February 13, 2014 - Under the motto “Integrated Industries – NEXT STEPS” the 2014 Hanover Fair is addressing the introduction and practical implementation of Industry 4.0. For Festo, this above all entails intensive research into the various aspects of Industry 4.0. For this reason, the company is involved in numerous collaborative research projects – including OPAK, MIKOA and MetamoFab – and is active in various networks related to this topic.
Festo is adopting a holistic approach to production of the future: the automation technology manufacturer is working on the fundamental technologies for networked overall systems, while at the same time giving attention to human-machine interaction and to basic and advanced training for the next generation of employees in future production worlds. Prof. Dr. Peter Post, Head of Corporate Research and Technology at Festo, sees three important aspects for Festo on the way to Integrated Industries: “On the one hand there is increasing demand for components with a large number of integrated features such as sensors, actuators and communication modules. In addition, more and more tasks will be transferred from the higher level of control to the component level.
And finally, the role of the human in future production must also be defined. Festo is carrying out application-related research into all these matters.”
Research into Industry 4.0 at Festo
In order to develop specific approaches to the implementation of Industry 4.0, Festo is involved among other things in a number of collaborative research projects that deal with various aspects of future production – for example the projects OPAK, MIKOA and MetamoFab.
OPAK
Together with seven partners from the fields of research and industry, including Festo Didactic, Festo is actively involved in the project “OPAK – open engineering platform for autonomous mechatronic automation components in function-oriented architecture”. This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) as part of the programme AUTONOMIK for Industry 4.0. The research findings from OPAK will enable complex systems to be developed and adapted more simply, rapidly and cost-effectively. At the same time, the low-cost integration and configuration of new components into existing systems is to be facilitated.
The objective is to relieve the burden on the automation programmer so that he or she has as little as possible to do with abstract entities, but rather can interact with the functionalities of the automation system and its components.
ESIMA
In the ESIMA project (energy-autonomous sensors and interaction with mobile users), which constitutes part of the Microsystems framework programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Festo in collaboration with further project partners is developing an approach to optimising resource efficiency in production in which energy-autonomous sensors play a key role. The aim of ESIMA is to facilitate measurement of the energy consumption of machinery by means of wireless sensors and to present this data on a mobile device in a production environment. The human-machine communication is to be effected via a decentralised information system. Mobile devices such as tablet PCs are used to present the key energy data and consumption trends.
MetamoFab
In the network project MetamoFab, which is likewise sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Festo in cooperation with Siemens AG, Infineon Technologies AG, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) and further partners is developing solutions that will allow existing production facilities to be transformed into intelligent, networked factories. This must extend to all parties involved such as human operators, machinery, workpieces and information technology. The plan is to test and implement the acquired knowledge in a pilot area of Festo at the new Scharnhausen technology factory. “These three projects perfectly illustrate the diverse research activities of Festo in the field of Industry 4.0,” said Dr.
Volker Nestle, Head of Future Technology at Festo. He sees a key success factor in the joint activity in collaborative projects and networks: “Through cooperation across organisational boundaries, the innovation process can be expedited and the increasingly complex technological issues can be resolved in a concerted effort.”
Active involvement in the Industry 4.0 Platform
Festo is represented on both the Board of Management and the Steering Committee of the Industry 4.0 Platform, the initiative that is expediting the “Industry 4.0 Future Project” of the High-Tech Strategy of the federal government. Within this framework, the company is actively working together with further partners from the fields of science and industry on the development of technologies, standards, and business and organisational models for Industry 4.0 and their practical implementation.
In particular, Festo is intensively working towards the creation of a reference architecture for Industry 4.0 and the development of binding standards and norms.
A member of the SmartFactory initiative
Festo joined the manufacturer-independent SmartFactory initiative in 2013. Its objective is to integrate new technologies and concepts into the factory automation environment. “Our membership of SmartFactory allows us to closely cooperate with other industrial companies and the scientific community, and it is also of considerable practical benefit: we can test and develop cooperation between intelligent components from various manufacturers, together with their interconnections, under real conditions,” said Prof. Peter Post.
