SICK Industries (SICK)
Canvas Category Hardware : Sensor Systems : Metrology
From factory automation to logistics automation and process automation, SICK’s sensor solutions are keeping industry moving. As a technology and market leader, SICK provides sensor intelligence and application solutions that create the perfect basis for controlling processes securely and efficiently, protecting individuals from accidents, and preventing damage to the environment.
Assembly Line
SICK and Endress+Hauser sign strategic partnership
German sensor company SICK and the Swiss measurement and automation technology specialist Endress+Hauser have agreed on a strategic partnership. Endress+Hauser will take over worldwide sales and service of SICK’s process analyzers and gas flowmeters, with a joint venture to be established for their production and further development. The aim of the partnership is to provide customers with even better support in increasing their efficiency and sustainability.
SICK and Endress+Hauser signed a joint memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership in October 2023. Since then, the project has been examined and plans for implementing the cooperation have been drawn up. Following approval by the respective supervisory bodies, representatives of both companies have now signed a corresponding agreement. The closing of the transaction is planned for the turn of the year 2024/2025 and is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.
Robotics: the solution in a modern forging plant
Much of the feedstock material to be processed is large and heavy, and recently modernized forging plants produce parts that are too heavy for employees to handle. This situation calls for a sophisticated robotics solution.
This requires a robust solution to ensure the robot can continue to grip unerringly day in day out, because the large quantity of dust quickly presents a challenge for image acquisition. The specialists at Heitec Systemtechnik therefore decided for a LMS4000 2D LiDAR sensor from SICK, which delivers information to the in-house developed evaluation software. “The system has been operating fault-free since it was commissioned – that is really pleasing. We made the right decision with this solution,” Reiterer said.
NVIDIA Supercharges Autonomous System Development with Omniverse Cloud APIs
With Omniverse Cloud APIs, developers can enhance the workflows they’re already using with high-fidelity sensor simulation to tackle the challenge of developing full-stack autonomy. This not only streamlines the development process but also lowers the barriers to entry for companies of virtually all sizes developing autonomous machines.
Developers and software vendors such as CARLA, MathWorks, MITRE, Foretellix and Voxel51 underscore the broad appeal of these APIs in autonomous vehicles. CARLA is an open-source AV simulator used by more than 100,000 developers. With Omniverse Cloud APIs, CARLA users can enhance their existing workflows with high-fidelity sensor simulation. Similarly, MITRE, a nonprofit that operates federally funded R&D centers and is dedicated to improving safety in technology, is building a Digital Proving Ground for the AV industry to validate self-driving solutions. The DPG will use the Omniverse APIs to enable core sensor simulation capabilities for their developers. MathWorks and Foretellix provide critical simulation tools for authoring, executing, monitoring, and debugging of testing scenarios. As the GTC 2024 demo showed, combining such simulation and test automation tools with the APIs forms a powerful test environment for AV development. And, by integrating the APIs with Voxel51’s FiftyOne platform, developers can easily visualize and organize ground-truth data generated in simulation for streamlined training and testing.
Leading industrial-sensor solution provider SICK AG is working on integrating these APIs in its sensor development process to reduce the number of physical prototypes, iterate quickly on design modifications and validate the eventual performance. These validated sensor models can eventually be used by autonomous systems developers in their applications.
Developers will also have access to sensor models from a variety of manufacturers, including lidar makers Hesai, Innoviz Technologies, Luminar, MicroVision, Robosense, and Seyond, visual sensor suppliers OMNIVISION, onsemi, and Sony Semiconductor Solutions, and Continental, FORVIA HELLA, and Arbe for radar.
Making air conditioner manufacturing cool again
In just six months, Liebherr-Transportation Systems completely reconstructed two manufacturing lines, significantly upgrading them in the process. “The facility was divided into these three manufacturing lines because the three areas require very different manufacturing steps, and need to handle components of differing sizes,” Ahmad said.
The manufacturing lines – apart from the E-Box manufacturing – were first set up and tested in Korneuburg. What was especially pleasing to the two responsible persons in Korneuburg was the fact that many previously absent technologies were being used. A Kanban material delivery system and semi-automatic test steps were developed, the manufacturing became paperless, and the issue of safety gained an entirely new importance as it was able to be completely revisited.
The new production lines use, among other things, the intelligent deTec safety light curtains, TR110 Lock safety switches with locking function, various safety command devices (like emergency stop, reset, and enabling switches), signal lamps, various safety switches, and the versatile, programmable Flexi Soft safety controller.
Mitsubishi Electric Automation Demo: Multi-Robot Bin Picking
Mitsubishi Electric & SICK Sensor Intelligence: Conveyor Tracking with Zoned Safety
Intelligent Inspection – Deep Learning powered Machine vision
Autonomous intralogistics from indoors to outdoors for a safe and seamless logistics chain
How machine vision works in RIBE Anlagentechnik’s camera-monitored assembly facility
The German company RIBE Anlagentechnik develops innovative assembly systems, including inspection systems, for bumpers. SICK’s machine vision helps to identify the individual components, and it also monitors each work operation. This particular system concept could prove revolutionary for other manufacturers and suppliers as well.
As the level of individualization in production areas increases, so does the importance of special-purpose systems with innovative potential. RIBE Anlagentechnik specializes in delivering added value to its end customers. The company has demonstrated its specific strengths in technologies associated with assembly and inspection systems for vehicle interiors/exteriors and related components. Managing Director Dietmar Heckel regards the cobot and robot technologies with innovative Industry 4.0 solutions and digitalization concepts not only as a supporting pillar of RIBE Anlagentechnik, but also as a cross-sectoral growth field.
Sensor fusion gets robots roving around factories
Adam explained that most manufacturing processes are organized around fixed conveyors and robotic systems. To vary the specifications of the end product, human operators are typically needed to move product pieces from one assembly process to another. ‘Increasing flexibility requires more people to handle the work pieces and push them around, but this human intervention does not add much value,’ he said.
For that reason large manufacturing companies are keen to deploy mobile robots to transport inventory and product pieces around the factory floor. These autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are designed to move and operate by themselves, which means that they must be able to perceive their surroundings and react to them. Visual information is crucial to aid navigation and avoid collisions, as well as to enable the robot to perform simple functions such as selecting and picking up the objects that need to be moved.
Smart Factory in Actual Practice – Toward Autonomous Production
In Sick’s sensor factory in Freiburg-Hochdorf, driverless transport systems curve around automated production modules and workstations operated by people or collaborating human-robot teams. “The modules are cells in which the robot performs a defined task in a fixed working environment, such as the final assembly of various sensor components,” Joachim Schultis explained, Head of Operations for Photoelectric Sensors & Fibers at Sick AG “The modules are completely setup-free; format and material changes are carried out by the control system operating in the background.”