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Rogers Centre’s Iconic Roof Gets an IoT Makeover “Will the roof be open?”

he Rogers Centre opened in 1989 as the first stadium in the world with a fully-retractable, T motorized roof. Composed of three moveable sections, the roof covers 8 acres, weighs 11,000 tons and reaches a height of 282 feet at its center. Although the roof had opened and closed consistently for more than Rockwell Automation to design a new, improvement in speed. 25 years, Rogers Centre engineers Ethernet-based solution and control The enhanced functionality of the began to realize the legacy technology system that would meet the strict contemporary control system and OT was becoming out of date and not as safety requirements of the stadium and network now provides fault tolerance, reliable as it once was. improve the fan experience. self-diagnostics, and reporting previ- “A lot of the components and parts “Not only did the new solution ously not available, allowing the opera- that control and drive the roof were no need to ensure the safe operation of the tor an easy and quick way to trouble- longer being manufactured,” said Dave roof in winds up to 40 MPH, but it also shoot and rectify any issues, should they McCormick, Manager of Engineering needed to do so reliably and quickly,” arise. Cisco Industrial Ethernet switches at Rogers Centre. “What this project said Steve Szamocki, Executive Vice also ensure the network remains secure was about was getting this structure President of Sales and Marketing for and operational year-round. and the operating system back to a state JMP Engineering. “To meet these To ensure the reliability of the new where it could sustain for the next 15 requirements, we installed a secure Ethernet-based system, the roof com- to 20 years.” Internet of Things (IoT) network and pleted over 60 opening and closing To do just that, the Rogers Centre industrial control system built on Rock- cycles as part of commissioning and engineering team wanted a contem- well Automation Stratix Switches, sup- site acceptance testing, and functioned porary network and industrial control ported by Cisco network technology, without issue throughout the 2016 system that could efficiently and reli- and FactoryTalk® SE system.” Major League Baseball Playoff Season. ably open and close the roof while pro- The solution also included a new So what is the answer to the ques- viding high availability, fault tolerance, mechanical and electrical system, tion on the lips of every Blue Jays fan? self-diagnostics, and mobility. In 2015, Rockwell Automation PowerFlex® While the answer still lies with Mother a massive retrofit of the roof infrastruc- 750 VFDs, a rooftop weather station Nature, the Rogers Centre team can ture was commissioned, including a and Cisco ASA Firewall. The two year, now make their decision knowing the new Operational Technology (OT) $10-million roof retrofit project was roof will perform, regardless of the network and industrial control system. completed in the summer of 2016 and weather. Play ball! Rogers Centre selected JMP Engi- has returned the renowned roof to its neering and partners for the project. former glory. Operation of the roof can CISCO CANADA JMP Engineering worked in partner- now be monitored by one person and 88 Queens Quay West, Toronto ship with Gerrie Electric, Cisco and can be completed with a 46 per cent Cisco.com/ca/factoryofthefuture

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