How sensor data and full transparency can improve and make manageable complex production processes in various innovation fields – that’s what SICK will be showcasing at the SPS Smart Production Solutions trade fair (Hall 7A, Stand 340) in Nuremberg from November 12 to 14. As the world’s leading provider of one of the largest portfolios of sensor, system and service solutions, the company is focusing this year under the motto “Your industry. Your value.” The company’s solutions relate to the themes of traceability in consumer goods manufacturing, mobile platforms, robotics challenges in production, and material flows and materials in logistics. Visitors will be able to see and experience live AI-supported products and solutions, such as the Inspector83x vision sensor and the PALLOC adaptive localization system for deep learning-based robot guidance. Also on display will be the SICK Nova image processing platform, SICK ConnectX software for a direct connection from the field to the IIoT level, and other highlights.
“This year’s trade fair motto is ‘Your industry. Your value. Our solutions are focused on our customers’ specific requirements,” says Tobias Güttler, head of the Market and Technology Competence Center and Marketing Communication at SICK Vertriebs-GmbH. “We are building our presence at the fair with a consistent clustering of industry scenarios and application solutions to address the specific requirements of the relevant application and innovation fields.” This allows visitors to quickly and easily orient themselves in a world of experiences that are relevant to them. Security and service solutions will be an integral part of each cluster. ”
Consumer goods manufacturing: AI-powered solutions for process and quality control
Deviations and product defects during production can lead to unnecessary waste, product recalls and even a damaged brand reputation. The aim of quality control is therefore to monitor and optimize the quality of products and processes along the entire value chain. The aim is to identify and eliminate deviations early. With a resolution of up to 5 megapixels, integrated lighting and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, SICK’s new 2D vision sensor Inspector83x is particularly well suited for typical inline inspection tasks. The SICK Nova image processing platform is pre-installed on the Inspector83x as a hardware-specific sensor app, making the Inspector83x ready to operate with artificial intelligence (AI). This allows experts and laypeople alike to quickly and easily configure the sensor and set up powerful, highly accurate AI inspections via an intuitive browser-based user interface. To do this, a sample is presented to the camera under production conditions. Training is then performed and the inspection is carried out, so that first tests can be set up within minutes. In addition to the Gigabit Ethernet interface, the Inspector83x offers numerous connectivity options, including two connections for integration into the OT level (operational technology) via EtherNet/IP and PROFINET.
Alongside the W10 at SPS 2024, the company is also presenting a light scanner series that can be used to solve universal and possibly new types of detection tasks, such as in storage or transport systems. The light sensor is used in combination with a vision sensor, such as SICK’s Inspector83x. The light sensor acts as an image trigger, for example, by generating a trigger pulse to capture an image as soon as an object moves within the field of view. What’s important is that it is easy to use and quick to set up. In the case of the light scanner series, this is done via an intuitive touchscreen interface, while in the case of the Inspector83x, this is done via the browser-based image processing platform SICK Nova. Currently, there are only four variants in the light scanner series, which differ in terms of working distance and mounting options and combine a high-precision laser emitter LED of laser class 1 with a fast and accurate receiver array. Thanks to this powerful technology, the light scanner delivers highly accurate detection results with high repeatability both in the short-range version with a working distance of 25 mm to 400 mm and in the long-range version with a working distance of 25 mm to 700 mm.
Mobile platforms and robotics in production: robot guidance with AI
Automatic palletizing solutions, manual, conventional or robot-assisted – several solution approaches are often possible to ensure the smooth movement of goods from delivery to shipping or further processing. Robot guidance systems in conjunction with smart camera systems, AI and deep learning capabilities play a key role in accelerating logistics and production processes and significantly reducing monotonous work for employees. With PALLOC, its camera system for “PALlet content LOCalization”, SICK is providing an AI-supported, adaptive localization solution for automated depalletizing using robots at SPS. It combines a powerful 3D snapshot camera with a factory-installed and pre-trained neural network and a new deep learning-based localization algorithm, enabling the localization of almost unlimited variations of boxes stacked on a pallet and providing position coordinates for reliable robotic operation with a secure grip. The integrated neural network already supports a variety of different carton types and can be expanded to include new carton variants as required via a user-friendly AI tool suite. This makes PALLOC one of the most future-proof robot guidance systems on the market, with the neural network SensorApp integrated directly into the camera, eliminating the need for a separate PC for the browser-based user interface.
Tracking and traceability of production and logistics flows of goods and materials
With the Ident Gate System, SICK has developed an intelligent tracking system solution that supports companies in meeting the basic requirements under the law for corporate due diligence in the supply chain of numerous companies operating locally and globally. Ident Gate helps companies optimize incoming goods through automatic notifications, avoid errors such as incorrect loading of outgoing goods and shipments, and implement security requirements. Using various sensors for object detection, article identification and direction detection, it generates the necessary data for transparent logistics and supply chains by identifying objects and goods at loading gates, entrances to inner halls and other locations relevant for recording the movement of materials.
Complementary software solutions for a wide range of applications
When processing large amounts of data, intelligent data structures are required to maintain an overview and transparency, not unnecessarily occupy server resources and allow the data structures to be developed further effectively. With the help of SICK ConnectX applications and integration software, various sensor data can be recorded, preprocessed and made effectively available at the IT level for I4.0 applications using open (e.g. IO-Link or MQTT) or proprietary data protocols (e.g. CoLa). This allows standardized and simplified integration into higher-level IT systems such as ERP applications. The communication is bidirectional: the user configures the entire data flow using an intuitive user interface, which also provides options for pre-processing and aggregation of the data flow.