It’s been an awful year. Too many people got sick and died, too many businesses failed, too many people lost jobs, and too many people got incredibly tired of seeing only their immediate family and pets.
It was also the year that showed the tough economic decisions automakers have been making for years – managing debt, building up cash reserves, focusing on capacity utilization, combining platforms to lower development costs – allowed them to remain profitable despite the year’s awfulness (see Infographic, pg. 16). And, companies continued to invest in the future, spending heavily to launch electric vehicles (EVs) within the next few years (see Today’s eMobilitycover story, pg. 21).
Rather than rehash those developments, let’s look forward. I’d like to share some exciting news with our readers about our plans for 2021. In 2020, we launched print coverage of the EV, autonomous vehicle (AV), and electric/ autonomous aerospace markets with Today’s eMobility. In four 2020 issues, including this one, we focused on the technologies and manufacturing processes that will dominate industry spending in coming years.
Next year, we’ll separate the two magazines, giving us more space to cover broader manufacturing topics in TMV and focus on next-generation vehicles and technology in TeM. The schedule for 2021 is:
For those of you who are counting, that means 10 issues next year covering the motor vehicle, EV, AV, and next-generation flight worlds, up from 9 issues of TMV in 2020. This separation is an opportunity for us to expand our scope.
Readers of TMV will still receive plenty of EV and AV market coverage. In addition to keeping the Electric Drive and Autonomous news departments in TMV, we will continue to run feature stories and news items that highlight electric and autonomous drive. With EV sales rising, electric drive will be key to the future of automotive and commercial truck markets (see TeM automotive news, pg. 21), and you’ll continue to read about that here.
TeM readers will get more focused coverage on those futuristic markets. We’ll have articles on complex machining challenges, manufacturing technology that enables increased EV production, promising advances to lower battery costs, novel technologies that could make vehicles safer, and the latest news from the motor vehicle and aerospace industries. If you’d like to receive both, be sure to sign up for TeM at https://www.todaysemobility.com/subscribe.
Despite the pandemic, 2020 has been a transformational year for North America’s auto industry, and I’m very excited with our plans to share more of that story with you in 2021.
Quick-Change Toolholders, ISO-standard toolholders with quick-change shanks, conform to ISO 26623, use standard components, and maximize carbide and ceramic turning tool life.
The Accurate Precision Distance Scanning (APDIS) laser radar inspection system offers precise, no touch measurement to boost quality and efficiency on automotive and other large-scale production lines.
With more than 150 installations in 36 vehicle plants worldwide, automakers are already using previous versions of the Laser Radar system to improve quality, reduce scrap, and save money.
APDIS can measure almost any surface in 2 seconds to 3 seconds per feature. A built-in orientation sensor allows measuring in any orientation when robot mounted, with auto detection to load calibration data automatically. Direct surface vibration measurement technology delivers safe, remote analysis with built-in laser systems.
Precise control of scan path and accurate point cloud-based feature measurements keep data sets small. Holes, slots, and other sheet metal features can be measured in a few seconds, and specific surface points at several per second. Traditionally troublesome features, such as studs, can be scanned and measured rapidly without adapters.
A high-definition Nikon camera, coupled with confocal optics, offer better viewing of what’s being inspected to deliver real-time data.
APDIS is 40% lighter and 25% smaller than the previous generation. The shorter range (0.5m) allows it to fit into tight factory spaces and eases movement around the production floor.
Touchless technology reduces the risk of harming parts or the APDIS unit. The scanner is sealed to protect lasers from dust and water, and meets IP54 (IEC 60529) industry standards.
The Double Mast Crane-Automatic Pallet Changer (DMC-APC) can load machine tools directly and act as an automatic pallet changer, accommodating payloads up to 2,200 lb (1,000kg). The load handler device on the Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) stacker crane moves pallets between storage, machines, and loading/material stations.
With DMC-APC, manufacturers do not need APCs to configure an FMS. The DMC-APC can accommodate up to two pallets. Controlled by cell management software, it selects the next workpiece-loaded pallet from a storage system, moves it to an open machine tool, picks up the previously machined workpiece/pallet, spins 180°, and places the new workpiece/pallet into the machine tool. This scenario takes about 30-to-40 seconds, about one-third the speed of single-pallet automation systems.
The S32K3 microcontroller (MCU) family for automotive body electronics, battery management, and emerging zone controllers simplifies software development with security, functional safety, and low-level drivers. Zone control, edge notes, and microcontroller reuse for multiple applications in the S32 product family reduce vehicle software complexity.
The microcontroller includes the hardware security engine, which is designed to anticipate the ISO/SAE 21434 standard still in development and future automaker requirements. Firmware and crypto drivers aim to reduce the cost and complexity of engaging with third-party safety providers. The firmware maximizes performance of the hardware security engine, blocks rogue access to protect the security subsystem, and is field upgradable to address evolving cybersecurity threats.
The S32K3’s system-level approach to functional safety includes safety framework software, a core self-test library, and hardware features including lock-step cores and clock/power/temperature monitors, easing compliance with ISO 26262.
The real-time drivers (RTD) package combines low-level drivers for AUTOSAR and proprietary software architectures, allowing automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to reuse platforms, removing the need to maintain separate architectures. The RTD package is production grade and will comply with the ISO 26262 standard.
S32K3 enables secure over-the-air software updates. With its smart memory design, updates can be downloaded during normal runtime, while automatic address translation functionality eliminates the need for software reconfiguration. Together, these features enable an instant switchover to the new software version after reset, and the original software is preserved as a roll-back option.
When SW introduced the BA W06 to the market more than 15 years ago, it quickly gained a reputation in automotive manufacturing. The machine continues to be a best seller for the supplier of machine, automation, and system solutions. It’s perfectly suited for high-volume machining of large, nonferrous components made of light metals. To make the machine more adapted to the electric vehicle (EV) market, the machine was revamped to accommodate a wider variety of needs. Typical workpieces for the machine include gearbox housings, engine blocks, lightweight casted shock towers, and suspension parts.
2) Making fast faster
With linear motors in each of its drives, the BA W06 is a very rapid SW machine, placing it among the fastest machine tools on the worldwide market today. In the recently released upgrade, the chip-to-chip time has been reduced by 10% from its previous version.
3) More dynamic
The new version of the machine is more dynamic and precise than ever. The spindle distance is variable from 590mm to 651mm, widening the variety of workpieces it can process. This also widens the variety of jobs that manufacturers can win. The machine is available now with an HSK 100 light meaning that it can hold larger tools. Even under a range of production conditions, there’s greater dimensional accuracy. The positional accuracy has also been improved (±0.006mm) as verified by ISO 230-2, in the X-, Y-, and Z-axes.
4) Improving user experience
The new BA W06 features the SW C|one control panel. The control panel’s multi-touch capabilities allow it to handle input from more than one concurrent touchpoint (i.e. two-finger zooming). This significantly modernizes the user experience. The main control panel is a dynamic 24" display. The BA W06 also has the option for a secondary control tablet that can be docked at the tool changing station. This tablet can be brought around to different machines and can even be used remotely, given that it is connected to the company network.
5) The future is digital
There are a lot of lessons for us to take away from 2020. For manufacturers, one of the key takeaways should be a renewed fervor toward committing to digitization. Remote capabilities (such as those provided by the C|one tablet) can be the deciding factor for continuing success. Additionally, during the pandemic, it became clear that the SW customers connected to the SW CloudPlatform had their productions suffer less during mandatory lockdowns than those without. SW provides a range of services called Life Services which helps customers maximize their ROI on SW products, long term.
At the Visteon plant in Námestovo, Slovakia, four MiR200 robots streamline the internal material flow. For example, they supply nine automated production lines for surface mount technology with printed circuit boards every hour for further processing.
As automotive manufacturers prioritize flexibility over volume throughout the next five to 10 years, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) will become increasingly popular as logistics solutions that can adapt smoothly to changing production layouts and processes. Mobile systems move out of the way of obstacles independently, are easy to set up, and don’t require fixed routes, making them safer, smarter, and more flexible.
“Automotive manufacturers tend to want to try to get away from autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) that are fixed and follow a strip on the ground, to a more flexible solution like AMRs that can really navigate from any point in the facility to another point without having to really change the infrastructure,” explains Matt Charles, sales director – Midwest USA for Mobile Industrial Robotics (MiR). “As the industry shapes to more customization for customers with different trim packages and options, it changes how these manufacturers can lay out their plant floors.”
Automotive facilities are chaotic as they shift from one model year to the next, so workers need to move quickly through each step of the changeover. AMRs allow them to redeploy paths throughout the shop floor as lines change and model variants multiply. It’s extremely valuable to be able to repurpose space, move lines, and have overall flexibility throughout the plant floor to maximize real estate.
NIDEC GPM uses three MiR100 robots with the MiRHook suspension system, supplying production lines and plants with material and bringing empty containers to the warehouse.
All photos courtesy of MiR
High level of intelligence
AMRs take on dull and dangerous tasks – transferring parts and materials throughout the facility. These robots can calculate the fastest route to get from several different points without following a fixed path, and in case they encounter obstacles, AMRs know how to reroute themselves or call for help.
They use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology, sensors, and algorithms to safely navigate, even through dynamic environments.
AMRs from MiR broadcast their own WiFi network, allowing users to connect to them via a smartphone or tablet and access dashboards of each robot. From there, the manufacturer can put it into mapping mode and have the AMR drive around the facility to learn its required path. The robot’s LiDAR scanners look about 8" off the ground and use a 360° field of vision (FoV) while it’s driving. Dual-laser scanners placed in the front and back corners detect walls and static objects in the facility (presses, doorways, barriers). As the robot drives, encoders in the wheels stitch together the positions of objects in the shop floor environment and overlay that onto the map to determine their location. Once the scanners and encoder positions are complete, the AMR knows and remains on its designated path. They are ready to work collaboratively with shop-floor workers and transfer materials to the line.
“These mobile robots make people much more efficient; you can keep people in their work areas doing what they’re good at – assembly and quality inspection and those kinds of tasks,” Charles says. “Meanwhile the robots are completing the boring and dull task of walking a cart across the facility or pushing it across with a tugger. It increases the efficiency of employees.”
Safe navigation
MiR robots’ sensory inputs ensure a safe driving pattern, feeding data into a planning algorithm that lets the robot know where to go, if it needs to adjust its path, or if it needs to stop to avoid collisions.
They also have a category 3 PL=d rated safety system (a requirement for ISO 13489-1:2006 standards) that is always looking all around the robot to ensure it’s keeping proper distance from objects and people. Any faults are detected in its multi-channel structure. If the AMR runs into something, it can stop and rethink and plan to go an entirely different way.
“The robots have a collaborative nature from a safety standpoint but also from an ease of use standpoint,” Charles adds. “Our user interface is something that’s very intuitive and it allows the customer to take complete ownership of it, view the map, and make any necessary changes.”
Workers view robots’ maps, move positions around, and send robots in a direction using dashboard commands. Users can also define preferred paths or restrict the robot’s speed in high traffic areas. These zones are distinguished by different colors that are seen in the map. AMRs can also communicate to the workers around them via sounds and light cues to indicate their status.
Reimagining the landscape
The flexibility of AMRs support variable production layouts and are changing how those in the industry are thinking about manufacturing.
“There are all these different trim packages,” Charles explains. “You start with the base model of the car, the chassis; and right now, the manufacturing process goes down one aisle, and everything comes together based on how everything’s queued up. Down the road, we might have matrix type manufacturing where there are little hubs. The chassis would come in at the front and depending on what options are being put on it, it would either go to trim package A, B, or C, which would be decided by the robot.”
AMRs are heavily impacting automation capabilities and reinventing how workers operate in the industry. With streamlined workflow and increased productivity, automotive suppliers have more time to focus on further research and development to boost the company’s automated capabilities.
