“Sustainable thinking. Digital acting.” is SEW-EURODRIVE’s slogan for HANNOVER MESSE this year. At Stand B26 in Hall 6, occupying approximately 1600 square meters, the Bruchsal-based drive and automation expert is demonstrating how digitalization and artificial intelligence can help shape the future of sustainable industrial production starting today. The worldwide, family-owned company has consequently embraced a forward-looking design for its display, inviting guests on a virtual adventure to thrilling “planets” in its digital “spaceship.”
The planets symbolize the residences of real systems and devices for various sectors and uses. They are digitally linked through the spaceship’s bridge (the control center), from which they are managed and observed. Additionally, there will be livestreams featuring remote Canada (the partner country for HANNOVER MESSE), allowing for real-time digital engagement with various actual machines in the SEW-EURODRIVE facility there.
The display at the booth in Hannover and the equipment at SEW-EURODRIVE in Canada provide a continuous flow of data to the spacecraft’s cockpit. Illustrated by shafts of light, all these data streams come together and can be utilized to generate digital replicas of the systems and machines. This enables visitors to distinctly observe and comprehend how energy-saving, advanced technology and creative digital ideas can be utilized to completely automate factories sustainably and efficiently. Through its cutting-edge industry showcase, SEW-EURODRIVE is providing ideal concepts and solutions that align with the main theme of HANNOVER MESSE – “Energizing a sustainable industry.”
Real world meets digital world.
The following systems and machines can be experienced live in a futuristic melding of the real world with the digital world at SEW-EURODRIVE:
- Gantry and shuttle solutions
- Mixers in mining with agitator drives and DriveRadar® IoT Suite for industrial gear units
- Distribution logistics and material handling, using the example of a battery cell factory
- Oil filling station and mobile system solutions for cleanrooms
- Material handling with a tripod and use of artificial intelligence
- Chocolate conching with the DriveRadar® IoT Suite for industrial gear units
- Compressed-air-free, 100% electric automated flowpack packaging machine
- “Software-defined factory” concept study
All the system and machine solutions exhibited are operated and monitored centrally in the combined control center. The result is known as a “software-defined factory”. In collaboration with Garching-based Software Defined Automation GmbH, SEW-EURODRIVE is currently developing a completely new open software for this that can network across devices, no matter their manufacturer. The working title of this forward-looking concept study is “DriveOperations”, and SEW-EURODRIVE is showcasing it live at HANNOVER MESSE with its partner, including opportunities for interaction.
A fun way to experience research
Whether it’s playing football with drones in the careers section or AI-assisted person detection at the “Marketplace Campus”, SEW-EURODRIVE invites visitors to have fun while exploring innovation and research in the field of automation technology. A delivery robot with a special sensor attachment demonstrates how both objects and people can be reliably detected using artificial intelligence. Other research activities that the company is undertaking at its Bruchsal campus are also on display. What’s more, the trade fair stand demonstrates very clearly that innovation only truly takes off when appropriate collaborations are established. To highlight this, the stand therefore involves cooperation partners from Germany and Canada.