Acceleration and angle measurement in a machine-mounted solution – compact, robust and integrated directly in the field



The new EP1816-3008 EtherCAT Box from Beckhoff has two integrated 3-axis acceleration sensors and 16 digital inputs. The easy-to-install I/O module for harsh environments can be used to implement cost-effective vibration and shock/oscillation monitoring directly in the field. The machine-mountable device also enables tilt monitoring in longitudinal and transverse direction.
The IP 67-rated EP1816-3008 EtherCAT Box features two integrated 3-axis, 16-bit acceleration sensors with resolution options of ±2 g, ±4 g, ±8 g and ±16 g. The sampling frequency is 1 Hz to 5 kHz. These so-called MEMS (micro-electronic mechanical systems) are based on forked silicon structures, which have movements or vibrations that result in a capacitive change and a corresponding signal value.
The compact and robust EtherCAT Box supports acceleration and angle measurement directly in the field. In addition, the signals are directly available in the control system. Compared with the conventional combination of sensor and separate data sampling, this solution is more cost-effective and easier to install and integrate. Furthermore, it offers another advantage: two sensors, which are arranged at 90° angles, make the EP1816-3008 a redundant measuring system, and in addition, the results can be reliably verified by the controller.
A typical application for the 3-axis acceleration box is vibration and shock/oscillation monitoring of machines and buildings. For example, vibrations of robot arms can be monitored exactly and with no great effort via the measured accelerations. For wood sawing machines, an EP1816-3008 mounted on the work table enables reliable monitoring of the saw-blade angle adjustment through fast signal acquisition.