Final project stage

Automation (PLC/HMI), mechanical arm, pneumatic press design, and IT maintenance

SMCV internship covering Siemens S7-1200 automation, HMI supervision, mechanical design, thermal analysis, and industrial workstation recovery for electricity meter production.

Company: SMCV (Société Marocaine des Compteurs) | Duration: July 2025 - September 2025

Automation

S7-1200

TIA Portal sequence logic and HMI commands.

Design

Inventor

Mechanical arm and nut insertion press concepts.

Thermal

ANSYS

Heating and cooling behavior for insert nuts.

Evaluation

20/20

Supervisor rating for the internship work.

Mission overview

Industrial problem

The workshop needed practical improvements for nut insertion quality, operator workflow, HMI operation, and stability of meter configuration workstations.

Engineering response

The work combined TIA Portal, Siemens S7-1200 automation, HMI screen design, Autodesk Inventor concepts, ANSYS-based thermal reasoning, and industrial IT troubleshooting.

HMI screens & designs

Operator interface scope

The HMI work covered the main operation page, manual controls, and configuration screens for the injection molding machine. The objective was to make machine commands, parameter adjustment, and operator supervision clearer on the shop floor.

Main HMI screen for SMCV injection molding machine — Main page

Manual control HMI screen for SMCV injection molding machine — Manual control

Configuration HMI page 1 for SMCV injection molding machine — Configuration 1

Configuration HMI page 2 for SMCV injection molding machine — Configuration 2

Engineering deliverables

Mechanical insertion arm

The first solution addressed nut perpendicularity defects and operator effort through a manual insertion arm designed in Autodesk Inventor.

Reduced quality variability caused by poorly inserted nuts.
Improved the operator working position and repeatability.
Revealed the limitation of sequential nut-by-nut insertion.

Nut insertion press

The second solution moved toward simultaneous insertion through a pneumatic press concept, PLC sequence logic, HMI controls, and thermal validation.

Mechanical design: structural and functional press concept.
Automation: TIA Portal logic for sequence control and safety.
Thermal analysis: heating behavior checked for safe insertion temperatures.

Mechanical design of the mechanical arm for nut insertion - Autodesk Inventor — 3D model of the nut insertion arm in Autodesk Inventor.

Press HMI and thermal evidence

HMI screen for SMCV nut insertion press — Nut insertion press HMI

Nut temperature evolution plot based on heating source for SMCV thermal analysis — Heating source sensitivity

Nut cooldown temperature evolution plot based on initial temperature for SMCV thermal analysis — Cooldown temperature evolution

Industrial IT maintenance

Context

Inhemeter workstations are used to configure, parameterize, and test electricity meters. Failures can delay production.

Intervention

The unstable Chinese-language Windows XP virtual machine was replaced with a stable English setup and compatible drivers.

Result

The configuration stations recovered stable operation, reducing crashes and improving the meter programming workflow.

Conclusion and perspectives

Internship summary

Designed and dimensioned nut insertion tooling concepts.
Developed PLC logic and HMI interfaces for industrial operation.
Used thermal simulation and calculations to support insertion process decisions.

Future perspectives

Process improvement: optimize heating and cooling cycles and evaluate active cooling.
Skill development: deepen thermal simulation, mechanical modeling, and PLC programming practice.

Supervisor evaluation (20/20)

Overall remarks

"Serious work, punctuality, and respect for instructions are to be highlighted."
(Original: "Travail sérieux, ponctualité et respect des consignes sont à souligner")