Bosch Rexroth
Canvas Category Machinery : Process Technology : Motion Control
As a global partner, Bosch Rexroth supports mechanical and plant engineering efforts around the world with its cutting-edge technology and unique industry knowledge. More than 29,500 associates across the globe are developing tailored, safe and resource-friendly solutions. Our innovations deliver multi-dimensional enhancements for machine manufacturers and end users. For example, they help to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions while simultaneously raising productivity. Above all, we make it easy to use cross-technology solutions by means of predefined functions and integrated engineering tools.
Assembly Line
Building the NextGen Factory with Splunk and Bosch Rexroth
Splunk and Bosch Rexroth have joined forces to help manufacturers elevate their resilience and take advantage of new market trends and agile operating models leveraging OT + IT + AI/ML.
Bosch Rexroth has developed an Intelligent Factory Floor which is above all smart and flexible. Roof, walls and floor are fixed, everything else can be adapted to new orders, production methods or business models. As such, it is easy to reconfigure machinery and to scale up or scale down production lines according to requirements. The multi-color LED visualization in the floor can flexibly adjust walkways, and define safety zones and logistics areas. The Intelligent Floor collects data such as weight and distance via built-in sensors.
These rich data sources are ingested into Splunk’s data analytics platform leveraging AI capabilities. As a result, possible business outcomes not only include an optimized, agile production performance but also an elevated security posture including IT / OT cybersecurity. Predictive Analytics such as Predictive Maintenance and Predictive Quality based on the Splunk Machine Learning Toolkit can be implemented. Factory managers can finally bring cost-efficient lot size one production to life.
More and more partner companies are joining the Bosch Rexroth world of automation
The vision of an automation world in which competitors become partners and users help to shape the solutions is becoming reality. The operating system ctrlX OS with its ecosystem has won over even more collaborators: In addition to WAGO, the first company to join the group, Dell Technologies, Nokia and others have joined too. As a result, the solution is now established on all levels of the automation pyramid. The partner network ctrlX World is growing too and now offers even more variety. At the moment, partner companies cover more than 150 use cases. KUKA, another leading robot brand, recently joined the group.
Bosch Rexroth has opened up the operating system ctrlX OS for the entire market. It entered into its first system and technology partnership with WAGO. “We offer ctrlX OS on our own devices and develop specific applications on the basis of the operating system. WAGO is about to launch the Edge Controller 400 and the Edge Computer with ctrlX OS to coincide with the SPS trade fair. Together, we’d like to strengthen ctrlX OS and develop it further,” said Johannes Pfeffer, Vice President Business Unit Automation at WAGO.
Because it can be used flexibly on various levels, ctrlX OS is of interest not only for industrial control systems and edge industry PCs. As a virtualized solution, the operating system also runs on edge servers in close proximity to machines and production lines, in data centers and in the cloud.
What are industry trends for variable frequency drives and variable speed drives?
Introducing VFDs to the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 environment requires VFDs to secure two-way communication that bridges the gap between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) capabilities. This means VFD interfaces need to be compatible with the end user’s network protocol of choice to enable remote access to machines lines and equipment, and to serve machine data to a monitoring and reporting system. By providing easy to understand diagnostic data and overall health monitoring of both the drive and connected motor. In addition, energy usage and system efficiency data for tracking carbon emissions and usage profile.
Design for Robotic Assembly
In reality, equating the abilities of robots and human assemblers is risky. What’s easy for a human assembler can be difficult or impossible for a robot, and vice versa. To ensure success with robotic assembly, engineers must adapt their parts, products and processes to the unique requirements of the robot.
Reorienting an assembly adds cycle time without adding value. It also increases the cost of the fixtures. And, instead of a SCARA or Cartesian robot, assemblers may need a more expensive six-axis robot.
Robotic grippers are not as nimble as human hands, and some parts are easier for robots to grip than others. A part with two parallel surfaces can be handled by a two-fingered gripper. A circular part can be handled by its outside edges, or, if it has a hole in the middle, its inside edges. Adding a small lip to a part can help a gripper reliably manipulate the part and increase the efficiency of the system. If the robot will handle more than one type of part, the parts should be designed so they can all be manipulated with the same gripper. A servo-driven gripper could also help in that situation, since engineers can program stroke length and gripping force.
Bosch Rexroth Predictive Analytics @ TSR Recycling GmbH
Bosch Rexroth to Acquire HydraForce
Back in July 2022 we announced that we’d be expanding our global hydraulics business with the acquisition of HydraForce, a specialist hydraulic company based in the USA. After receiving the approval from the antitrust authorities, we’re now delighted to announce that this acquisition has been completed, and we can share some insight into why this will be such an important addition to our business and how it will enhance our offering for our customers.
Compact hydraulics is particularly valuable due to its high power density and capabilities regarding essential functions in hydraulic systems. The global market for these systems has been growing continuously. While the Compact Hydraulics Business Unit of Bosch Rexroth offers a wider range of compact hydraulic components and systems, HydraForce focuses on mechanical and electrical cartridge valves and hydraulic integrated circuits (HIC). So the combination will enable us to provide customers with a wider range of compact hydraulics solutions on a global scale. With the acquisition of HydraForce, we expect to exceed market growth.
Bosch Rexroth: Smart Function Kit for Handling - fast, intuitive and smart
The Electrical Heart of Manufacturing
Once, servo amplifiers were tuned with screwdrivers to adjust the motion of the motors, with say three potentiometers, one for each of the elements of a PID controller. “Today, most servo drives have algorithms that autotune adjustments,” said Nausley. Promess can now position its presses within a few microns. “A few years ago, there’s no way we could have done that.”
Creating a Factory of the Future in Aerospace
One of the unique anomalies of aerospace manufacturing is how it transitions from automated to manual production. Many initial components are fabricated in highly automated machining or manufacturing systems. These systems are already Industry 4.0-enabled with integrated sensors and PLCs that capture and package production data for analysis and quality control.
As subassemblies are created and installed, final assembly and integration is much more manual. For example, the final tightening of thousands of fasteners on aircraft is often done with pneumatic and manual wrenches that are purely mechanical, with manual inspections and written verification on paper documents. However, aerospace manufacturers can improve this process by integrating smart, programmable tightening tools that document the amount of torque applied for each fastener and that can automatically reconfigure torque and rotation settings based on the assigned task.
6 steps to Industry 4.0 in metal fabrication
Implementing Industry 4.0 doesn’t happen with the flip of a switch. It’s an evolution that, in time, will change the nature of how the metal fabrication industry and the rest of the world makes things.
Rapp sees a fully autonomous plant become much more flexible, not limited to rigid process-specific departments or value-stream layouts. In the connected plant, all required materials and workpieces will follow the path that makes best use of the entire operation’s available capacity. Job routings could change on-the-fly as AGVs move material, tools, and cut parts to where the processing capacity is, exactly when they’re needed.
Sensor Fusion: The Swiss Army Knife of Digitalization
With the proper communication protocols and network architecture in place, smart sensor technology and the data it provides can be the bulwark on which digital transformation is built.
If industrial control systems are the brains of a plant, then sensors are its eyes and ears. Simply put, without sensors there would be nothing for SCADA, DCS, or PLCs to respond to. That’s why increasingly intelligent or ‘smart’ sensors packing more onboard processing power, the ability to monitor new variables, and digital communication capabilities are playing such an important role in helping plant operators and enterprise level planners alike to see better and respond to problems with more finesse.