Help with Photoeye

Question

question

Tristan asked Mar 26, '24 Jeanette F commented Apr 8, '24

Help with Photoeye

I need to set up two short conveyors to serve as timing and separating mechanisms for 'dough pieces'. The separation of the dough pieces should be triggered by sensors (photoeyes). These sensors must be able to detect when separation isn't needed (when there's enough distance between the pieces). When separation is required, the first conveyor will stop to facilitate it. How can I program the sensors to signal the motor to halt the conveyor for the appropriate duration when necessary? I am really knew to flexsim, and I'm pretty unsure on how to proceed. Attached is a picture for reference. Thanks!

Software Version:

FlexSim 24.1.0

conveyorsystem photo eye conveyor motor timer

short-spaced.png (383.2 KiB)

· 1

Jeanette F ♦♦ commented · Apr 08 at 11:59 AM

Hi @Tristan, was Felix Möhlmann's answer helpful? If so, please click the "Accept" button at the bottom of their answer. Or if you still have questions, add a comment and we'll continue the conversation.

If we haven't heard back from you within 3 business days we'll auto-accept an answer, but you can always comment back to reopen your question.

0 ·

Answer 1 · 2024-03-27T07:38:25Z

Felix Möhlmann answered Mar 27, '24

If you haven't done so yet, you can start by having a look at the tutorials. Conveyor tutorial 1.3 contains a section on how one might introduce a gap between items on a conveyor. The technique that is discussed there is demonstrated in the attached model.

conveyor-item-gap.fsm

As you can see it only uses a single photo eye. If you require more specific help, then I would ask you to first define more thoroughly how the conveyors and photo eyes should interact in your case. For example: "If the first photo eye is blocked before the previous item has reached the second photo eye, stop the first conveyor".

conveyor-item-gap.fsm (39.1 KiB)

question