Efficient vehicle identification: RFID solution for NEV final assembly
Directly at the "Edge," a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars uses TURCK's intelligent Q130 Ethernet read/write heads to identify vehicles in final assembly
Quick read
A Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer previously used an RFID tracking system with separate interface modules, where data from the read/write heads was routed to the PLC via fieldbus interfaces. This led to latency, complex address and register configuration, high maintenance effort and limited scalability of the production line. Today, vehicle data is captured directly and without delay using TURCK's Q130 HF read/write head. Thanks to its integrated Ethernet interface, the device communicates with the PLC without additional modules, reducing complexity and enabling stable cycle times as well as a flexible, future-proof production line.
The dynamics of the Chinese electric car market can hardly be compared with developments in Europe or the USA: according to the IEA (International Energy Agency), sales of New Energy Vehicles (NEV), which include battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), exceeded 11.3 million units in the People's Republic in 2024. During this period, 3.2 million vehicles of this type were sold in Europe and 1.5 million in the USA.
High production cycle requires a high-performance identification solution
In terms of production, this boom requires highly automated production lines with fully digitalized, traceable, and cycle-time-optimized assembly. For this reason, a Chinese electric car manufacturer was looking for a compact, robust RFID solution that communicates with the PLC via Ethernet without the need for additional interface modules and preprocesses data directly in the read/write head and reports data in an event-controlled manner. The decisive factors for the decision were also reliable operation in harsh environments, rapid commissioning without extensive PLC adjustments, and the option of carrying out read/write operations "on the fly."
Solution
Today, the car manufacturer uses the robust RFID read/write head Q130 from TURCK in the final assembly process. The device communicates via an integrated multiprotocol Ethernet interface for PROFINET, EtherNet/IP or Modbus TCP, integrates directly into the PLC and does not require an intermediate interface module. This simplifies the system architecture and shortens the response time. Thanks to S2 system redundancy, the Q130 offers additional security: if one controller fails, the Q130 communicates with the other controller.
Thanks to the integrated switch function, the manufacturer was able to connect the RFID stations in a line topology and commission them quickly, which reduces the need for external network technology and speeds up the cabling. The housing of the Q130 offers IP69k protection at the front and allows direct mounting in areas with dust, oil and vibrations. Its compact design also facilitates retrofitting in the existing installation space. The Q130 enables smooth processes via its 16 kilobyte data buffer, which ensures that tags are captured and read during movement. The integrated verification of the Q130 immediately confirms write operations and thus minimizes downtimes due to validation errors.
The read/write head performs internal pre-processing directly at the Edge and communicates the data to the PLC via Profinet – triggered by the tag on the skid on an event-related basis. Cyclic, PLC-triggered read routines are no longer required, which reduces complexity and latencies and improves process reliability. Pre-processing in Q130 has two effects: on the one hand, only relevant, quality-assured information is sent to the PLC and from there to MES/traceability systems. On the other hand, bandwidth reserves are retained in the network, as the device bundles status and event data according to requirements and reports them on an event-related basis instead of transmitting raw data cyclically.
Simple implementation and fast commissioning
During ongoing operation, existing stations were upgraded in the final assembly by replacing the previously used RFID systems and interface modules with Q130 devices. With the RFID system from another manufacturer used before the conversion, the tag had to stop in front of the read/write head in order to complete the read operation. Only after this stop could the skid continue to drive. Since the changeover, the line reads and writes continuously without stopping the pallets at the reading point. The cycle time remains stable because write operations are confirmed immediately and read operations are performed dynamically. Direct communication shortens response times, reduces engineering in the PLC and simplifies maintenance. Expansions are faster, as there is no need to procure and wire additional interface modules or perform complex register mappings. And the complexity of spare parts and variant management is halved, as the Q130 supports different Ethernet protocols and thus reduces the number of device types required.
The customer is very satisfied with the solution: "We were looking for RFID read heads with their own intelligence that identify tags independently and report data to the PLC – without additional interfaces and with minimal PLC engineering. The Q130 meets these requirements. The devices are robust, compact and can be installed directly at the station. Thanks to integrated buffering and automatic data reporting, we have been able to stabilize cycle times and simplify the architecture."
Outlook
The introduction of the Q130 marks the change from passive identification to active, decentralized data acquisition in NEV final assembly. TURCK thus supports the expansion of transparent, efficient and flexible production processes – with lower complexity in engineering and maintenance as well as high scalability for future line extensions. In the future, data cleaning, anomaly detection, and predictive maintenance, as well as AI-based evaluation methods, can be migrated to the Edge.
Lin Qiang, Marketing & Product Management Department, Turck (Tianjin) Sensors Co.
