One-stop shop for automation: ever greater variety of apps
Manuela Kessler02.10.2024Lohr am Main / Germany | PI 031/24
Over 80 apps in 16 main categories in the ctrlX OS Store
New engineering and vision apps making automation tasks easy
Comprehensive solution packages for industrial automation
The ctrlX OS Store offers users a comprehensive range of apps. (Image source: Bosch Rexroth AG)
Find and purchase all the applications and services required for automation in one place – Bosch Rexroth implements this principle of the one-stop shop with its ctrlX OS Store. The digital marketplace, which now includes over 80 apps in 16 main categories, is growing steadily. The wide offer ranges from IoT and communication solutions to innovative vision and engineering apps, all of which are validated according to stringent Bosch Rexroth guidelines. Approximately half of the apps come from third-party providers, underscoring the co-creation approach, which is increasingly establishing itself in automation.
“Automation tasks are becoming increasingly diverse and complex in industry. They require a variety of specialized applications. Companies need a single platform that enables them to meet these diverse requirements without having to coordinate multiple providers and systems. The trend toward co-creation is therefore crucial because it allows different supplier to combine their expertise and jointly develop solutions that meet the market’s rapidly changing requirements. The ctrlX OS Store offers this integrated solution and provides an ever greater variety of applications as a digital marketplace,” explains Steffen Winkler, Senior Vice President Sales Business Unit Automation & Electrification Solutions at Bosch Rexroth.
The ctrlX OS Store offers a wide range of products, including engineering apps to simplify development projects, motion solutions, and security applications to protect systems. It also includes HMI solutions for human-machine interaction, vision apps for integrating vision systems, IoT applications to unlock the full potential of the Internet of Things, and many more solutions.
New apps to simplify automation tasks
One of the new apps is for example Model Connect. This solution offers an alternative to classic PLC programming. It combines ctrlX OS devices with powerful model-based software development systems that improve the efficiency and quality of software and simplify its maintenance. The first version supports MATLAB and Simulink. This makes it easier to develop, validate, and simulate complex systems such as machines or special process and control technology using models. The control code for ctrlX OS can be generated directly from this at the push of a button and then loaded onto ctrlX OS-based devices and executed using the Model Connect app.
The ctrlX MOTION app now has an interface extension (API). This allows users to extend the app with their own motion expertise. Up to 128 drives are supported and numerous new PLCopen functions are available.
The new AI-based LumiScan suite from ctrlX World partner HD Vision Systems ensures the effortless integration of vision systems directly into ctrlX OS-based devices such as the industrial control system ctrlX CORE. It also makes it possible to train the necessary models on ctrlX IPCs or PCs. In quality inspection and pick-and-place applications in robotics in particular, this is a user-friendly solution for the commissioning and application of vision systems. It can also be used without specialist knowledge, making vision applications accessible to everyone.
ctrlX WORKS Engineering is now modular and simply uploads the required engineering tools as needed. Initially, this applies to ctrlX DRIVE, ctrlX I/O, and ctrlX PLC Engineering. This enables optimum adaptation to specific requirements. The next step is to add more engineering tools from ctrlX OS OEMs such as WAGO and ctrlX World partners. This will allow users to easily manage and update the software they need.
App bundles: custom solutions for specific challenges
Bosch Rexroth has developed comprehensive solution packages that offer the perfect combination of applications to meet the specific needs of its customers. They replicate numerous use cases. Some of the most popular are remote access, monitoring and connectivity.
For remote access, the solutions provide seamless monitoring, control, and troubleshooting for ctrlX OS-based devices and networks, regardless of their location. Customers can choose between various options from ctrlX World partners, such as the VPN client from IXON and the solution from MB connect line, and supplement these with an additional firewall app if required.
For monitoring, users receive real-time and non-real-time visibility of device data to detect errors early, optimize performance, and reduce downtime. Apps such as the IoT Dashboard, InfluxDB, and Node-RED, which provide comprehensive insights into system states, can be used for this purpose.
For connectivity, robust and cyber-resistant options are available to ensure reliable integration into company networks and AI applications. Suitable apps include OPC UA Server/Client, the MQTT Broker Eclipse Mosquitto, Modbus TCP, and the Bosch DeviceBridge app.
With these new apps and solution packages, Bosch Rexroth is offering its customers the flexibility they need to be successful in an increasingly connected world.
As one of the world’s leading suppliers of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth ensures efficient, powerful and safe movement in machines and systems of any size. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of Mobile and Industrial Applications as well as Factory Automation. With its intelligent components, customized system solutions, engineering and services, Bosch Rexroth is creating the necessary environment for fully connected applications. Bosch Rexroth offers its customers hydraulics, electric drive and control technology, gear technology and linear motion and assembly technology, including software and interfaces to the Internet of Things. With locations in over 80 countries, around 33,800 associates generated sales revenue of 7.6 billion euros in 2023.
Basic Information Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 429,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2023). The company generated sales of 91.6 billion euros in 2023. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. With its business activities, the company aims to use technology to help shape universal trends such as automation, electrification, digitalization, connectivity, and an orientation to sustainability. In this context, Bosch’s broad diversification across regions and industries strengthens its innovativeness and robustness. Bosch uses its proven expertise in sensor technology, software, and services to offer customers cross-domain solutions from a single source. It also applies its expertise in connectivity and artificial intelligence in order to develop and manufacture user-friendly, sustainable products. With technology that is “Invented for life,” Bosch wants to help improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. Bosch’s innovative strength is key to the company’s further development. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 90,000 associates in research and development, of which nearly 48,000 are software engineers.
