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What You'll Achieve
After completing this guide, your web runs with one edge held on target — the guide steers it back the moment it drifts.
Estimated time: ~30–60 minutes
What You Need
Edge Guiding — SCU5
Prerequisites
Install the Web Guide
Install the Roll-2-Roll® Web Guide in two stages: first mount and align the web-guide frame on your machine, then mount the sensor for your guiding mode.
Install and Align the Web Guide Frame
- Bolt the frame to the machine through its base-plate holes.
- Mount it so the web travels in the direction of the arrows on the frame — the guide corrects in one direction only, so a backwards frame fights the web instead of steering it.
- Level the frame: set its rollers parallel to the machine idlers and square to web travel, with no tilt to either side. Check it with a machine square, a tram rod, or by measuring from each entry and exit roller to the web-guide roller — whichever you have.
Set the Correction Geometry
Set the geometry for the web guide type you received (your Roll-2-Roll application engineer chose it at purchase).
Displacement guide
- Wrap the web 90 degrees at the entry and exit rollers.
- Make the entry and exit spans each about one-half to one web width (two to three web widths for metal webs).
- Correction happens in the exit span.
Steering guide
- Make the entry span about three to five web widths (ten to twenty for metal webs).
- Wrap the guide roller 45 to 135 degrees.
- Keep the exit span perpendicular to the direction of roller motion.
- Correction happens in the entry span.
Mount the Motor Driver Box
- Mount the MC QD motor-driver box on the machine, close to the web guide and actuator. It has its own enclosure, so it does not need to sit inside another cabinet.
- Keep the box within about 10 m of the actuator — that is the reach of the motor-communication cable (SKU 21223) carrying the RS485 link and 24 V to the driver.
Choose the Sensor Location and Mount the Sensor
- Mount the sensor in the exit span, just after the guide roller — as close to the roller as your machine allows. The sensor must see the corrected web; mounted anywhere else, guiding becomes unstable.
- Clamp the sensor bracket to your extrusion rail in the exit span, but don't fully tighten it yet.
- Set the working distance from the sensor face to the web to 15-25 mm (0.6-1.0 in); aim for 25 mm.
- Keep everything at least 150 mm (6 in) behind the web clear in the sensor's view — the camera-style sensor can otherwise pick up background objects.
- Guiding a shiny, metallic, or clear web? Tilt the sensor a few degrees toward the web so its angled light returns to the lens, then re-check the working distance.
- Tighten the bracket.
- If the web plane visibly lifts or drops in the exit span when the guide corrects hard (you'll confirm this during commissioning), add a backup roller with minimal wrap just before the sensor to steady the web — then keep the sensor close. Don't move the sensor farther downstream to escape the problem; distance costs you guiding response.
Pre-Power Mechanical Checks
- Do these with the power off, before commissioning. Don't move the web guide by hand at any point.
- Confirm the web travels in the direction of the arrows on the guide.
- Confirm the guide rollers sit parallel in their neutral position.
- Confirm the guide is level, with no tilt.
- Confirm the wrap angle and the entry and exit span lengths match your guide geometry.
- Install the servo-center inductive proximity sensor (SKU 7-140004) per the Servo Center installation document — the controller uses it to find the actuator's home position during commissioning.
Reference Documents
Install the Sensor
Install the Sensor — Edge Guiding
- Edge guiding uses a single ODC sensor. Position it over the one web edge you're guiding, with that edge near the middle of the sensor window.
Wire the System
Configure & Verify
Power up the controller and commission the guide, one checked step at a time.
Edge Guiding — Power Up and Commission
Commission single-sensor edge guiding — set the sensor, prove the motion, then run it in automatic.
- Power on the controller. If it wakes in Automatic, switch to Manual — it resumes whatever mode it was last in, and every step below runs from Manual.
- Set the sensor's electronic orientation to Left or Right to match the edge it sits over, on the Power User → Sensor screen.
- Check the orientation on the Web Position Indicator (the home screen shows what the sensor sees). With the web threaded, you should see a dark region on the same side as the orientation you set — a Left-oriented sensor shows dark on the left. If the display is all dark or all light, the sensor isn't seeing an edge or the orientation is wrong — re-check the working distance and that the sensor sits over the edge. Don't continue until you see the dark-on-one-side pattern.
- Check the jog direction. Tap Jog Left, then Jog Right, and watch the guide. It should move the way each button says. If it moves the opposite way, reverse Motor Polarity under Power User → Actuator → Motor Polarity, then jog again to confirm.
- Servo-center the actuator. Tap Servo Center and let the guide travel to its home position (half its stroke each way). If it heads away from home instead of toward it, reverse Servo Center Polarity under Power User → Actuator → Servo Center Polarity, then servo-center again. If it hits a mechanical stop before finishing, re-check the servo-center sensor position from the pre-power checks.
- Set the guide point. Tap Reset Guide Point — the controller locks onto the web's current position as the target. (To target a different position, drag the guide-point bar and press Accept.)
- Switch to Automatic. The guide now makes small corrections to hold the edge on the guide point, and the Web Position Indicator holds steady near the target. If the controller won't enter Automatic, the sensor isn't detecting the web — go back to step 3.
- Check the correction direction. Nudge the web off target. The guide should steer it back toward the guide point. If it steers away, reverse Error Polarity under Power User → Controller, then watch it correct again.
- Fine-tune the position. Still in Automatic, tap Jog Right (+) or Jog Left (−) to nudge the guided edge to the exact spot — about 0.25 mm (0.01 in) per tap.
- Prove the safety hold. Pull the web out of the sensor's view. The guide should freeze and hold until the web returns. When it does, your web guide is commissioned.
PLC Integration
Web guiding controllers support remote command via two routes: Industrial Ethernet PLC remote control, and the DIO option (discrete dry-contact inputs). Both allow a PLC or supervisory system to command guide mode and position without manual touchscreen interaction.
- Route 1 — PLC remote control (C(x) models): send auto mode on/off, jog, servo center, and guide-point commands over Industrial Ethernet (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT)
- Route 2 — DIO option: discrete dry-contact 24 V NPN inputs for hard-wired remote on/off and mode switching — no Industrial Ethernet required; wired directly from PLC digital outputs or relay contacts
- Both routes can coexist — Ethernet for data and fine control, DIO for hard-wired safety/interlock inputs
- Lock on Lost Edge: when the web edge exits the sensor field of view during edge guiding, actuator motion is inhibited — prevents runaway
- Loss of Contrast Inhibit: for line/contrast guiding, actuator motion is inhibited if contrast is lost until the target feature is re-acquired
📄 The register map, EDS file (EtherNet/IP), and Add-on Instruction (AOI) for Studio 5000 are in the Your Products section above — grouped on the product card with everything else you need to download.
Go Further
Related Quick Start Guides
- Unwind/Rewind Web Guiding — High-thrust web guiding for shifting roll stands
- Retrofit an Existing Web Guide — Upgrade a legacy or competitor web guide system with Roll-2-Roll sensors and controllers
- Web Width Measurement — Measure web width alongside or independently of guiding
- Position Measurement — Measure edge, centerline, or contrast/line position
- Splice Detection — Add splice detection to your web processing line
Learn More
- Unwind and Rewind Guides — Design and Installation Considerations
- How to Size an Actuator for Unwind/Rewind Web Guides
Need Help?
Email: experts@r2r.tech
Phone: +1-888-290-3215