New Smart factory Demonstrator at Hannover Messe 2020
Published on : Wednesday 18-03-2020
New demonstrator shows flexible module integration in the industrial production environment of tomorrow.
Modular and flexible production is a vision of the future. The exchange of modules in an industrial environment requires a lot of time and effort, especially when considering the CE certification. “Our implementation of the module exchange is geared towards the needs of industry,” says Prof Martin Ruskowski, Chairman of the Executive Board at SmartFactory-KL. “Together with partner companies, we have developed a process that allows the integration and certification of a new module in just a few minutes.” The process is made possible by intelligent worker assistance, a new generation of connector interfaces, and automated conformance checks. “Integrating a new production module to an existing system leads to complex safety issues concerning the interactions between modules and plant,” says Alexander David, Head of Connect & Control working group. “Our system is capable of dynamically ensuring modular safety conformance through digital certification while automatically taking the surrounding conditions into account.” The production modules have an administrative shell sub-model that stores the relevant safety parameters, which enables the dynamic release of each individual module and its interface. Following successful conformance checks, a digital certification is generated and the machine group is released.
Plug & Produce
SmartFactory-KL's new modular, manufacturer-independent production plant is functionality- based. If some function is lacking that is necessary to manufacture an ordered product, the system automatically prompts a new configuration of the plant. The worker is notified of the
missing module by the assistance system and given visual cues on how to physically connect it to the demonstrator. A new connector, specially developed for the requirements of modular and autonomous production systems, is used. To ensure the module is integrated into the infrastructure at the right place and connected at the right time, intelligent interfaces are needed. Network control is autonomous and dependent on the status of the production plant. In this way, the user is not endangered by incorrectly pulling the connector and also that the production plant achieves the optimum availability. Both are only possible when the plug connector is equipped with sensors, actuators, and distributed intelligence. Furthermore, its active digital twin enables the management of the entire infrastructure. The traditional connector is transformed into an intelligent module interface.
As the interface to the production infrastructure, the success of the plug connector depends on standardization to ensure compatibility with the other modules in the infrastructure. The SmartFactory-KL working group is not the only one dealing with these future interfaces, but the German Commission for Electrical Engineering (DKE) has also established a standardization group to work on the issue.
Once the physical coupling is achieved, the 5-step conformance check begins:
1. Discovery phase: The first step is to check if the communication between the module and the production plant is established.
2. Validation phase: To check whether the module is properly positioned, neighbor detection is performed. For validation, neighbouring modules must successfully exchange module IDs and safety parameters via their administration shells.
3. Plausibility check: The risk analysis to determine if the module can be released is based on a decision tree. The decision trees are defined by the manufacturer, stored in the administration shells, and map all foreseeable safety conditions using a predefined set of parameters. The branches of the decision tree end in so-called "leaves", which correspond to the risks of each parameter. For example, these could be the parameters defining the exact position of a module on the conveyor line. In this case, the distance between two units is checked to rule out any possible danger.
4. Digital conformance assessment: Release approval is given only when all parts have been virtually checked and determined to be CE compliant.
5. Automatic release of the "new" machine grouping.
As soon as this release occurs, the functional capability of the new module is released for use in the network. The system recognizes that all the necessary functions are now available for production and manufacturing begins.
Transparency for the worker
The entire process of conformity testing is automated, yet transparent. The worker sees every individual step clearly displayed on a tablet. The entire process is traceable. The transparency makes it possible to immediately trace a possible source and find the right solution in the event of an error.
Production Level 4
SmartFactory-KL has created an update of Industrie 4.0 and called it Production Level 4. Andreas Huhmann, member of the executive board, describes the core element in this way: "One of our declared goals is to make our production systems more flexible while keeping them robust and highly reliable. We achieve that goal through autonomous processes. At SmartFactory-KL, we refer to the extensive automation of production systems that employ people with specific skills and assist them with smart processes, as Production Level 4 or, simply PL4. The new demonstrator is designed in this context and represents the first technical engineering step towards PL4. Development benefits from our experience with the world's first, modular Industrie 4.0 production plant, which is also partially on exhibit at Hanover Trade Fair (Messe) 2020.
The member companies that worked on the use case: Empolis, Harting, MiniTec Smart Solutions, and TÜV SÜD.
Overview of the scenario
SmartFactory-KL is a manufacturer-independent research platform. The new demonstrator was designed and built accordingly. The use case itself is quite simple: a customer orders an individually configurable USB memory stick. The visual characteristics (colour and labelling) of the USB are selectable, as are the data loaded into the studded plastic block (German: noppenstein). To store the quality control photos on the USB stick, the demonstrator requires the use of a special quality module that has the technical capabilities. If this module is not already integrated in the production process, the system detects this and triggers the module exchange. The notice is displayed on the worker's tablet. The worker must then physically integrate the module into the demonstrator's production process.
