Drawn by Ocean Spray’s Dave Frenz with an assist from Paintshop Pro software, this diagram illustrates how controls are integrated on the new Craisins line. The yellow line represents the two-wire AS-i cable. Connected to every piece of equipment in the line, it permits the central PLC to perform machine-to-machine communications, or interlocks.
Blue rectangles represent PLCs. The three machine-mounted PLCs are Allen-Bradley models from Rockwell, while the central PLC is from Siemens.
Orange rectangles represent control panels. The control panel holding the Siemens PLC is drawn large to represent this PLC’s role as chief “traffic cop” for the entire line. This PLC’s ability to communicate along the AS-i bus is made possible by an “AS-i Gateway” module illustrated as a yellow/magenta square. Also in each control panel is a small yellow rectangle representing an AS-i I/O block. This permits the Siemens PLC to exchange signals with each machine-mounted PLC.
