RESEARCH NEWS
£ 2.2 million for machine tool AI
An artificial intelligence ( AI ) start-up company , from the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre ( AMRC ) in the UK , has secured £ 2.2million in seed funding to make machine tool process optimisation technology accessible to a wider range of manufacturers worldwide .
Productive Machines will use the money to deliver its AI technology as a fully automated Software-as-a-Service ( SaaS ) product , with the aim of reducing lead and cycle times , improving maintenance , component waste and carbon emissions . It also enables the company to expand its team from eight people to more than 20 .
Founded by Dr . Erdem Ozturk , CEO , and Dr . Huseyin Celikag , Chief Technical Officer , the spin-out company is commercialising the results of a six-year AMRC research project on machining dynamics . This research covered process and machine tool interactions , including how cutting forces and resulting vibrations affect machine tool performance .
Productive Machines has developed a powerful computational model to predict and mitigate the influence of these harmful vibrations at every stage in metal and composite milling jobs . It uses a digital twin to determine the best parameters for each machine tool and production run , eliminating wasteful configuration experiments and ensuring that milling jobs are right the first time .
Dr . Ozturk said : “ Manufacturers want to reduce costs , improve quality and cut carbon emissions . But most don ’ t want to buy complex software products or hire PhD-level engineers to make them work . We are meeting all their goals . The results of
Dr Erdem Ozturk , chief executive officer of Productive Machines , at the AMRC .
our research and innovation are proven with major manufacturers , and this investment enables us to make the significant benefits more accessible to manufacturers of all sizes , anywhere in the world .
“ Our cutting-edge technology is already best-in-class in a £ 400 billion industry ripe for optimisation . There are three million machines in the world that would be more accurate , productive and sustainable with our AI , and we are removing the cost and skill barriers to its adoption ,” he continued .
Productive Machines ’ technology has already been deployed at ten major manufacturers , including Renault and MASA Aerospace . The company is now in the process of taking its technology to market . These include measurement technology specialist Kistler , metal cutting solutions company Seco and various other machine tool and cutting tool manufacturers .
UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund ( UKI2S ) led the funding round , with participation from NPIF Mercia Equity Finance , which is managed by Mercia and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund , ACT Venture Partners and Fuel Ventures , alongside grant funding from Innovate UK . n
Climbing into the VR-Chain
The German Federal Ministry of Education such a complete solution , consideration of and Research ( BMBF ) is subsidising the all combination and connection possibilities , VR-Chain project , to implement and improve as well as an exact interface definition , collaboration and training scenarios in virtual is essential ,” commented AERO-LIFT space . AERO-LIFT Vakuumtechnik GmbH is Vakuumtechnik GmbH . involved , as an application company , along with “ The VR Chain project aims to optimise VETTER Krantechnik GmbH . the high level of coordination and time
Using virtual reality , the research team required between the departments involved will develop an interactive experience space ( sales ; project planning ; design ; purchasing ; that is systematically linked to upstream and production ; service ) within the company ( as downstream work processes and practices well as across companies ) in the direction of within a value chain . This can establish the flow the supplier and customer . A seamless flow of of knowledge along the value chain and enable information is the basis for success and should the participating companies to react flexibly be enabled by the VR-Chain solution ,” it added . and ‘ situationally ’ to market , production and Next , the technical team will develop a procurement changes . technical and content-related concept on the
“ Our vacuum lifting devices are often basis of which a VR and scanning solution can combined with crane technology from other be jointly developed and tested in an iterative manufacturers to create a complete solution and demand-oriented manner . n for the customer . For the development of
Big Ticket Call for Steel
On 2 February 2023 , two new Big Tickets calls opened as part of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel ( RFCS ) programme . The Big Tickets Call for Steel has a budget of 130 million euros . It covers pilots and demonstrators for breakthroughs in clean steelmaking technologies such as carbon capture storage and usage , process intensification and CO₂ neutral iron ore reduction . The Big Tickets Call for Coal has a budget of 34.5 million euros . The application deadline was 4 May 2023 .
The Big Tickets calls , part of the RFCS programme , target large projects at high technology readiness levels . They support the necessary technology-tomarket transition and transformation that will drive a disruptive reduction of steel industry emissions leading towards clean steelmaking . They will also help the coal sector towards a sustainable transition during the phase out of coal , in line with the Just Transition .
The Big Tickets calls build directly on previous research funded by the RFCS , as for instance the Green Steel for Europe and RECOVERY projects .
The Research Fund for Coal and Steel ( RFCS ) is the EU funding programme supporting research and demonstration projects in the coal and steel sectors . Every year , the RFCS supports projects , whose beneficiaries are universities , research centres and private companies . For steel , it contributes to new , sustainable and low-carbon steelmaking and finishing processes ; advanced steel grades and applications ; conservation of resources , protection of the environment and circular economy ; and management of work force and working conditions .
“ The RFCS programme is contributing to the Clean Steel Partnership recently launched in Horizon Europe , the EU research and innovation programme ( 2021-2027 ), and it is fundamental for the European steel industry . It will help the transformation of this strategic sector towards the green , digital and circular economy . Moreover , it will also contribute to the European steel industry becoming even more competitive globally , in a sustainable way ,” commented the EU . See websites : https :// ec . europa . eu / info / funding-tenders / opportunities / portal / screen / programmes / rfcs2027 and https :// www . estep . eu / clean-steelpartnership n
16 | ismr . net | ISMR June 2023