Partner article

An example for the use of 5G at the SmartFactory-KL-Industry 4.0 plant is the optical quality assurance, which is implemented during transport.

How can high data rates in industrial environments be protected and transmitted with the lowest possible latency? This is where the new 5G mobile technology, which is scheduled to be launched by 2020, comes in. The partner consortium of the SmartFactory-KL-Industry 4.0 production facility presented a use case for this purpose at the Hanover Fair 2018.

The SmartFactory-KL already demonstrated the use of 5G at the Hanover Fair 2018 and showed the visitors advantages in the illustrative Use Case: An optical quality inspection is carried out when the workpiece is transported through the flexible transport system. Thanks to the use of 5G, the data can be wirelessly transferred from the camera to the cloud and evaluated there. Depending on the result, the product is moved to the appropriate next processing point.

“As the mobility of people and machines in highly flexible production plants increases, wireless networks are becoming increasingly important. For the first time, 5G mobile technology can offer both secure and real-time radio connections in protected frequency bands. This is why we are working together with our partners in the network on this innovative topic,” said Prof. Detlef Zühlke, CEO of SmartFactory-KL.

5G, the fifth generation mobile communications technology, will enable high mobile transmission rates; experts predict up to 20 gigabits per second. In return for the use of 4G (LTE), Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the transmission can take place in a protected band, which is particularly relevant for industrial companies. A further feature of 5G is a low latency of less than one millisecond, which means that the new technology operates almost in real time. With the possibility of setting up wireless microcells, 5G technology offers ideal conditions for use in industrial machines and systems. The market maturity of this technology is expected in two years. Until then, exemplary applications will be used for demonstration purposes, such as the SmartFactory-KL.

Quality assurance and production control during transport

SmartFactory-KL, together with its partners on the flexible transport system (FTS), has implemented an optical quality control system. In the spirit of retrofitting, the FTS was equipped with a camera. While the product, the business card holder, is being moved from one production line to the next, the product quality can now be checked and thus the downtime of the logistics process can be used effectively. The image is transferred via 5G technology to the cloud, where it is evaluated by software.

The result of the quality control is transmitted to the transport system and the navigation of the FTS is controlled accordingly: If everything is in order, the product goes to the next production line for automated processing. If, on the other hand, there is an error, the product can be moved to the manual workstation for manual finishing. In day-to-day production, this approach allows the early detection of rejects in the process and prevents the cost-intensive use of production resources for bad parts. The production efficiency increases.

Parallel to the quality inspection, the FTS also performs an environmental scan during transport using an installed 360-degree camera. This data transfer is also only possible at a high bandwidth, where conventional wireless solutions such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth reach their limits. Other forms of value creation during the transport process are also possible. Whether it’s a software update or 3D printing, there are many options for avoiding downtime in logistics processes. With 5G technology, multiple applications are now possible simultaneously, thanks to the use of new network management tools.

The partners of the SmartFactory-KL Industry 4.0 Demonstrators are Belden/Hirschmann, Bosch Rexroth, B&R Automation, EPLAN Software & Service, Festo, HARTING, Huawei, IBM, KIST Europe, LAPP KABEL, METTLER TOLEDO, MiniTec, PHOENIX CONTACT, Pilz, proALPHA, SAP, Siemens, TÜV SÜD and Weidmüller.

About the technology initiative SmartFactory KL e.V.
The technology initiative SmartFactory KL e.V. was founded in 2005 as a non-profit association in order to bring together for the first time actors from industry and research in an Industry 4.0 network and to carry out joint projects on the factory of the future. SmartFactoryKL, which is based at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern, is a unique, manufacturer-independent demonstration and research platform. Here, innovative information and communication technologies and their use in a realistic industrial production environment are tested and further developed. Through the active participation of its members, the technology initiative has already established first products and solutions as well as common standards in the area of Industry 4.0. SmartFactoryKL, together with other key players from the region, was appointed as the Kaiserslautern Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Center in 2016 by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.                                                                  www.smartfactory.de/en

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