The tube line assembled in the workshop on a black base: the row of green stations with yellow wheels on their arms and, at the head, the two-door control panel with the operator panel, the main disconnect and the stack light.
The line in the workshop, before delivery.

Project · Fiber optics

The fiber tube line. Many stations, one line.

The tubes are what carry the optical fibers inside the cable. Schematic, panel, line logic and workshop testing: we did it all.

Talk to an engineer See the challenge
Client
Confidential
Industry
Cable & fiber optics
Stations
Each with its own motor
Where
In the workshop, before delivery

The challenge

One motor per station. They have to start, run and stop as one.

The tube line drawn in three-quarter view: two rows of stations facing each other, each with two grooved wheels and its own motor. One tube per station comes in from above, passes the upper wheel, goes down, wraps around the motorized lower wheel and heads for the line axis, where all the tubes fall into a single row and run to the head of the line, where the control panel with the operator panel stands. One speed reference starts, runs and stops every wheel together, and the tubes move with them.
  1. 01 · start

    There is one speed reference for the whole line. As it ramps up, every wheel picks up speed together.

  2. 02 · run

    Each motor keeps pace with the others, station after station. The tube never feels a jerk.

  3. 03 · stop

    One red e-stop at a single station is enough. Every wheel slows down together, all the way to a stop.

Line speed reference
0 %
Stations
all in step
E-stop
—

A station that starts late or stops late makes no noise. It shows up later, in the tube.

The solution

One control panel. And every wire in its place.

Power, logic and signals for the whole line sit in one two-door cabinet at the head. Open it, and it reads from top to bottom.

The line's control panel with its doors open: breakers and fuse holders at the top; PLC modules, the transformer and the terminal strips in the middle; the row of yellow drives at the bottom. Bundles of gray and orange cables leave from the bottom toward the line. On the door, an industrial router.
  1. At the top

    Protection. Breakers and fuse holders, lined up on the rails.

  2. In the middle

    The logic. The PLC modules, the transformer and the terminal strips, with the wires in the ducts.

  3. At the bottom

    The drives. In a row, side by side.

  4. Outside

    The cables. They leave the bottom of the panel in bundles and run to the line.

The start of the line: the gray pushbutton station with the red emergency stop and six pushbuttons, and right after it the first green stations with yellow wheels.
At the head of the line

The pushbutton station: one emergency stop and six pushbuttons.

The line seen along its axis, up close: the steel tube in the middle and, at each station, a motor and a gray box with the red emergency stop.
At every station

Its own motor, and a box with the red e-stop.

What we brought

From the schematic to the workshop test. One point of contact.

  1. 01

    The electrical schematic

    Power, controls and field signals: the whole line on paper before a single wire is cut.

    Electrical engineering
  2. 02

    Panels and controls

    Built and wired by us: two doors, the drives inside, the operator panel on the door.

    Control panel building
  3. 03

    Software and screens

    One reference for every station, and the permissives to start and stop together.

    PLC and HMI software
  4. 04

    Tests and commissioning

    Signals and motion tested on the assembled line, before start-up.

    Testing and start-up

The photos

Four photos, all ours. In the workshop, before delivery.

Every photo opens full screen.

Along the same chain

Before the tube, the fiber. After it, the cable.

Two fiber-optic towers side by side: green frame, furnaces, operator panels and stack lights.

Before · the fiber

The fiber-optic towers

Furnaces, gases and axes in a few meters, readable at a glance.

The project
The deck of the Ulisse vessel: the circular carousel holding the cable, the green arched guide crane and the control cabin.

After · the cable

The Ulisse vessel’s cable-laying system

Carousel, caterpillar, crane and winches on the same cable as it goes into the sea.

The project

The first step

Does your line have many motors to keep in step too? Tell us about it.

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