At the Hannover Messe show last week the Pepperl+Fuchs stand allowed visitors to view their likeness as a digital image and experienced production in lot size one. Visitors were able to scan themselves in 3D and have the image printed on the front page of a trade fair magazine. With the help of a digital twin, the production process on a sheet metal bending machine was simulated and the results used live for optimisation in response to the differing properties of various raw materials.
As part of its ‘Solutions Park’, Pepperl+Fuchs presented two new exhibits at the trade fair, in which integrated processes in line with Industry 4.0 standards were demonstrated in real time.
With the company's ‘Connected Customisation’ concept, production in lot size one can be experienced at first hand. The visitors at the trade fair were scanned in 3D from head to toe by six 2D LiDAR sensors from the R2000 series. The contour data was then available in a standard data format for further processing across the world on the NeoNeon cloud run by Neoception, a subsidiary of Pepperl+Fuchs. At the show, the data was converted into an image and printed onto the cover of a personalised trade fair magazine, but it can also be used as the basis for producing a 3D image anywhere in the world.
With the ‘Digital Twin’ concept, visitors to the stand were able to configure their chosen product from a piece of sheet metal. As part of the demonstration, the data was then transferred to one of Austrian manufacturer Salvagnini's sheet metal bending machines, which immediately started production of the individual product.
To make this possible in lot size one without bending tests, the process must be optimised for each batch of material since the bending properties of sheet metal can vary significantly. To do this, the behaviour of the actual metal sheet is analysed at the beginning of the bending process and aligned with a digital twin of the metal and the bending machine developed by the Linz Centre of Manufacturing (LCM). The adjustment parameters are then calculated and transferred to the machine during the on-going bending process.
The machine is equipped with inductive positioning systems and ultrasonic sensors made by Pepperl+Fuchs. For quality control purposes, the contour of the finished product is checked with a light section sensor from the SmartRunner Matcher series.
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