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In the automobile manufacturing industry, paper bar codes, laser-etched two-dimensional codes, RFID tags and other forms are usually used to identify vehicles or engines.
In terms of RFID tags, they will also be packaged into various forms, such as rectangular tags for highway ETC, round chip tags for Nanjing Metro, magnet tags for automobile assembly workshops, and bolt tags for engine machines.
This article introduces the application of bolt RFID tags in engine manufacturing.
In 2013, GM cooperated with Balluff to apply Balluff’s high-frequency bolt RFID tags at GM’s New York plant for the identification and traceability of cylinder block lines and cylinder head lines in the machine shop.
Balluff’s bolt RFID tags have specifications such as M6 and M8, with a storage capacity of up to 128KB, and their appearance is very similar to ordinary bolts, as shown in the red circle in the following figure:
Take cylinder processing as an example. When the cylinder is on-line, first install, tighten, and write the work order and serial number information of the RFID bolt; when the cylinder passes through the key processing stations, the PLC will display the key operation information such as tightening value and leak test. The detection results are written into the bolt RFID; when the cylinder enters the next station, the PLC reads the RFID and checks the results of the previous process; when the cylinder is offline, the PLC reads the RFID data and synchronizes it to the MES system.
Balluff bolt RFID tags provide IP68 protection and can be used in environments with lubricants, metal shavings, and cleaning equipment.
In the complete manufacturing process of an engine, multiple RFID tags are used, such as:
· Bolt RFID of cylinder frame
· Bolt RFID of cylinder head frame
· Pallet RFID with built-in line
· Pallet RFID for cylinder head sub-assembly
· Pallet RFID for piston connecting rod sub-packaging
· Pallet RFID for exterior line
· Test line pallet RFID for truck engines
When the engine is transferred from the interior to the exterior, or when it needs to be repaired offline, due to the separation of the engine and the pallet, the RFID data and the MES need to be backed up and restored at this time, which is more cumbersome.
Therefore, if the bolt RFID tag on the cylinder can be extended to the complete manufacturing process, there will be no data transfer problem, and the data interaction between MES and PLC can be greatly reduced, but it will face great difficulties.
Due to the small distance between the engine stations, high frequency instead of UHF RFID technology is used, which results in short reading distance of RFID tags (generally <0.2 meters) and small angles. Therefore, the reader is generally required to face the tag and tightly. Paste installation.
After the cylinder block is assembled, most of it is wrapped inside the engine. If the bolt RFID is installed inside, it is difficult to identify; if it is installed outside, it may cause interference with parts and equipment during the assembly process, and it is also difficult to identify.
So if we want to use the cylinder bolt RFID to track the whole process, we need to start with the design and work out the plan with the process and control experts:
· Design bolt RFID special process installation holes on the cylinder block; this hole will not affect the rigidity of the engine; it is always exposed to the outside of the engine after assembly; it is closed with ordinary bolts or rubber plugs before leaving the factory.
· After the bolt RFID is installed on the cylinder, it will not interfere with other parts and equipment in the whole process.
· Equipment and OEM engineers should adjust the installation position of the RFID reader at each station according to the position and angle of the bolt RFID.
This solution can effectively ensure data security, but it increases the complexity of the process, which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
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