%0 Journal Article
%T Wireless Sensing Based on RFID and Capacitive Technologies for Safety in Marble Industry Process Control
%A Fabrizio Iacopetti
%A Sergio Saponara
%A Luca Fanucci
%A Bruno Neri
%J Journal of Computer Networks and Communications
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/392056
%X This paper presents wireless sensing systems to increase safety and robustness in industrial process control, particularly in industrial machines for marble slab working. The process is performed by abrasive or cutting heads activated independently by the machine controller when the slab, transported on a conveyer belt, is under them. Current slab detection systems are based on electromechanical or optical devices at the machine entrance stage, suffering from deterioration and from the harsh environment. Slab displacement or break inside the machine due to the working stress may result in safety issues and damages to the conveyer belt due to incorrect driving of the working tools. The experimented contactless sensing techniques are based on four RFID and two capacitive sensing technologies and on customized hardware/software. The proposed solutions aim at overcoming some limitations of current state-of-the-art detection systems, allowing for reliable slab detection, outside and/or inside the machine, while maintaining low complexity and at the same time robustness to industrial harsh conditions. The proposed sensing devices may implement a wireless or wired sensor network feeding detection data to the machine controller. Data integrity check and process control algorithms have to be implemented for the safety and reliability of the overall industrial process. 1. Introduction The transformation of stone blocks coming from quarries into finished products, for example, tiles, sculptures, building materials, stone powder, and so forth, is performed through several different industrial processes. In the case of slab-shaped products (e.g., tiles), marble blocks coming from quarries are firstly sawn by a gangsaw [1] into marble slabs with a resulting irregular contour and with rough surfaces. Slabs are afterwards polished in a polishing machine [2], cut into smaller and regular slabs by means of cutting machines, and finally become end products. The process control of marble slab working is nowadays mainly based on a feed-forward control scheme: the marble slab is transported inside the machine by a conveyer belt; at the entrance of the machine, contact or optical sensing technologies are used to derive information on the presence and shape of the slab which are then used by the machine controlling system to drive the working heads on the slab when it is passing under them. Due to unforeseen events that may occur to the slab inside the machine, mainly slab displacement and cracks, the controlling system may drive the working heads on the base of not up-to-date
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcnc/2013/392056/