Bosch Rexroth: smart industrial automation watchword. What's new at Sps Parma (23-25/05)

by Piero Macrì ♦︎ ctrlX Automation integrates all the new functions required in the industrial world directly into the control: virtualization, digital twin, artificial intelligence algorithms. Data driven IoT for edge computing: increasingly compact and modular production lines. CytroForce: hydraulic sustainability with ultra-compact smart actuators. Smart Flex Effector: precision mechatronics for collaborative robotics. The ecosystem of partners for the co-creation of new industrial functionalities: Vision System, Orobix. We talk about it with Andrea Maffioli

Intelligent, modular and highly configurable mechanical components for flexible production lines, customizable by the end users themselves with simplified programming. At Sps (Parma 23-25 ​​May) Bosch Rexroth will present a whole series of solutions based on ctrlX Automation , the open  industrial automation platform that allows you to manage all phases of production, constantly updating the operator on the functionality and effectiveness of the production process .

«Compared to classic automation architectures, ctrlX Automation differs in the possibility of integrating all the new functions required in the industrial world directly into the control, without the need to integrate additional external components. This simplifies the architecture, avoiding having to use third-party languages ​​and components for sharing machine or process data , says  Andrea Maffioli , vice president of Industrial Applications at Bosch Rexroth Italia. Around ctrlX Automation we have developed an ecosystem of partners for the co-creation of new industrial functionalities. At the Parma Fair we will have the opportunity to let visitors experience the use of some applications that we offer in partnership with the ctrlX World community . Solutions that are designed for production capable of adapting to format changes and discontinuous volumes, a condition that represents the standard of Italian manufacturing SMEs ."

Among the partners, Vision System , the system integrator that created an application demo relating to a vision system capable of recognizing and transmitting to a collaborative robot which of the products transported along a line should be picked up. And then Orobix , with which the German multinational has created an application capable of identifying, thanks to the help of artificial intelligence algorithms, any signs of inefficiency on a spindle with a sensorized motor so as to prevent future operating anomalies also from a maintenance perspective predictive. Ease of use, modularity, flexibility. ctrlX Automation enables both machine builders and end users to integrate multiple services, such as virtualization, digital twins and artificial intelligence algorithms . An example of possible applications comes from the world of packaging . A manufacturer of Cartesian robots for packaging and palletizing has exploited the advantages of ctrlX Automation to design different virtual end-of-line systems, depending on the size of the product to be handled. Result? A more efficient design with a 30-40% reduction in engineering costs. Bosch Rexroth's software solutions also extend to hydraulics . An example is H4U ( Hydraulics for You ) which simplifies the design of hydraulic functions and robotics. In the latter case, the novelty is the Smart Flex Effector, the sensorial technology that allows the creation of robotic manipulators capable of working with levels of precision that were once unimaginable. Smart Flex Effector applications range from assembly automation to close-tolerance joining processes, quality monitoring and controlled object handling.