CROP SHEAR SYSTEMS

Introduction

Continuing our successful relationship with European Electronic Systems (EES) and their Austrian parent company Voest Alpine Industries,  WSS has also been instrumental in the design and development of the real-time software for the EES CCD3030 Crop Shear Control and Optimisation system.

Background

A crop shear is a heavy machine used to cut hot metal bars in a hot strip mill whilst the bar is moving along the rolling table.  The Crop Shear system is designed to optimise the cropping process by determining the optimum cut point for each bar and then controlling the crop shear to ensure an accurate cut through the determined cut point.  The Crop Shear system uses several line scan cameras and complex signal processing techniques to determine the bar end shapes and bar position relative to the crop shear itself.  High speed real-time processing is required to achieve the video analysis and to implement the crop shear control algorithms.  For more information visit the EES web site here.

Our Contribution

WSS has been responsible for designing and developing much of the complicated real-time embedded signal processing and control software that lies at the heart of the Crop Shear.  Also developed were several TCP/IP communication links which use bespoke messaging protocols which were designed to (a) communicate with the PCs that host the operator MMI of the system and (b) communicate system setup and result information to and from a steel mills main process control systems.

We initially worked with EES to help the specify the required functionality of the system.  The software was then designed using the Ward-Mellor methodology and CASE Select Yourdon design tool, and then implemented in C running on the OS-9 real-time operating system.  OS-9 device drivers for the bespoke camera interface electronics were written in 68040 assembler. 

In Summary

We have helped EES design and develop the software for a complicated product and have then gone on to help them develop customer specific software for several Crop Shear systems now in use in steel mills throughout the world.