Lifting/lowering conveyor with decentralized conveying of energy

Lifting/lowering conveyor with decentralized conveying of energy

MOVI-DPS^® consists of the following components:

1. EKK E12 energy interface

2. EKK E11 power interface

3. EKV storage bundle consisting of EKS storage units

4. Unloading units for EKV

It is a decentralized energy storage unit that ensures a far more flexible production operation. The system also has the potential to save on connection costs and energy consumption. MOVI-DPS^® can be used in all kinds of systems – including lifting/lowering conveyors, storage/retrieval systems, pallet transfer shuttles and vertical conveyors – as well as in mobile applications.

You, too, can benefit from intelligent power and energy management with MOVI-DPS^® in both mobile and stationary applications. “Energy consumption and power peaks are common problems at industrial companies. SEW-EURODRIVE’s dynamic MOVI-DPS^® system offers the ideal solution in both cases. High-performance double-layer capacitors, intelligent control and decentralized components combine to ensure the efficient operation of any application. The system smooths out power peaks from the grid and stores braking energy that it can draw on if required. MOVI-DPS^® is a key component for further decentralization of energy supplies and effective management of the energy flow in energy supply grids in the future.” / Dirk Schedler, product market manager at SEW-EURODRIVE.

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Effizientes Teamwork in der Praxis: Unser Mitarbeiter berichtet von der Zusammenarbeit mit Robotern und seinen Erfahrungen mit dem automatisierten Wandel in seinem Berufsalltag.

Drive specialist SEW-EURODRIVE is renowned for developing new networking technologies, systems and processes. And where better to test innovations than in our very own processes? So SEW-EURODRIVE uses assistance systems to master the increasingly complex workflows in its production halls – with glowing results.

Networking humans and machines assists our workers and makes work methods more efficient. As a general rule, mobile robots are particularly good at taking the strain out of physical tasks. This leaves employees free – while the workbench moves on to the next assembly station – to look at the following procedures or even set them in motion and start working on new production elements. Bending, turning, moving individual parts from A to B – automation addresses this strenuous work. What’s more, it reduces the error rate dramatically and frees workers for more interesting and varied activities. Humans are increasingly becoming the decision-makers, problem-solvers and directors of value creation. As the name itself suggests, assistance systems help our workers and avoid wasting resources.

At SEW-EURODRIVE, efficiency means taking the strain off our workers, freeing them up for new tasks and optimizing output.

But efficiency also means savings potential in other respects for SEW-EURODRIVE. It takes drives to power the automation that really helps humans. Not a robot arm or assistance system could move without the necessary impetus. So it is no wonder that German industry accounts for 47 percent of net energy consumption.

Not only that, but almost two-thirds of the energy consumed by industry is used for electrical drives.

How are businesses supposed to keep production costs in check in the face of climbing energy prices? It’s simple. There is enormous savings potential to be tapped in almost every company, without even the need for major upheaval – and SEW-EURODRIVE is intent on releasing it!

We have developed an end-to-end Modular energy-saving system of efficient products that makes it possible to combine individual components for optimum results. This can save customers up to 70 percent of their systems’ energy costs. But energy efficiency kicks in much earlier than this at SEW-EURODRIVE. Before selecting the drive components, our effiDRIVE® specialists conduct an Energy consulting to pinpoint the right solution for each individual system. SEW EURODRIVE has its sights firmly set on an energy-optimized future.

For us, energy efficiency means dramatically reducing CO2 emissions and optimizing the energy balance.

The newest members of SEW-EURODRIVE’s African family are Cameroon (since 2016), Ivory Coast (since 2014) and Tanzania (since 2013). The Africa continent grows in importance in line with its economy.

However, SEW-EURODRIVE has been active in South Africa for decades and serves a wide range of sectors there, including mining and the packaging industry, to name just two. Only recently, buoyant exports led a manufacturer of pulp molding machines to significantly increase the number and scope of the applications it uses SEW products for within the space of 24 months. The company considers reliable drive technology, punctual delivery and all-round performance an absolute must.

While we can’t boast any activities around the South Pole, we most certainly can in the Arctic. Our drive technology is robust enough to withstand the freezing conditions in Spitsbergen. The Norwegian mining company Store Norske uses a DRE..-series AC motor and a four-stage X-series industrial gear unit to drive a scraper chain conveyor in a coal mine. Even in summer, the temperatures don’t rise above six degrees Celsius. And in winter, when the mercury can sink as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, coal is still mined in the icy mountains of the Arctic.

SEW-EURODRIVE appointed its 10 000th employee in China on May 8, 2005, when Ms. Miner Wang started work in the technical office in Hangzhou. In 2010, SEW-EURODRIVE in China founded three new plants.

China is also home to one of the Group’s five production plants for industrial gear units worldwide. In all, we employ almost 4,000 workers at more than 50 locations. Zhang Xiaobing is one of them.

Our education institution, the DriveAcademy^®, provides training and education for customers and employees worldwide. Having proved successful in Germany, the DriveAcademy® opened offshoots elsewhere in the world. Employee Michael Kropp has been involved in getting it up and running in Australia for almost two and a half years.

While on a camping holiday near the Swedish city of Jönköping with his two sons, Jürgen and Rainer, Ernst Blickle was so impressed by the beautiful landscape that he decided to set up the first assembly plant there, or so the story goes. Another important factor in his decision was the area’s central location in Sweden’s industrial region – which meant that customers would be on the new plant’s doorstep. SEW-EURODRIVE founded its second foreign company in 1968.

Technical manager Marco Leván joined the company less than ten years later.

“When bulk material goes on a roller coaster ride.” Rail-Veyor in Canada supplies a system for transporting bulk material in small freight cars on rails. It is used to convey rock containing gold from an underground mine to the surface, for example. The system shares some design similarities with a conveyor belt, in that up to 40 cars are interconnected to form one continuous loading bed. This special “train” is driven by industrial gear units of the MC series from SEW-EURODRIVE, mounted at regular intervals. The real innovation, though, is the unloading process, during which the train discharges the bulk material on the upside-down part of its loop.

• Find a video from Rail-veyor company here

Have you ever drunk yellow Cola? The Peruvians prefer their yellow-golden Inca Kola. The plastic and glass bottles it is sold in are filled and packed with the aid of MOVIGEAR® decentralized drive systems. Following the pilot project in 2012, the company in charge of this task, Lindley Corporation S. A., was so convinced of the entire system’s benefits – easy-to-install, hygienic design and high energy efficiency – that it has continued to modernize more of its plants to this day with SEW-EURODRIVE technology.

The idea of automation is not a new one. The ancient Greeks revered "Automatia" as the goddess of chance. Aristoteles himself described his vision of machines that operate without the aid of humans.

In his work "Politeia" (Politics), he expressed his hope that it might someday be possible to end slavery. "If every tool could do its work on command or even predictively, the same way that Daedalus' artworks moved themselves or Hephaestus' tripods went about their divine work on their own, if weaving looms could weave by themselves in this way, there would be no need for either the master's assistants or the slave owners." source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation]

And it seems that he was right. Just as slavery has finally been consigned to the past in many parts of the civilized world, cutting-edge production has long-since been reliant on automation. The visions and efforts of today's researchers and developers are systematically working toward fully networked production.

Is it all just science fiction? Not at all. The rise of Industry 4.0 is implacable. Current predictions indicate that the familiar stationary plant technology with its conveyor lines of varying lengths will soon have past the peak of its processing engineering capabilities. Instead, autonomous, mobile process and production modules will take its place and revolutionize industrial manufacturing.

Depending on current production needs, it should be simple for manufacturers to add these kinds of modules and if necessary integrate them into the production network where they are needed. For this to work, these production modules must function independently of the infrastructure and be automatically recognized by the "new environment".

"Easy automation" is the name of the game. For modular production to be flexible, automation technology is needed that is equally flexible, powerful and modular. SEW-EURODRIVE has therefore committed to thinking about tomorrow today. Our new MOVI-C® modular automation system prepares the ground for our customers to embark on the road to the future of automation.

Based on four coordinated building blocks – engineering software, control technology, inverter technology and drive technology – MOVI-C® is perfectly positioned to get these kinds of cutting-edge production cells moving, completely automate them and integrate them into the overall production infrastructure.

MOVISUITE® engineering software is the core element of MOVI-C^®, the new complete automation solution from a single source. All products and solutions from the MOVI-C® modular automation system can be completely configured, operated and monitored using this software. This saves time, money and nerves. At the same time, the look and feel of the graphic interfaces is state-of-the-art. Thanks to the optimized usability, even beginners can use the software with confidence. Technology fans can also count on additional expert support. As you can see, every kind of user will find what they are looking for.

With the MOVIDRIVE® inverter from the MOVI-C^® system, SEW-EURODRIVE offers one of the most comprehensive inverter platforms on the market. No matter what kind of motor you use, the new MOVIDRIVE® reliably regulates them all. The inverters are available as modular multi-axis systems with up to 180 A rated current and as compact devices with mains connection up to a rated output of 315 kW. Safety technology is included.

Using the MOVI-C® CONTROLLER is also bound to make operators happy. The new control technology is able to regulate as many as 32 interpolated axes in a multi-axis system in just one millisecond, for example. Parameterizing and implementing even the most complex movement kinematics is now a straightforward matter – the prefabricated software modules for various applications reduce the complexity even further.

All in all, perfect "Easy Automation". With MOVI-C^®, SEW-EURODRIVE already has the future of automation in its range.

Keen to find out more? Then don't miss the live presentation of our new generation MOVI-C® at HANNOVER MESSE 2017. You can also dive into our vision of the smart factory of tomorrow at Stand F12 in Hall 15.

Modular systems have the advantage that they appeal to different customers with different wishes and requirements, making it possible for companies to serve a larger target group while at the same time offering their customers products that are customized to their requirements.

This concept triggered a real boom in the consumer market, and is now enjoying success in the B2B sector. Industrial customers have a similar need for variety and customized goods. As a company with years of experience in drive technology, we were quick to recognize this and developed a modular gearmotor system. Our customers are able to flexibly combine individual modules to meet the specific needs of each application. Over the decades, we have continuously expanded the range and adapted it more and more to the needs of our customers.

Control and servo technology and a comprehensive range of services were also added to our product portfolio to enable us to offer complete drive solutions rather than simply gearmotors.

This broad range of products and services also allowed SEW-EURODRIVE access to diverse applications and markets. For example, our drives can now be found in conveyor belts, escalators, packaging machines and other applications, but our products are also used in the mining industry, ship lifts, the beverage industry and many other sectors.

However, diversity is not restricted to SEW-EURODRIVE's product range and applications. Employees also benefit from a diverse range of occupational training opportunities and health provision. The first thing new employees get is a comprehensive introduction to SEW-EURODRIVE's range of products and services. In addition, employees can undergo further training for their work if they wish. There is also provision for the health of employees in the form of a workplace sports program. Outside of work, the company also offers a diverse range of leisure activities for its staff, with something for everyone, including cooking, sport and creative activities.

You are not alone – lots of people in a whole range of industries – including mining, the beverage industry, logistics and the automotive industry – know exactly how you feel. They are all familiar with this constant sound that accompanies their day, often in places where a lot of dust is created, such as cement works and sawmills. To ensure this reassuring hum does not fall silent, the drive technology must be extremely robust, especially in these kinds of environments. Our drives are frequently installed in plants where they come into contact with water or aggressive cleaning agents, especially in places where food is being processed. A particularly robust housing is vital in these cases. As you can see, drives face a variety of challenges that you don't have to worry about when you arrive at work in the morning and start up your plant – or maybe it has been running all night, like a sewage treatment plant.

Do these everyday situations sound familiar?

The humming of electric motors can also be heard in places a long way from your workplace. Maybe you have been on a carousel with your children, and one of our drives was spinning you around. The forces generated put immense strain on the motor and gear unit, but they still have to operate reliably throughout a long service life.

Have you taken a vacation this year? Maybe you traveled by airplane? Our drives are hard at work in the background there, too, reliably transporting millions of suitcases from the check-in counters to the aircraft. Imagine the chaos if these motors could not be counted on to work reliably.

Whether it be in the ski-lift, the car wash or the bottling plant for your favorite beer or sparkling wine, you can find our products everywhere, and you will discover they have all been specially designed for each particular purpose. A plant in Spitzbergen that we supplied drives to a few years ago is probably the northernmost and coldest place where our drive technology is in use. However, there are plenty of other countries around the world where our drives are doing their work reliably – and robustly – in applications that are either highly dynamic or require continuous operation (in S1 duty cycle).

As you can see, drives have to generate enormous forces, and sometimes operate under extreme conditions in the production process. What you take for granted in your everyday life is the result of our constant development work. Every motor and every gear unit that leaves our production halls consists of many individual parts that together ensure that your company can manufacture reliably. To this end, each and every part is designed to provide the very highest level of performance from the early stages of development.

We hope you now have an idea of what our drive systems have to deal with under a whole range of different climatic conditions all over the world. So the next time you are relaxing with a coke in your break or hear the silence fall as you shut down the machinery before you go home after a day's work, listen more closely as you enjoy your free time, and you might hear that familiar sound again – because our drives move the world.

Tobias Nittel says: "The more precisely you define your normal operations, the more exactly our drive can be dimensioned and the more efficiently it will run. That makes MOVIGEAR^® the most compact, most efficient drive for your conveyor applications."

MOVIGEAR^® has been impressing users since its first appearance at HANNOVER MESSE in 2005, where it received the innovation award for drive technology. It also won more innovation awards in the years that followed. This effort has paid off. In 2008, a wide range of MOVIGEAR® configurations went into series production.

Smaller devices were added to the MOVIGEAR® product range at HANNOVER MESSE 2017. Our size 1 covers the range of small torque ratings up to 100 Nm and is particularly suitable for use in conveyor applications involving light loads.

Some insight from Dr. Jochen Mahlein, inventor of MOVIGEAR^® and now head of the Charging Technology for Mobile Systems business area:

"In its current form, MOVIGEAR^® has found its place in the world of drive technology and is continuing to expand this internationally. The market figures show continuous growth, and this is particularly pleasing for me personally. In many growth countries, but also in existing systems, increasing energy requirements, especially for electrical energy, are limiting economic growth. A common bottleneck are difficulties in distributing this energy due to a lack of grid expansion, or the connected load of conventional drives being fully exhausted. With its energy efficiency, MOVIGEAR^® is helping fill these gaps. By also reducing the installation outlay, MOVIGEAR^® has a competitive edge that adds value for our customers without any increase in energy consumption. "

Say you needed to get from Stuttgart to Hamburg – and fast. Which vehicle would you pick to cover the approximately 650 km as quickly as possible?

Naturally, you’d go for the sports car. Put your foot on the gas and the vehicle will go from 0 to 100 km/h in just a few seconds. By the time the truck gets up to speed, you would have lost valuable time, and the car wouldn’t reach top speed for some time, either.

gingerbread packaging machine

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More informations: www.sew-eurodrive.de

So how do we understand dynamics in relation to our drives? Just like in the example above about vehicles, when it comes to drive engineering, it is all about acceleration [a], too. This video shows a typical, highly dynamic application – our MOVI-C^® packaging machine. With packaging machines, the focus is on linear positioning tasks. The drive accelerates as quickly as possible, moving at high speed towards a precise position then braking hard before continuing a moment later to the next position, all at speed and with precision.

In this video, our CMS.. series electric cylinders easily complete various travel profiles, provide a high degree of flexibility in terms of positioning, and offer new opportunities for programming, power control, and diagnostics functions.

Synchrone Servomotoren CMP.. von SEW-EURODRIVE

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Sie benötigen für Ihre Automatisierungstechnik Motorensysteme, die hohe Beschleunigungen und Taktraten realisieren?

Another example of dynamics in drive engineering is the cork-cutting machine. The synchronous servomotor from the CMP.. series dynamically drives the rotating movements, ensuring a high tempo for cutting the cork into small corks. However, due to the rotary motion, we need to modify our dynamics formula a little: a = F / m becomes α = M / J.

α stands for angular acceleration and is the product of torque [M] (the rotational effect of a force on an object) divided by the moment of inertia [J] of the rotating motion. In this scenario, moment of inertia is comparable with the mass in a linear motion. Even though the formula has to be adapted for rotary motions, the overall statement is the same. High acceleration or high dynamics is achieved with high torque ratings and low inertia. That is precisely what makes a servomotor. These devices boast higher overload capacity and minimal intrinsic inertia – advantages that are ensured by the design of the motor and allow 1200 corks to be cut every minute.

In drive engineering, when we’re talking about rapid cycle times and powerful, precise movements made possible by high acceleration, we’re talking about dynamics.

And if we compare our drives to the vehicles above, it’s clear that servo drive technology is the sports car among motors.

Wait a minute! What was it we learned in physics class? Something about the law of conservation of energy? This states that energy cannot be created, consumed or destroyed. However, this only applies to a closed system. Within this system, it is possible to transform energy from one form to another, for example from electrical energy into kinetic energy, from kinetic energy into heat energy, etc. It is not possible, however, for a closed system to generate or destroy energy itself.

How, then, can there be such a thing as regenerative or renewable energy sources? The reason is that here on Earth we don't live in a closed system. This is why regenerative energy has found its way into common parlance. The term relates to all energy sources that, unlike fossil and nuclear fuels, are in virtually endless supply.

The laws of physics are immutable. All the same, people have been striving to achieve perpetual motion since ancient times. Modern-day scientists are still trying, despite genius and polymath Leonardo da Vinci establishing around 1500 that perpetual motion is impossible. He didn't even know about the law of conservation of energy, which was not formulated until the 19th century.

Nonetheless, researchers around the world are fascinated by the idea of developing a system that at least comes close to achieving perpetual motion – in other words a system that loses as little energy as possible. Their research is being driven by the extremely high levels of energy consumption worldwide. One of the primary consumers is industry, and within industry electrical drive engineering makes up a huge part of the energy balance.

Regenerative energy in drive engineering

Even if true perpetual motion is never going to be attainable, one of the greatest challenges of the future will lie in creating systems and machines that are broadly independent in energy terms. This is a goal to which SEW-EURODRIVE has fully committed itself as a manufacturer and user of drive and automation technology.

You only have to look at modern industry to see how many plants are still using out-moded motors and gearmotors that are not very energy-efficient. At the same time, far too much energy is still being lost in many systems, especially the energy released during lowering and braking movements. Typical examples of this are presses, hoists, gantry cranes, and storage/retrieval systems. The recovery of regenerative energy is now state-of-the-art technology.

Many electrically driven machines or systems in industry operate continuously at a constant speed. The motors draw their energy directly form the external three-phase grid without any speed control. When switched on, they operate at an almost fixed speed – depending on the mains frequency provided (50 Hz in Germany) – and thus convert constant electrical energy into constant mechanical motion.

Regenerative energy is always created when the motor is driven the other way round, via the mechanical shaft. This is particularly the case when the motor is braked. As a result, the electric motor no longer draws power from the grid, but instead becomes a power generator itself.

In this case, the excess energy simply flows back into the external supply system. This is good for the environment, but ineffective for the operator of the machine or system, unless appropriate measures have been taken. If this energy is not used in another part of the factory, and if the meter can only count in one direction, the recovered energy is lost to the energy customer. However, these kinds of applications only yield small amounts of regenerative energy.

In more complex applications with dynamic motion profiles, and in processes that involve precise positioning, constant speed is not so helpful. Frequency inverters for speed control are essential in these cases. The same applies to machinery such as fans that do not always have to operate at full speed, but depending on the application can sometimes operate at lower speeds. Regenerative energy is also created in this case as soon as the motor goes into generator mode, in the case of a brake ramp, for example. Since in some applications this can frequently be the case, system operators can save a lot of energy and costs.

When connected to a frequency inverter, however, the motor is plugged into an inverter DC link instead of the grid. The regenerative energy can then no longer simply flow back into the grid but flows into the frequency inverter's DC link. Without countermeasures, however, the excess energy can cause power surges that in the worst case can damage components. The excess energy must therefore always be dissipated.

There are various options when it comes to handling the regenerative energy generated by a motor that uses a frequency inverter:

• Transformation into heat using a braking resistor
• Recovery back into the grid or system
• Decentralized power supply

1. Gearmotor
2. Frequency inverter
3. DC link
4. Braking Resistor

The conventional method of dissipating excess energy from FI DC links is by using a braking resistor. This is connected to the inverter DC link and transforms the regenerative electrical energy into heat. This is known as waste heat because the excess energy is released unused into the surrounding air. This process only makes sense in applications where the potential to generate energy is low.

If, on the other hand, the energy yield is higher, braking resistors can significantly impact the overall efficiency of a system. In addition, the dissipated heat can cause technical problems, depending on the application. Overheating can e.g. place strain on control cabinet ventilation or require the implementation of cost-intensive fire and explosion protection countermeasures.

1. Gearmotors
2. Frequency inverters
3. DC link
4. Regenerative power supply
5. Line filter option
6. Line choke option

When large amounts of regenerative energy are created, recovering the energy back into the grid has proven an effective solution. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the system's overall energy consumption, and the area around the installation is not unnecessarily heated by braking resistors.

SEW-EURODRIVE customers use MOVIDRIVE® MDR or MOVIAXIS^® MXR regenerative power supply units that serve equally as a central supply unit and regenerative power supply. Depending on the load situation, the energy flow through the device is either like that of a motor or a generator. If regenerative energy is created, this can only be recovered from the application and fed back into the grid when the load flow is like that of a generator. If this converted energy is to be reused to power the system, this is done via the input stage of the frequency inverter, which has been designed for the motor load.

The advantage of this is that a single regenerative power supply can be used in conjunction with several SEW-EURODRIVE frequency inverters. This extends the benefits of a single unit to multiple drives or drive axes.

The energy savings potential involved is considerable. In the case of hoists, for example, as much as 40 percent of the energy supplied by the motor can potentially be recovered.

1. Storage bundle
2. Power interface
3. Inverter: MOVIAXIS^® multi-axis servo inverter
4. Control: MOVI-PLC^® with energy management modules
5. Gearmotors

A decentralized power supply using highly efficient storage solutions is another way to dramatically reduce energy consumption. Wouldn't it be nice to only draw as much power from the grid as is actually needed to keep a system running, especially if a large proportion of the energy required can be covered by regenerative energy.

Drive Power Solution: Intelligent drive solution

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SEW-EURODRIVE

SEW-EURODRIVE's MOVI-DPS® decentralized power supply will enable you to move into energy-optimized, performance-optimized "green logistics". From energy interfaces, power interfaces and storage bundles to energy management, system operators receive a package including a range of components that make it possible to design an intelligent power and energy management system for their mobile and stationary applications.

The key is that our solution can calculate the energy volumes and power requirements of the application in advance, as a function of the travel cycle. Particularly in applications with cyclical load cycles, this means energy-intensive peak currents can be avoided and energy demand minimized.

But that's not all – by smoothing the power curve and reducing the input power, the system operator no longer has to design the infrastructure for peak currents, which represents another cost saving. For example, our pioneering drive solution can be used to cut the connected load of a storage/retrieval system by up to 80 percent and reduce consumption by as much as 40 percent compared to using braking resistors.

Perpetual motion still be just a dream, but innovative, intelligent power supply is already possible.

Specialists at SEW-EURODRIVE have taken up this issue to offer customers service that is as efficient and easy to use as possible. And they're going one step further. Service shouldn't just be a service for the customer but a personalized offering – in other words, a service portfolio adapted to the individual customer. But what exactly is meant by personalized service, and what added value does it deliver for the customer?

Everybody is taking about the major issue of "Industry 4.0." In the future, production will be fully networked to generate machine-related data. Using this data, companies can then control service needs precisely and minimize idling times.

The solution to all these new requirements is SEW-EURODRIVE's Life Cycle Services, which doesn't just come into play when the product has already failed but ensures long-term reliability right from the outset. As the word suggests, service covers a product's entire life cycle. This begins before you buy a product from our portfolio. We refer to this as the orientation phase and give you an overview of all the service options. We design a package that is specially tailored to your situation and requirements to optimize decision-making for your new product. The orientation phase is followed by five additional phases that cover the entire product life cycle and are tailored precisely to an individual customer's needs.

Do you already have detailed information on our service portfolio? You can find all the details about our Life Cycle Services here

For example, surgeons have the opportunity to practice highly complex procedures beforehand. Pilots can get to know aircraft and learn how to take off and land at airports they could not otherwise fly into or could only get practice with on a very costly simulator. In design and construction offices in urban development, plans are created that you can go through in advance and, for example, define paths and routes for sights or events that enable optimum control of visitor flows. But virtual reality is also finding its way into industrial applications.

Industry 4.0 - Processsimualtion with SEW-EURODRIVE

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Simulation for test and approval. Befor builiding up the real final solution, all processes can be optimized til they are perfect by Lean.

The digital twin supports the workflows in the production and assembly process. In our case, we’ve created digital twins in VR for our showcase factory of the gear units to be assembled. In addition to optimizing the process, this also makes it possible to check directly in VR whether and how a product can be assembled.

But workflows can also be planned in detail in the assembly areas themselves. Solutions are thus created without complex charts and calculations and, after customer approval, can be transferred to the real world at the click of a button. We have also designed our control technology so that two operating systems run alongside each other – one for the virtual world, the other for the real world. If all the processes and workflows have been optimized in the virtual world, we "simply" move the data as parameters to the second operating system, and the equipment configures itself.

Industry 4.0 - Augmented Reality

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In Industry 4.0 Augmented Reality supports to visualize the assembly steps

The virtual world also supports employees in actual production. Augmented reality, in the form of HoloLens glasses, enables employees to see the composition of products directly without having to look through the instructions. We use HoloLens to show employees the correct assembly steps in specific operations or to offer them the relevant hands-on training, for example for a new product or where a colleague is being helped out on a temporary basis. This enables us to provide our employees with support, especially when we are producing a single unit and given the extreme variation of our products, while at the same time helping to reduce the error rate to zero.

Augmented reality (AR) is the computer-aided enhancement of the perception of reality. This information can stimulate all the human senses. However, augmented reality is often only understood as the visual representation of information – in other words, supplementing images or videos by displaying or overlaying them with additional computer-generated information or virtual objects. (Wikipedia)

Looking toward the future, the possibilities of virtual technology extend even further. Will we still need to be physically close to each other to work on developments or system planning? In the context of globalization in particular, with teams of developers spread around the world, we can use virtual worlds to work together on projects, coordinate our activities and share information and ideas without having to spend hours traveling – just as players of online games spread around the world can also access their games. This will enable us to bring together the world’s best experts virtually and develop optimum products and solutions while also protecting the environment.

Think about special crane systems, for instance. They play a key role in production processes in mechanical and plant engineering, logistics, aerospace engineering and renewable energies. Customers’ requirements are therefore discerning. We can supply solutions for almost every conceivable drive task thanks to our proven modular system. Our planetary gear units are very popular choices for crane hoists, for example. How do you benefit from them? Thanks to their high torque density, they are only about half the volume and weight of ordinary gear unit types. This of course cuts energy consumption and therefore operating costs.

Our P series gear units can be selected for a defined service life. This enables them to accommodate up to 25 % higher nominal torque than the standard selection – so you can choose an even more compact design to reduce your procurement costs.

Which system of yours can we pack a powerful punch into?

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