FOCUS ON DIGITALISATION
“ In western markets , especially , customers are paying more and more attention to the carbon emissions produced by companies ,” Ottnad explained . “ Those that can show they have particularly climatefriendly value chains will secure themselves a competitive advantage .”
The project also includes management consultancies AEC and SES-Ingenieure ; Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University ( DHBW ); AI start-up Nash and sheet-metal processor , H . P . Kaysser .
Welding advances
TRUMPF will be showcasing a robot that uses sensors to program its own weld path at “ Schweissen & Schneiden ”, a leading trade fair for joining , cutting and surfacing technology , which will be held in Essen , Germany , this September . The robot makes use of TRUMPF ’ s new smart seamtracking technology , which the high-tech company developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA .
“ We ’ ve basically developed a way for the welding robot to program itself . For users , that means a much easier transition into automated arc welding plus a clear competitive edge ,” said TRUMPF R & D manager Sven Klingschat . Housed in the head of the welding torch , the sensor automatically calculates the weld path for each part . See page 113 for further details .
TRUMPF has also developed a dual optics ( Dual PFO ) that reduces cycle times in automated welding by up to 30 per cent e . g . for the hairpins of electric motors .
“ The solution ideally complements our laser system technology and is suitable for many applications , for example in
Coriva location software is designed to find all mobile hardware components that are compatible with the omlox open location standard .
electromobility ,” said Matthias Beranek , Automotive Industry Manager , TRUMPF . The high-tech company presented the Dual PFO at trade show LASER - World of Photonics in Munich recently .
Welding the hairpins of electric motors must always be of consistently high quality or the electric motors will be defective . Since the hairpins are very fine , this welding process is considered very demanding . To achieve high quality , a PFO always measures the position of the component first , before the welding process begins . Unlike a normal PFO , the Dual PFO measures and welds in parallel .
“ Users save a lot of time and money in their production unit as a result . The dual optics can also be combined with our new image processing , which is based on artificial intelligence . This increases the productivity of the Dual PFO even further ,” added Beranek .
The Dual PFO has twice the working field of a normal PFO . The solution is therefore particularly suitable for processing large components , such as electric motors . Users can weld these with the Dual PFO without moving the workpiece or the focusing optics themselves .
“ The system is versatile and is also suitable for other large components , such as batteries for e-cars ,” concluded Beranek .
New tracking software for manufacturing
With Coriva , TRUMPF Tracking Technologies ( a company set up by TRUMPF in 2021 ) launched a new tracking program for digitally networked production this summer .
“ This software is the only solution in the world that can locate all systems compatible with the ‘ omlox ’ open location standard .
Thanks to Coriva , users can track their entire production operations in real-time without investing in a new IT infrastructure . This results in efficiency gains throughout the process chain ,” explained Daniel Bossert , Chief Customer Officer , TRUMPF Tracking Technologies .
Users wishing to deploy Coriva fit their production facilities with intelligent satellites . They also install digital markers , known as “ tags ”, on objects they would like to track within production . For instance , these might be orders ; materials ; pallets ; containers ; mounting carts ; forklift trucks ; driverless transport systems ; tools or drones . The tags send their live location to the satellites every 125 milliseconds . With the help of an algorithm , the software can calculate the positional data for all tagged objects and digitally map the production facility in realtime .
“ What makes Coriva unique is that the software can even locate tags from other manufacturers ; the only requirement is that they are compatible with the ‘ omlox ’ open industry standard . TRUMPF Tracking Technologies employs ultra-wideband technology ( UWB ) for Coriva . This is ideal for the precise and robust tracking of objects in industrial environments ,” continued TRUMPF .
Coriva , said TRUMPF , is suitable for any company that is looking to produce more efficiently using digitalisation . Bossert explained that the potential is especially high for companies who manufacture small batches of products with numerous different versions and where automation is still in its infancy . The solution enables a sharp reduction in search times , for example , and allows orders to be recorded automatically within the production sequence .
“ Thanks to standardised omlox interfaces , Coriva can be quickly and easily combined with the software applications of other manufacturers e . g ., value stream mapping and manufacturing executive systems ( MES ). This further increases the efficiency and flexibility ,” concluded TRUMPF .
Omlox is a new location standard with a harmonised IT interface , allowing users to deploy UWB hardware components from other manufacturers , All location technologies e . g . UWB , 5G , RFID and GPS can be integrated , with the software applications displayed via a standardised interface . Alongside TRUMPF , industry partners from all over Europe , Asia and the USA have committed to supporting it . The initiators ’ goal is to make it easier for industrial customers to use hardware and software from different vendors . n
www . trumpf . com
98 | ismr . net | ISMR September 2023