleTimeAverageSamPIDSlotsLossSlotsWeighSlots015.0D •++•=

LIW Diagnostics

Monitor pages PC, PD, PP and PQ can be used to diagnose and manipulate Feedrate control. PC and PD are similar to those of the Belt application.

PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics

Feedrate and total calculations can be inspected and to some extent diagnosed in the belt scale diagnostic screen, PC.


PC, Loss In Weight Diagnostics

Fields in the screen:

NetLoad Net Weight.

ZtrLoad Load after deduction of the Zero Tracking load

AverLoad Load after sliding average filter

SimStrategy Weight simulator method. Default 0. Change with Td:

0: Simulator Off 1: Add simulator weight to actual load cell weight 2: Use simulator weight as true weight

SimLoad Simulator weight –Overwrite with M

NO ZERMEM! Placeholder

Averslots Number of averages for Average Weight. Initially Set by Quick Setup and modified by AutoTweak. Change with L [1 - 255]. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

Ztrack Current Zero Track Weight. Default 0. Zero tracking is almost never used in LIW applications.

UsrLoad Weight used for display and reporting.

Dampening Damping factor applied to AverLoad to produce UsrLoad. Default 0. Change with A [0-1000]

State Operational State 0 – 17

sCYCNormalRun Operational State enumeration

0 sHopCYCCheck Transient at start-up. Check if we need to fill.

1 sHopCYCNormalInit Transient at start of feeding. Not used (placeholder).

2 sHopCYCNormalFwait Wait for averaging and loss filters to fill up

3 sHopCYCNormalRun Feeding.

4 sHopCYCFillInint Transient. Prepare for filling

5 sHopCYCFillRun Filling

6 sHopCYCWaitPreact Waiting for good feedrate or heel point after automatic fill

7 sHopCYCWaitFill Wait for good feedrate or heel point after feeder start or manual fill.

8 sHopCYCWaitClean Wait for good feedrate or empty weight after cleanout command in fill.

9 sHopCYCCleanInit Transient. Init cleanout from other than filling states.

10 sHopCYCCleanRun Cleaning out until empty weight reached.

11 sHopCYCExtraRun Running cleanout after empty weight reached (time).

12 sHopCYCCleanDone Stopped after Cleanout complete.

13 sHopCYCStopped Stopped in Auto.

14 sHopCYCTripped Blocked by faults.

15 sHopCYCRestart Restartable - Stopped in local with Run Permission On.

16 sHopCYCManStopped Stopped in Manual.

17 sHopCYCManRunning Running in Manual. LossSize Distance (samples) in Loss buffer. Change with Bf [1 – 255] Set by Quick Setup and modified by

AutoTweak. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

HOP>

PC Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics

NetLoad 6.34|ZtrLoad 6.34|AverLoad 6.39|T: SimStrategy 1

M: SimLoad 6.34|NO ZERMEM! |L Averslots 16|Ztrack 0.00

UsrLoad 6.34|A Dampening 0|R: State 3| sCYCNormalRun

B: LossSize 18|RawLoss 84.0|C: WtEff 5.0000|I: RndEfft 0.0000

O: SimFFlow 1000.0|J: FeedFact 98.5|SQuality 80.5|K: MxFlwSpn 2.0

N: FFMaxStep 0.200|U: FFUPDFact 12.0|PrelFF 98.6|V: MaxFF 200.0

RawFeedrt 84.5|PIDFeedrt 84.1|UsrFeedrt 84.5|W: MinFF 20.0

Total 4558|TotRem 0.3987|SubT 569|STotRem 0.8797

Q: CutOff 0.00|GrabTRem 0.0000|VolT 0|VolTRem 0.0000

EMTBalance 0|EMTRem 0|F EMTWht 1|G EMTPeriod 5

Hn:HiFeed 90.0|LoFeed 10.0|HiFeedDly 10.0|LoFeedDly 10.0

High Feedrate 0|Low Feedrate 0|>: Honest Feedrt 1|<: FrIndDly 9.9

StartCycFr 20.0|CycFRState 3|StartCycWt 78|FRTime 14.0

Reset totals: X: Sub & Vol, Y: Grand Z: EMT


RawLoss Raw Loss, right out of Loss Calculation in feedrate units. Live even if feeder is stopped. Will go negative during fill.

WtEff Weight effect on weight simulator (head pressure effect) in percent. Default 0. How much the (simulated) weight in the hopper affects the simulator feedrate. Change with Cf [-100 – 100]. No effect if weight simulator is off.

RndEfft Weight simulator noise in percent. Default 0. Change with If [0 – 100]. See also PQ. You can inject noise into the simulated weight by setting this parameter to a non-zero value. No effect if weight simulator is off.

SimFFlow Weight simulator weight increase while filling, in feedrate units. Defult 10 * Design Feedrate. Change with Of [0 – 10000 * Design Feedrate].

FeedFact Feed Factor in percent. Default 100. Overwrite with Jf [5 – 500]. Limited by MaxFF and MinFF (below) when updated.

SQuality Quality in percent.

MxFlwSpn Max allowed spread in PID Rate for stable feedrate over FlSamples (PQ) samples, in percent. Default 5. Change with Kf [0 – 10]. This is THE most central parameter for feeder dynamics. Low number – slow reacting, good looking. High number – Aggressive control, looks noisy.

FFMaxStep Max allowed change in Feed Factor per sample in percent. Set by Quick Setup based on shortest cycle time. See also PQ. Change with Nf [0 – 100].

FFUPDFact Damping of the Feed Factor update. Controls, together with Quality, how aggressively Feed Factor is updated. Set by Quick Setup based on shortest cycle time. See also PQ. Change with Uf [0 – 100].

PrelFF Preliminary calculated Feed Factor, before damping (FFUPDFact) and step limiting (FFMaxStep).

MaxFF Max allowed Feed Factor. Default 200. Change with Vf [0 – 1000].

RawFeedrt Internal debug - cosmetic feedrate, before averaging for UsrFeedrt.

PIDFeedRt PID Rate. Feedrate used for PID control (PV).

UsrFeedrt User Feedrate, this is what is reported on the UI, analog outputs and in the CIT.

MinFF Min allowed Feed Factor. Default 20. Change with Wf [0 – 1000].

Total Grand Total. Reset with Y.

TotRem Grand Total Remainder.

SubT Gravimetric Sub-Total. Reset with X

STotRem Gravimetric Sub-Total Remainder

CutOff Feedrate below which totalization is inhibited. Default 0. Change with Qf

GrabRem Grab Total Remainder. Not used.

VolT Volumetric Sub-Total. Reset with X. Not used.

VolTRem Volumetric Sub-Total Remainder. Not used.

EMTBalance Holder for EMT pulses not yet shifted out.

EMTRem Remainder for EMTBalance.

EMTWht Weight in “Base Units” (kg or lb) that one EMT pulse represents. Default 1. Change with Ff.

EMTPeriod Pulse width of EMT pulses in 10 ms increments. This is also the min pause between pulses. Default 5, meaning max pulse frequency is 10 Hz (50 ms off, 50 ms on). Change with Gd.

HiFeed High feedrate limit, in feedrate units. Default 0.9 * Design Feedrate. Change with H1f.

LoFeed Low feedrate limit, in feedrate units. Default 0.1 * Design Feedrate. Change with H2f.

HiFeedDly Turn-on delay for the High Feedrate lout in Seconds. Default 10. Change with H3f.

LoFeedDly Turn-on delay for the Low Feedrate lout. Seconds. Default 10. Change with H4f.

High Feedrate State of the High Feedrate lout, 0 or 1.

Low Feedrate State of the Low Feedrate lout

Honest Feedrt Feedrate indication selector. 0 for Norma1, 1 for “Honest”. Change with >.

FrIndDly How long (seconds) weighted feedrate indication is maintained if Quality stays at zero, before switching tor Raw Loss indication. Change with >f

PD, PID and Setpoint Diagnostics

There is a diagnostic screen, PD, that allows for setting parameters and checking variables.


PD, PID Control Diagnostics

Fields in the screen. Note that some fields are duplicated with PC for ease of diagnostic purposes.

Tag Comments

Weight Net Weight.

Feedrate PID Rate (PV). Feedrate used for PID control.

FdrSpeed Screw speed in r.p.m. Not implemented yet.

ActCV Actual, limited (ramp and absolute) control variable (drive demand) percent.

AvgWht Average Weight, weight units.

Loss Raw Loss, feedrate units.

FeedFact Feed Factor. Use PC to overwrite.

Squality Quality in percent.

LocFrSP Local feedrate setpoint in feedrate units. Default 0. Set with Jf [0 – Design Rate].

LocSpdSP Local speed setpoint. Not used. Set with Kf.

LocOloSP Local open loop setpoint. Percent. Default 0. Used in Manual mode and if Open Loop control method is selected. Set with Lf [0 – 100].

ActSetpt Actual, used setpoint, after averaging.

AnaFrSP Analog Input Feedrate setpoint.

AnaSpdSP Analog Input Speed setpoint. Not used.

AnaOloSP Analog Input open loop setpoint.

NetSetpt Network Setpoint.

DampSetpt Number of averages for setpoint filtering. Set with V command. [1 – 32].

Execnt Start-up execution instance counter. Internal debug. Goes 0, 1, 2 at start of feeding. You can use Z0 command to re-initislize the PID controller algorithm.

isGo PID.PIDisGo. Go command from start-stop logic. W command is useless, since it will be overwritten.

FastStart Fast start switch. Not used.

CtlSource From where the setpoint (and start-stop control) is taken:

0: Local; Monitor or UIS 1: Remote; Analog Input 2: Network

B command is useless, since it will be overwritten.

CtlMode PID.PIDCtlMode. Control method used:

0: No control 1: Open loop 2: Speed control, not implenmented 3: Feedrate control

C command is useless, since it will be overwritten.

MaxAcc Max positive rate of change of CV, %/sec. Change with H command.

MaxDec Max negative rate of change of CV, %/sec. Change with E command.

HOP>

PD PID Diagnostics (Enabled)

Weight 3.42|Feedrate 85.0|FdrSpeed 0|ActCV 85.8

AvgWht 3.46|Loss 84.9|FeedFact 100.93|Squality 97.8

J: LocFrSP 85.0|K:LocSpdSP 0|L:LocOloSP 75.00|ActSetpt 85.0000

AnaFrSP 0.0|AnaSpdSP 0|AnaOloSP 0.00|NetSetpt 400.0000

V: DampSetpt 0|Z:Execnt 2|W:isGo 1|A:FastStart 0

B: CtlSource 0|C:CtlMode 3|H:MaxAcc 100.00|E:MaxDec 100.00

G: Gain 55.51|I:RepSec 0.06|D:Rate 0.238|

ThisErr -0.0288|LastErr -0.0288|DeltaErr -0.0003|LastDltErr -0.0003

DeltaT 0.2400|Dcomp 0.0094|Pcomp 0.0003|Icomp 0.0004

Mn HiADev 10.0|LoADev 10.0|HiRDev 10.0|LoRDev 10.0

Nn HiDevDly 10.0|LoDevDly 10.0|High Deviation 0|Low Deviation 0

Qn HiFdrSP 100.0|LoFdrSP 5.0|HiFSPDly 10.0|LoFSPDly 10.0

Xn HiSpdSP 10|LoSpdSP 0|HiSSPDly 10.0|LoSSPDly 10.0

R PIDSwClampSetpt 0|High Setpoint 0|Low Setpoint 0|

Tn HiPidCV 100.0|LoPidCV 0.0|HiCVDly 10.0|LoCVDly 10.0

U PIDSwClampPidCV 0|High PID CV 0|Low PID CV 0|


Tag Comments

Gain PID controller gain in percent – P in the formulas above. Change with G command. Will be overwritten if AutoSetPid switch (PO) is set.

RepSec Repeats per second (1/s) – I in the formulas above. Change with I command. Will be overwritten if AutoSetPid switch (PO) is set.

Rate PID.PIDRate. Rate time (s) – D in the formulas above. Change with D command. Will be overwritten if AutoSetPid switch (PO) is set.

ThisErr Error this time, ERn+1. Percent

LastErr Error last time, ERn. Percent

DeltaErr Change in error this time, ∆ERn+1. Percent

LastDltErr Change in error last time, ∆ERn. Percent

DeltaT Time difference between feedrate calculations ∆tn+1. Seconds

Dcomp Derivative contribution to change on CV. Percent

Pcomp Proportional contribution to change on CV. Percent

Icomp Integral contribution to change on CV. Percent

HiADev High Absolute deviation limit (feedrate unit). Change with M1

LoADev Low Absolute deviation limit. Change with M2

HiRDev High relative deviation limit (percent of setpoint). Change with M3

LoRDev Low relative deviation limit. Change with M4

HiDevDly Turn-on delay for logical output High Deviation. Change with N1

LoDevDly Turn-on delay for logical output Low Deviation.Change with N2

High Deviation Status of logical output High Deviation

Low Deviation Status of logical output Low Deviation

HiFdrSP High feedrate setpoint limit. Change with Q1. Feedrate setpoint limiting is only operational in Feedrate Control method, PID.PIDCtlMode = 3

LoFdrSP Low feedrate setpoint limit. Change with Q2. NOTE! This is a significant setting, used by automated set-up and tuning.

HiFSPDly Turn-on delay for logical output High Setpoint. Change with Q3

LoFSPDly Turn-on delay for logical output Low Setpoint. Change with Q4

HiSpdSP High speed setpoint limit. Change with X1. Not used.

LoSpdSP Low speed setpoint limit. Change with X2. Not used.

HiSSPDly Turn-on delay for logical output High Setpoint. Change with X3

LoSSPDly Turn-on delay for logical output Low Setpoint. Change with X4

PIDSwClampSetpt Clamp Setpoint between limits switch. Toggle with R

High Setpoint Status of logical output High Setpoint

Low Setpoint Status of logical output Low Setpoint

HiPidCV HighCV limit. Change with T1.

LoPidCV Low CV limit. Change with T2

HiCVDly Turn-on delay for logical output High PID CV. Change with T3

LoCVDly Turn-on delay for logical output Low PID CV. Change with T4

PIDSwClampPidCV Clamp CV between limits switch. Toggle with U

High PID CV Status of logical output High PID CV

Low PID CV Status of logical output Low PID CV

PP, Hopper Diagnostics

There is a diagnostic screen, PP, that allows for setting parameters and checking hopper related variables.


PD, PID Control Diagnostics

Fields in the screen

Tag Comments

CYCState Operational State 0 – 17. See PC, Loss-In-Weight Diagnostics on page 11

Bool CYC.CYCBool. Internal debug. See HopperDefs.h. Bit 2 is set when high feedfactor is updated, bit 3 when low feedfactor is updated.

CurrCyTm Expected time, in seconds, to feed from Fill Weight to Heel Weight, with the current setpoint.

LongCyTm Expected time to feed with the setpoint equal to Low Setpoint Limit.

sCYCFillRun Textual representation of Operational State.

NetLoad Net Weight.

RawLoss Raw Loss, feedrate units

FeedFact Feed Factor. Use PC to overwrite.

EmptyPt Weight below which the hopper is considered empty. Default 0.05 * Design Weight. Set with Bf.

HeelPt Weight below which the controller calls for refill while feeding. Default 0.2 * Design Weight. Set with Cf.

FillPt Target end weight for the fill cycle. Meaningful only when “HasFillGate” (PO) switch is on. The Fill Gate output may turn off earlier (or later) during the fill cycle if “UseFillPreact” (PO) switch is on. See below.

ShortCyTm Expected time to feed with the setpoint equal to High Setpoint Limit.

Preact Early fill gate shut-off in weight units, sometimes called “in-flight compensation”. Meaningless if “HasFillGate” (PO) switch is off. Automatically updated if “LearnFillPreact” (PO) is on. Used only if “UseFillPreact” (PO) is on. Preact is limited between MinPre and MaxPre, below. Default 0. Overwrite with Ef. A positive value makes the Fill Gate output turn off before FillPt is reached.

MaxPre Upper limit for Preact. Default 0.05 * Design Weight. Change with Ff.

MinPre Lower limit for Preact. Default - 0.02 * Design Weight. Change with Gf.

MPChg Max change of Preact per fill cycle. Default 0.01 * Design Weight. Change with Hf.

FillMaxTime Allowed time for fill. When expired, the Slow Fill output goes on, and feedrate indication switches to Raw Loss based.

FillTime Elapsed time for current fill cycle while in fill. Time spent in fill the latest fill cycle while not in fill.

FillStPt Stop weight for fill. Usually FillPt minus Preact.

FillTopPt Peak weight value reached at the end of the last fill cycle when not in fill. Net Weight when filling. Used to calculate a new value for Preact when the fill cycle has completed.

FillBumpHoff Time to ignore weight samples following the start of the fill sequence. This is used to avoid ending the fill sequence prematurely due to material impact in the scale.

LastNet Internal debug. Net weight last sample during fill

FillIncPT Internal debug. Calculated net weight increment per 5 ms. Used for weight extrapolation during fill.

MaxIncrPT Internal debug. Upper limit of FillIncPT. Used for weight extrapolation during fill.

MaxFillFR Max credible gain in weight during fill in feedrate units. Used to calculate MaxIncrPT. Deafut is 100 times Design Feedrate. Set to Zero to disable weight extrapolation during fill.

ExpolLoad Extrapolated (every 5 ms) weight during fill

HopperFillOff Counter for fill turn-off by extrapolated weight. Zero by ‘Z’

CycleFillOff Counter for fill turn-off by actual weight. Zero by ‘Z’

HOP>

PP Hopper Data

Q: CYCState 6|A: Bool 0x000C|CurrCyTm 254.0|LongCyTm 4320.0

sCYCWaitPreact |NetLoad 7.69|RawLoss 82.1|FeedFact 80.5

B: EmptyPt 0.50|C: HeelPt 2.00|D: FillPt 8.00|ShortCyTm 216.0

E: Preact 0.00|F: MaxPre 0.50|G: MinPre -0.20|H: MPChg 0.10

I: FillMaxTime 30.0|FillTime 23.8|FillStPt 8.00|FillTopPt 7.99

V: FillBumpHoff 0.5|LastNet 7.99|FillIncPT1.303e-03|MaxIncrPT1.389e-02

W: MaxFillFR 10000.0|ExpolLoad 8.001|HopperFillOff 85|CycleFillOff 0

J: SettleAFTime 2.1|AFTLapsed 13.1|K: FltFTime 16.8|FltFLapsed 13.1

L: FFHoffTime 10.8|FFHOffLapsed 204.5|M: MaxFFAdj 5.0|N: MaxFFStep 1.0

HiFFWeight 6.80|O: HiFFStoPrc 80.0|HiFFPrel 81.3|HiFFUsed 81.3

LoFFWeight 2.00|R: LoFFStaPrc 20.0|LoFFPrel 85.4|LoFFUsed 85.4

T: CleanTime 576.0|CleanLapsed 0.0|U: ExClnTime 720.0|ExClnLapsed 0.0

TimeToFill 243.8|TimeToEmpty 0.0|TimeToClean 0.0|


Tag Comments

SettleAFTime Settling time following a fill cycle. Default 0.01 * ShortCyTm. During at least this time, no attempt is made to use weight information for feedrate control or update the Preact.

AFTLapsed Elapsed time from the end of the fill cycle to the resumption of weight based feedrate control.

FltFTime Time required for a weight sample to pass through all averaging and loss calculation filters. Changing is meaningless; the value will be overwritten.

FltFLapsed Elapsed time from the end of the fill cycle to end of waiting for filters to fill up.

FFHoffTime High Feed Factor hold-off time. To mitigate feedrate protuberances after fill due to head pressure effects, the controller can sample the Feed Factor at high and low hopper weights (if LearnFFAdj is on in PO), and adjust the feedfactor accordingly during fill (if UseFFAdj switch is on in PO). The sampling of the Feed Factor at high weight is held off FFHoffTime after resumption of normal feeding. Default is 0.05 * ShortCyTm. Change with Lf.

FFHOffLapsed Time elapsed since resumption of normal feeding.

MaxFFAdj Limit of Feed Factor correction in percent during fill. (change of Feed Factor from start of fill to end of fill). Default 5%. Only meaningful if UseFFAdj switch is on in PO. Change with Nf

MaxFFStep Max change in HiFFUsed or LoFFUsed (below) from fill cycle to fill cycle. Default 1%. Only meaningful LearnFFAdj is on in PO. Change with Nf.

HiFFWeight Weight at which HiFFPrel (below) was sampled. This is used (together with HiFFUsed, LoFFWeight and LoFFUsed) to calculate Feed Factor during fill, using two point regression.

HiFFStoPrc Target percent of the active feeder weight (Fill Point to Heel Point) for the sampling of HiFFPrel to stop. Sampling starts when FFHoffTime has expired. Default 80%. Change with Of.

HiFFPrel Feed Factor sampled at HiFFWeight.

HiFFUsed Used Feed Factor at HiFFWeight. MaxFFStep is applied updating HiFFUsed from HiFFPrel.

LoFFWeight Weight at which LoFFPrel (below) was sampled.

LoFFStaPrc Target percent of the active feeder weight (Fill Point to Heel Point) for sampling LoFFPrel to start. Sampling ends at the heel point. Default 20%. Change with Rf.

LoFFPrel Feed Factor sampled at LoFFWeight.

LoFFUsed Used Feed Factor at LoFFWeight. MaxFFStep is applied updating LoFFUsed from LoFFPrel.

CleanTime Allowed time for cleanout. When expired, the Slow Cleanout output goes on. Default is the calculated time to feed from Fill Weight to Empty Weight at the low setpoint limit. Change with Tf

CleanLapsed Elapsed Cleanout time

ExClnTime Extra Clean Time. Time to run the feeder during cleanout after EmptyEmpty hans bees reached. Default Default is 20 times the calculated time to feed out Empty Weight at the low setpoint limit. Change with Uf

ExClnLapsed Elapsed Extra Clean Time

TimeToFill Calculated time to the next fill start.

TimeToEmpty Calclated time to reach the empty point. Only actinve during cleanout

TimeToClean Calclated time to finish cleanout. Only actinve during cleanout

PQ, Filter and Tuning Diagnostics

There is a diagnostic screen, PP, that allows for setting parameters and checking hopper related variables.


PQ, Filter and Autotune Diagnostics

Fields in the screen

Tag Comments

NetLoad Net Weight.

AverLoad Average Weight. Weight after sliding average filter.

ZtrLoad Net Weight minus Zero Tracking weight. Almost always the same as weight.

Averslots Number of averages used to calculate for Average Weight. Initially Set by Quick Setup and modified by AutoTweak. Change with L [1 - 128]. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

RawLoss Raw Loss, right out of Loss Calculation in feedrate units. Live even if feeder is stopped. Will go negative during fill.

PIDFeedRt PID Rate. Feedrate used for PID control (PV).

UsrFeedrt User Feedrate, this is what is reported on analog outputs and in the CIT.

IsFlowStable 1 if the PID feedrate is considered stable enough to attempt weight based control. See FlSamples and MxFlwSpan, below.

LossSlots Distance (samples) in Loss buffer. Change with Bf [1 – 128] Set by Quick Setup and modified by AutoTweak. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

PIDSlots Number of averages PID Rate Averaging. Initially Set by Quick Setup and modified by AutoTweak. Change with Cd [1 - 256]. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

UserSlots Number of averages User Rate Averaging. Initially Set by Quick Setup and modified by AutoTweak. Change with Cd [1 - 256]. Will be overwritten if Auto Tweak Filter is on.

Squality Quality in percent.

SampleTm Time, in seconds, between the latest two weigh samples.

AvgSampleTm Average time between samples used in Weight Averaging.

LossSampleTm Average time for samples in Loss Calculation. Multiply by LossSlots to get time difference used in Loss Calculation, used together with Average Weight difference to calculate Raw Loss.

FilterTm Total time for (the effect of) a weigh sample to pass trough Weight Averaging, Loss Calculation and PID Rate Averaging.

FFMaxStep Max allowed change in Feed Factor per sample in percent. Set by Quick Setup based on shortest cycle time. See also PQ. Change with Nf [0 – 100].

FFUPDFact Damping of the Feed Factor update. Controls, together with Quality, how aggressively Feed Factor is updated. Set by Quick Setup based on shortest cycle time. See also PQ. Change with Uf [0 – 100].

PrelFF Preliminary calculated Feed Factor, before damping (FFUPDFact) and step limiting (FFMaxStep).

FeedFact Feed Factor in percent. Can be overwritten in PC.

SimNoiseEff Weight simulator noise in percent. Default 0. Change with Ef [0 – 100]. See also PC. You can inject noise only into the weight by setting this parameter and setting LIWSimEff to Zero. No effect if weight simulator is off.

SimNoise Spot noise level in weight simulator, expressed in units of weight.

SimWtEff Weight effect on weight simulator (head pressure effect) in percent. Default 0. How much the (simulated) weight in the hopper affects the simulator feedrate. Change with Ff [-100 – 100]. No effect if weight simulator is off.

SimStrat Weight simulator method. Default 0. Change with Td:

HOP>

PQ Filter, Simulator, Autotune screen

NetLoad 6.87|ZtrLoad 6.87|AverLoad 6.92|A: Slots 16

RawLoss 85.1|PIDFr 85.0|UserFr 84.9|IsFlowStable 1

B: LossSlots 17|C: PIDSlots 17|D: UserSlots 32|SQuality 35.9

SampleTm 0.2350|AvgSampleTm 0.2397|LossSampleTm0.2400|FilterTm 12.0

FFMaxStep 0.200|FFUPDFact 12.0|PrelFF 97.9|FeedFact 98.0

E: SimNoiseEff 0.000|SimNoise -0.000|F: SimWtEff 5.000|G: SimStrat 1

H: LIWSimEff 100.000|ActSimEff 101.567|I: FillFl 1000.0|V: ScrwFllTm 10.0

Above85 4|60to85 46|Below60 94|J: Tweak 1.0984

K: WtSamples 8|L: MxWtSpan 0.020|WtSpan 0.000|IsWtStable 0

M: FlSamples 8|N: MxFlwSpan 2.0|FlowSpan % 0.40|IsFlowStable 1

O: ATUAverSlots 16|Q: WtState 0|WtSmpCnt 0|

T: ATULossSlots 16| | |

U: ATUPIDSlots 16| | |


Tag Comments

0: Simulator Off 1: Add simulator weight to actual load cell weight 2: Use simulator weight as true weight

LIWSimEff Nominal Simulator efficiency in percent. The Raw Loss produced by the weight simulator is ActSimEff times CV, scaled to Design Weight. Change with

ActSimEff Actual Simulator efficiency in percent. This is a combination of LIWSimEff and SimWtEff.

FillFl Weight simulator weight increase while filling, in feedrate units. Defult 10 * Design Feedrate. Change with If [0 – 10000 * Design Feedrate].

ScrwFllTm Hold-off time for the weight simulator at feeder start. The purpose is to simulate a situation where the weigh hopper has been emptied before the feeder is started, and so the feeding device is empty. It then would take some time to fill the device up, and material to start coming out.

Above85 Number of samples, during this feeding cycle, with a Quality above 85%. This is used, together with 60to85 and Below60 to alter Tweak when AutoTweakFilter (PO) is on.

60to85 Number of samples with a Quality between 60% and 85%.

Below60 Number of samples with a Quality below 60%.

Tweak Filter Tweak factor. Baseline averaging and loss filter settings are established when you do a quick set-up. Actual LossSlots and PIDSlots (not AverSlots or LossSlots) are multiplied by Tweak at the start of fill if AutoTweakFilter (PO) is on. If Above85 < Below60, Tweak is multiplied by 1.1, If Above85 > Below60, Tweak is multiplied by 0.9. Tweak is then clamped between 0.2 and 5. The purpose is to keep Quality at a reasonable level.

WtSamples Number of samples used to determine weight stability when running Hopper Stability Calibration Procedure (HSCP). Used together with MxWtSpan to determine weight stability, IsWtStable below. Default 8. Change with Kd. Don’t confuse with SSamples in PG, which is used in Hopper Weight calibration procedures.

MxWtSpan Max allowed spread in Average Weight, in percent of design weight, over WtSamples samples for HSCP weight stability. Default 0.02. Change with Lf.

WtSpan Actual spread in Average Weight, in weight units (Uh?), over the last WtSamples samples. Only active during HSCP.

IsWtStable 1 if weight is stable during HSCP, else 0.

FlSamples Number of samples used to determine feedrate stability, and indirectly Quality. This is not a HSCP unique parameter. Default 8. Change with Md.

MxFlwSpan Max allowed spread in PID Rate for stable feedrate over FlSamples samples, in percent. Default 2. Change with Nf [0 – 10]. This is THE most central parameter for feeder dynamics. Low number – slow reacting, good looking. High number – Aggressive control, looks noisy.

FlowSpan % Actual spread in PID Rate for over the last FlSamples samples, in percent of design feedrate. Used, together with MxFlwSpan, to calculate Quality, see “Rate Stability Calculation” on page 9.

IsFlowStable 1 if feedrate is stable, else 0.

ATUAverSlots Recommended setting for Weight Averaging resulting from running HSCP. As long as AutoTweakFilter (PO) is set, Slots (in PQ, Averslots in PC) will be overwritten with this value. For testing purposes you can overwrite with Od [1 – 128]. This essentially defies the purpose of HSCP and AutoTweakFilter, but could be useful if HSCP fails for some reason.

ATULossSlots Recommended setting for Loss Calculation resulting from running HSCP. As long as AutoTweakFilter (PO) is set, LossSlots (in PQ, Lossize in PC) will be overwritten with this value multiplied by Tweak and rounded to the nearest integer. Overwrite with Td [1 – 128].

ATUPIDSlots Recommended setting for PID Rate averaging resulting from running HSCP. As long as AutoTweakFilter (PO) is set, PIDSlots will be overwritten with this value multiplied by Tweak and rounded to the nearest integer. Overwrite with Td [1 – 256].

hopper setup procedures - merrick industries, inc. · hopper controls cyclic loss-in-weight...

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