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02/02/2017 | Pressemitteilung

University of Kassel simulates factory of the future

A fully automated factory in model format is now simulating Industrie 4.0 processes at the University of Kassel. The facility, which is unique in this form, also includes self-steering robots that exchange products between the production islands. The model factory was officially inaugurated today (February 3) at the Institute for Analysis and Control of Technical Systems (ISAC).

Image: University of Kassel
Insight into the model factory.

Intelligent factories hold enormous potential for the German economy: According to a study by industry association BITKOM and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, gross value added in mechanical and plant engineering alone could rise from around 77 billion euros (2013) to around 100 billion euros by 2025. But implementations to date have not yet exhausted the possibilities and are often prone to errors.

The model factory inaugurated today in Kassel is helping to get Industry 4.0 up and running. It enables fully automated production processes to be mapped and methods to be researched, for example, for predicting errors in an automated, networked and heterogeneous factory. In this way, critical situations can be provoked in a targeted manner, repeated as often as desired, analyzed and methods for improvement developed.

The model factory consists of six communicating stations as well as mobile robots and a control station from which the plant is monitored. The plant reproduces the manufacturing process from the assembly of initial components to the storage of the end product. The initial and intermediate products are transported by robots. In its form, the plant is unique in Germany: "In contrast to plants at other universities, our model factory can map more heterogeneous processes, and the production islands can be flexibly linked to one another," explains Prof. Dr. Andreas Kroll, head of the Measurement and Control Technology department. The use of mobile robots is also rare elsewhere, he adds.

"The facility enables us to do basic research as well as application-oriented research," Kroll continues. "It also allows our students to enjoy cutting-edge education. They can benefit directly from our research questions."

The plant has been successively built since 2013 and was already commissioned in a preliminary form at the beginning of 2016. In recent months, the factory has been completed by an additional process island. All production facilities are in-house developments by scientists and students. This limited the costs to a six-figure sum. The simulation of technical systems is one of the research focuses of the University of Kassel.

 

Images:

Two process islands with storage cell and robots (Photo: uni Kassel):
http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2016/_1110462.jpg

Control station (Photo: uni Kassel):
www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2016/454_hell.jpg

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kroll (Photo: Andreas Fischer):
www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2016/Kroll_0613.jpg

 

These images may be used free of charge for one year and only in connection with this press release.

 

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kroll
University of Kassel
Institute for Analysis and Control of Technical Systems (ISAC)
Department of Measurement and Control Engineering
Tel.: +49 561 804-3248
E-mail: andreas.kroll[at]mrt.uni-kassel[dot]de