Author: Wojciech Staszewski

New services – AKE Systemtechnik Polska

At the beginning of the new year, we expand the range of services and introduce to our portfolio the following:

– construction and simulation of digital twins (presentation possible using VR systems)
– presentation and training of line and robotic socket operators in the VR environment
– verification of safety standards in simulation and VR environments

The introduction of the above services was possible thanks to the acquisition of funding under the Regional Operational Program of the Śląskie Voivodeship for the years 2014-2020 (Śląskie Centrum Przedsiębiorczości).

As part of the co-financing, we purchased the latest software and hardware, on which we providing new services.

 

The possibilities of more3D software in cooperation with Process Simulate and VR goggles from HTC Vive

Below is a description that presents each item in more detail.

The combination of the simulation environment, the VR system and the risk analysis process allows the customer to visually verify the implemented security features in the VR environment. To make it possible, it is necessary to:

Digital Twin

1) Build a digital twin that perfectly matches the future installation. For this purpose, it is necessary to create a concept of the stand, design all mechanical elements and electrical systems. Simulate the whole in a 3D environment, taking into account machine safety standards and additional customer guidelines.


Sample implementation – digital twin – Delmia V5 Robotics


Digital twin – security zones verification – Delmia V5 Robotics


Security verification – Delmia V5 Robotics – Delmia V5 Robotics

Delmia V5 Robotics

2) Program the trajectory of the robots’ movements, the paths of transport robots (EGV), mark out the transport paths of forklifts. Determine the most optimal arrangement of the station’s elements due to the optimization of human work.


Production line layout – Delmia V5 Robotics


Creating a trajectory of movements – Delmia V5 Robotics

Virtual commissioning

3) Perform a virtual commissioning, during which the compliance of the generated programs for PLC controllers and industrial robots is tested. Process innovation is introduced.


Virtual commissioning – creating a process simulation movie – Delmia V5 Robotics – Delmia V5 Robotics


Verification of robot programs – Orange Edit

VR environment

4) We guide customer in the VR environment while simulating the production mode. Client can verify that the line meets all safety standards and additional guidelines in addition to achieving the intended cycle time. The customer is able to verify resented project includes all previously determined installations and whether they have been correctly positioned. Whether the safety curtains and safety scanners have correctly configured ranges. The correct placement of safety buttons or the arrangement of cable channels inside the Safety fence can be verified. If any deviations are detected, we can remove it by introducing changes in the 3D environment. That is much less expensive than possible mechanical changes during assembly at the customer’s site.


Verification in Delmia in conjunction with more3D software – demonstration of the VR environment


Delmia in conjunction with more3D software – demonstration of the VR environment

Report

5) A report approving the project or introducing the necessity to make changes to the project is generated from the customer’s verification.


Report – machine safety


Documentation of emergency stop buttons plan


Risk analysis

Five robotics trends that shaped industry in 2021

Adaptability has always been a cornerstone principle for successful organisations.

With the uncertainty that the world has faced over the past two years. There’s never been a more important time for this quality to come to the fore, according to Konica Minolta, a global leader in business solutions and IT.

“Digital transformation across all industries has continued to grow,” says Matthew Hunter – innovation product marketing manager, Konica Minolta.

This has created more opportunities for businesses to experience the benefits of a digitized work environment.

According to Konica Minolta, these are the five robotics trends that have shaped the industrial sector in the past year:

 

1. Smarter robots with the help of artificial intelligence (AI)

As robots become more intelligent, their efficiency levels increase. Many AI-capable robots can learn processes and tasks as they perform them, gathering data and improving the action as they go.

These smarter versions of their counterparts can even possess ‘self-healing’ qualities, whereby the machine can identify internal issues and self-repair without human interaction.

These improved levels of AI provide an exciting glimpse at what future industrial industries may look like. Also with the possibility of increasing the robotic workforce as they work, learn, and solve problems just as a human employee would.

 

2. Putting the environment first

Organisations at all levels are beginning to prioritize the environmental impacts of their day-to-day practices and this is reflected in the kind of technology they employ.

The robots of 2021 are created with an emphasis on the environment. As companies look to reduce their carbon footprint, while simultaneously improve processes and increase profits.

Modern robots can reduce overall resource use as the work they produce can be more accurate and precise. Eliminate human error and the additional material that would be used to rectify a mistake.

Robotics can also assist in the production of renewable energy equipment. Provide external organisations the opportunity to improve their energy consumption.

 

3. Cultivating human-robot collaborations

While automation continues to improve all aspects of the manufacturing process, it is the increase of human-machine collaboration that is set to continue in 2022.

Having robots and humans working in a shared space provides a greater synergy in executing tasks, with robots learning to respond to the movements of humans in real time.

This safe coexistence can be seen in environments where a human may need to bring new materials to the machine, change its programs, or inspect new system runs. A combined approach also allows more flexible factory flows, letting robots complete the monotonous, repetitive tasks and humans to provide the necessary improvisation and change.

Smarter robots are also safer for humans to work around. These robots can sense when humans are nearby and adjust their course accordingly or act to prevent collisions or other safety hazards.

 

4. Increased variety within robotics

The robots of 2021 have no sense of uniformity. They instead embrace an array of designs and materials to best suit their purpose. Engineers are pushing the limits of what is currently available in the market to create more streamlined designs that are smaller, lighter, and more flexible than their predecessors.

These streamlined frames are also housing cutting edge smart technology. Letting them be easily programmed and optimized for human interaction. The use of less material per unit also assists in bringing down the bottom line and improving overall production costs.

 

5. Robotics entering new markets

The industrial sector has always been an early adopter of technology. However, the increasing productivity provided by robots has seen many other industries adopt exciting new solutions.

Smart factories are spinning the traditional production line on its head, while food and beverage, textiles, and plastic manufacturing has seen robotics and automation become the norm.

This can be seen in all areas of the development process.

With the widespread adoption of the cloud and the ability to run operations remotely, the traditional manufacturing facility will soon become a productivity hub.

Source: https://www.insiderobotics.com.au/automation/articles-automation/Five-robotics-trends-that-shaped-industry-in-2021/

Perceptual Robotics closes $2.1M funding round

Perceptual Robotics is excited to announce its latest funding round led by TSP Ventures, an early stage Venture Capital Fund supporting exceptional businesses focusing on climate and environmental technologies. The round is joined by Humble Holdings, an impact investments firm, existing investors Metavallon VC and other strategic angel investors. The company has raised a total of $3.6M so far (Crunchbase).

Perceptual Robotics uses drones, advanced robotics and machine learning to provide fully autonomous inspections of infrastructure, starting with wind turbines. These inspections identify and analyze defects with greater consistency, greater reliability and reduced costs when compared to current methods. The company has been developing their hardware and software capabilities since 2016 when it was founded at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, while today it also operates from its Athens office. Perceptual Robotics are now carrying out autonomous inspections for some of the largest wind turbine operators in the world.

Chris Smith, CEO at TSP Ventures said, “we are delighted to be joining the team at Perceptual Robotics. Their mission, to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in the wind turbine inspection market, is helping the whole of the wind industry become more efficient and cost effective. At TSP, we love enabling technologies that can help accelerate the transition to renewable energy and a cleaner future for our planet. We look forward to supporting Kostas and the rest of the team as they scale operations internationally.”

Kostas Karachalios, CEO of Perceptual Robotics said, “we are delighted to have raised our latest round, led by TSP Ventures. We have had growing revenues and this new funding will allow us to increase headcount, continue to mature our groundbreaking technology and drive the scale of our sales and marketing activities on the back of our recent successful programmes with clients across Europe. We are fortunate to have been supported in our early funding rounds by Metavallon and with the addition of TSP, Humble Ventures and Angels with deep sector knowledge, we feel we have a very strong investor-base who complement each other well. We are growing our team with system engineers and sales engineers and are looking for exceptional people to join us in Athens and Bristol. We are in a good position to provide excellent services to our clients and new automations for the wind and other industries. The future is both bright and exciting”.

Source: https://www.therobotreport.com/perceptual-robotics-closes-2-1m-funding-round/

New AI tool accelerates discovery of truly new materials

Reported in the journal Nature Communications, the new tool has already led to the discovery of four new materials including a new family of solid state materials that conduct lithium. Such solid electrolytes will be key to the development of solid state batteries offering longer range and increased safety for electric vehicles. Further promising materials are in development.

The tool brings together artificial intelligence with human knowledge to prioritise those parts of unexplored chemical space where new functional materials are most likely to be found.

Discovering new functional materials is a high-risk, complex and often long journey as there is an infinite space of possible materials accessible by combining all of the elements in the periodic table, and it is not known where new materials exist.

The new AI tool was developed by a team of researchers from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, led by Professor Matt Rosseinsky, to address this challenge.

The tool examines the relationships between known materials at a scale unachievable by humans. These relationships are used to identify and numerically rank combinations of elements that are likely to form new materials. The rankings are used by scientists to guide exploration of the large unknown chemical space in a targeted way, making experimental investigation far more efficient. Those scientists make the final decisions, informed by the different perspective offered by the AI.

Lead author of the paper Professor Matt Rosseinsky said: “To date, a common and powerful approach has been to design new materials by close analogy with existing ones, but this often leads to materials that are similar to ones we already have.

“We therefore need new tools that reduce the time and effort required to discover truly new materials, such as the one developed here that combines artificial intelligence and human intelligence to get the best of both.

“This collaborative approach combines the ability of computers to look at the relationships between several hundred thousand known materials, a scale unattainable for humans, and the expert knowledge and critical thinking of human researchers that leads to creative advances.

“This tool is an example of one of many collaborative artificial intelligence approaches likely to benefit scientists in the future.”

Society’s capacity to solve global challenges such as energy and sustainability is constrained by our capability to design and make materials with targeted functions, such as better solar absorbers making better solar panels or superior battery materials making longer range electric cars, or replacing existing materials by using less toxic or scarce elements.

These new materials create societal benefit by driving new technologies to tackle global challenges, and they also reveal new scientific phenomena and understanding. All modern portable electronics are enabled by the materials in lithium ion batteries, which were developed in the 1980s, which emphasises how just one materials class can transform how we live: defining accelerated routes to new materials will open currently unimaginable technological possibilities for our future.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Liverpool. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Yaskawa HC20DT

１．Purpose of launch

 

Against the background of a labor shortage that is worsening due to a decline in the working-age population, there is a strong need in various industries to improve productivity and reduce manufacturing costs through automation using industrial robots. Under these circumstances, it is expected to realize a flexible production line that saves space by utilizing human collaborative robots that enables workers stand alongside without safety fences *1. Since July this year, Yaskawa has announced to sell human collaborative robots with a payload capacity of 10kg, which have improved resistance to dirt, dust, and liquids. Under such harsh environments, there has been a growing demand for human collaborative robots that can transport heavier works.

In response to this demand, Yaskawa launches the MOTOMAN-HC20DT with anti-dust and drip-proof functions, which is capable of handling up to 20kg. In a tough environment, this robot can be installed to the production line for large workpieces at automotives and machinery-related parts, as well as to the simultaneous transport for multiple workpieces. It meets diversifying needs of our customers. It also improved a usability because of direct attach tools such as a robot hand by mounting a connector for hands at the tip of the arm. Taking over the features of the human collaborative robots MOTOMAN-HC series up to now, this robot can be installed in a limited space because it does not require a safety fence, and can be also easily operated even by customers who are not familiar with robot operations due to safety functions and simple handlings.

*1 The safety function enables the construction of a system without a safety fence, nevertheless a risk assessment must be performed in all cases.

 

２．Key features

 

1) With a capacity of 20 kg, it can handle large workpieces and multiple workpieces simultaneously.

There are a wide range of workpieces in the automotive and parts manufacturing processes, and many processes that handle large workpieces exceed over 10kg. Also, various cases where multiple simultaneous transport of small workpieces occurs to improve work efficiency. By increasing the payload capacity to 20kg, human collaborative robots can be introduced into these processes and expands the range of applications for human collaborative robots.

2) IEC-standard IP67 *2 realized on all axes with anti-dust and drip-proof protection class *3

All axes are equipped with IP67 anti-dust and drip-proof structure. In addition, acrylic urethane coating is used for the surface coating, and stainless steel is used for the tip flange, making it possible to use it for applications requiring washing with water in consideration of hygiene.

*2 IP67: Dust does not enter and can be protected against temporary submergence.

*3 The anti-dust and drip-proof protection grade (International protection code) is specified by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission).

3) Improved ease of use

By placing the connector at the tip of the arm, it is possible to attach the hand tool directly, which also contributes to shortening the setup time. It has also developed a new type of built-in Ethernet cable that is convenient for mounting a camera on the tip of a robot. It can be operated with robot controller YRC1000micro as well as HC10DT anti-dust and drip-proof functions.

4) Safe operation and safe design

Taking over the functions of our MOTOMAN-HC series of collaborative robots, MOTOMAN-HC20DT does not require a safety fences to set up*1. It is equipped with a mode for collaborating with humans that stops operation automatically when external force is detected that exceeds the limitation on values which are set in advance. Its arm is designed in a shape that prevents people’s hands from being stuck or pinched, which will improve the flexibilities for production equipment. This design will expand the potential for automation through the use of robots at sites that had previously foregone or in processes where it had been difficult for robots to be set up.

5) Easy operation even if you are not familiar with robot operation

In addition to conventional teaching methods which use a programming pendant, the robot is equipped with a direct teaching feature where the arm of the robot may be held by hand, operated as desired, and instructed to perform selected actions. As instructions are possible through intuitive manipulation, the robot will be easy to introduce to customers who are not accustomed to robotic operations and for processes that require frequent instructions.

 

３．Main applications

 

Transportation and assembly of automotive and machinery-related parts
Input of work into machine tools (machine tending)
Transportation of food*4
Transportation of chemicals or cosmetics and so on.

*4 It needs to be applied after sufficient risk assessment between SIer and users.