In Eton terminology, a station can be either a workplace, a buffer or a bridge. Stations need to have at least one rail.
Id ✎
Id of the station. The station id follows a few simple rules.
- The thousand number indicates the line that the station unloads from. E.g: 7001 unloads from line 7. Bridge 4191 may load to line 1, but it unloads from line 4 and is thus in the 4000-series.
- A "9" in the second-last position of the station number indicates that this is a bridge. The first bridge between two lines will be named 91, the second 92 and so on.
- Anything except 0 in the third-last position indicates that this is a middle station. E.g: 7101 and 7001 are physically connected, and 7101 is the first middle station 7201 the second middle station and so on.
- The station number is always the same as the rail number for the first internal rail
Description ✎
Optional description for the function of the station.
Working Position ✎
Work position, (wp) is the position number for the carrier in the chain where the operation is carried out.
Sequence value starts at reader position with value 0
Carrier in wp is the one presented on the terminal display.
Next destination for carrier, fault registration etc. is set in wp.
For stations without chain, such as feeding buffers, the work position should always be set to 1.
The work position is tightly coupled with the chain parameters chain enter and chain exit.
Node ✎
The id of the node that controls the station reader and loading house. This is often the same node that also handles unloading from line (rail unloading node.
Motor Group ✎
Stations with a feeding buffer should have a motor group assigned. In case of middle stations and feeding buffer connections, these should all share the same motor group.
For best practice, the motor group should be named the same as the station with the lowest id.
Eg. Two middle stations 1001, 1101 with feeding buffer connection 1201. This motor group should be named 1001.
Default Operator Destination ✎
When using addressing strategy Operator Addressed, the station can remember a default destination rail that it will use for all future routing until the default address is cleared.
To set default destination
1.[railId] F7
To clear default destination
1.0 F7
Manual Destination ✎
Mechanical addressing can be set on a station to send carriers anywhere without a route. Every carrier that passes through the station will go to the destination pointed out mechanically. This can be done for diagnostic or test reasons, but it is not a feature that should be used in general production.
To set a mechanical destination for a station
2.[railId] F7
To clear a mechanical destination
2.0 F7
IsAutomatic ✎
Station automation can be enabled to make the buffer work without supervision. This is normally combined with a buffer logic that determines how the station will operate.
A station that is automated cannot have a logged in operator. Logging in on a station that is automatic will ask the user to confirm to disable automation if the user has the correct permission.
✎
The station typically runs automatically, like a buffer or automated loading station. If a user logs out of this station, they will be asked if automation should be re-enabled.
Buffer Type ✎
A buffer type can be set on a station to make it perform operations automatically.
BufferParameters ✎
Parameters for the buffer logic. This can be different for each
Is Loading ✎
Loading stations are the stations where a production route starts. Carriers are loaded with some materials and then continue on in the system. Loading stations have some extra terminal commands available that are not available on other stations.
Keep Last Loading Command ✎
This feature can be used on loading stations. If "Keep Last Loading" is activated, the station will remember the last orderline that was used to load products and will then automatically load every empty carrier that enters work position with the same orderline.
If a carrier with product enters the work position, it will not be automatically loaded. Instead a message stating "Send or Reload" will be shown on terminal screen, and the operator may choose to send the carrier away or load another product on it.
Loading another product on an already loaded carrier will automatically register a system reject fault.
Last Loading Command ✎
Read Only - This is the loading command that will be used automatically by the station when it's loading carriers via the Keep Last Loading Command feature.
Bridge ✎
The Bridge flag should be set on stations that are used as primary bridges between lines. Bridge stations should always be configured as a transporter type.
The system will automatically determine what bridges to take from the configuration. If there are multiple possibles ways to reach a destination, the carriers will prefer the path with the least number of bridges.
Bridge stations should have a rail that has an unloading line that is different from the line that it loads carriers to.
Secondary Bridge ✎
A station can be set up as a secondary bridge. This station can function as a normal station or buffer, but still accept carriers heading to a different line. This may be the case when the only connections between two lines is a buffer.
Secondary bridges are usually not transporter types.
As it may take a long time for a carrier to pass a secondary bridge, they should not be used in normal production, but rather to handle stray carrier exceptions.
Multiple Operation ✎
A station may be configured as a multiple operation station. This means that it can perform multiple operations in the route without the carrier leaving, as long as the station is part of the operations station groups.
If the station is not configured as multiple operation, the carrier will only perform one operation before it leaves the station.
Complete Multiple Operations At Once ✎
When the station is set up as a multiple operation station and this option is selected, all of the multiple operations will be completed with a single button press.
This has both some advantages and disadvantages
Advantage
- Fast process for the operator
Disadvantage
- Not possible to accurately track individual operation times
- Not possible to display the operation message for the second operation on
Loading Blocked ✎
Stations can explicitly be blocked from loading carriers onto the line.
Active Rail Number ✎
The operator can decide what rail to retrieve carriers from by using one of these commands that are for the most part equivalent.
933.[Internal Rail Number] F4
[Internal Rail Number] F8
On a station with multiple rails, the command
933.0 F4
Will set the active rail to 0 and prevent any more carriers from reaching the station reader.
Addressing Capacity Overload ✎
Stations can have an adjusted addressing capacity that is used when routing carriers leaving that station.
Setting a positive value allows the station to send even when the recieving rail would be considered full by other stations. This will give the station priority, and may be used for example with an inspection station. Normally a positive value shouldn't be set more than +1, as this will leave carriers on the overload switch and going around the line in some cases.
Setting a negative value will ensure that the station never fills up reciving stations completely. This can be used to prevent a buffer from filling up the destination stations to 100%. There is no limit on how far below 0 this can be set.
E.g: Setting -10 will only send to rails that have more than 10 rail capacity available.
Override Overload Switch On Send ✎
In special circumstances you may want to allow a station to send even if the overload switch has been activated on the recieving station. If the overload is still active when the carrier reaches its destination, the carrier will not be unloaded but instead travel around the line until the overload clears.
This will still not allow the station to send if the rail load limit has been reached, for that you can check the Addressing Capacity Overload setting.
Sequenced Unload From Line ✎
See Topic: Sequenced Unloading To Rail
Station Catch Enabled ✎
Disabling the station catch will stop the station from releasing new carriers into the rail when the operator switch is pressed.
This setting should be enabled for the station to work normally.
Line ✎
The id of the main line the station belongs to.
Unloading Node ICU ✎
The id of the ICU that handles the unloading from main line.
Unloading from Line ✎
The main line that the station unloads from.
Unloading Node ✎
The node handling the unloading from main line.
Include middle stations ✎
Setting whether to include middle stations.
Template Station ✎
The station that will be used as a template when setting configuration for the new station.
ExitPosition ✎
The number of chain cycles before the carrier exits the chain. This is mainly used to keep track of rail loads on middle stations.
Inverted Loading ✎
When the station has the loading gear before the rails, this should be set to true.
Inverted stations can very quickly send to themselves, while on regular stations the carrier has to take a full lap on the line to get back to the same station.
Chain Motor Type ✎
The type of chain motor used by the station
- DC Motor - Motor is connected and powered directly by the node card.
- I/O Inverter - Motor is powered externally, and start/stopped by node IO.
- CAN Inverter - Motor is connected to node sub CAN network. This is the same type of motor used for lines and feeding buffers.