Customer Experience Center

Turck is shifting the condition monitoring of the cabling directly to the plug connector

Defective cabling and contact problems can lead to expensive plant downtimes and unscheduled maintenance work – and are one of the most frequent causes of faults. Turck's smart M12Plus connectors now provide a solution and enable the condition monitoring of cables and contacts by measuring current and voltage. Error sources can be identified and localized as each plug connector is assigned a unique address.

Robust interfaces are required to meet the increasing demands of battery management and cell contacting systems in e-mobility. Yamaichi Electronics is now expanding its Y-Lock connector system to include version 4 with Connector Position Assurance (CPA) and integrated contact protection.

E-paper has been around for decades, but it is only recently that the technology has grown in everyday use. However, they are also increasingly being used in production and logistics. E-paper displays are suitable for warehouse management systems, labelling, inventory signs, order picking and much more. E-paper displays offer a wide range of unique benefits compared to conventional displays. DMB Technics even offers them customised.

Efficient production, effective energy management and transparent supply chains. Digital automation solutions guarantee profitability and sustainability at the same time!

Digital automation concepts for battery cell production with RFID, IO-Link, OPC UA and Ethernet guarantee flexibility, reliability and fast ROI. The availability of high-performance batteries at moderate prices is one of the most important factors for the success of electromobility. Short innovation cycles and increasing competition are major challenges for battery manufacturers and carmakers, which above all require flexible, digitized production lines – and automation companies that support...

Companies in the key technologies of optics, photonics, electronics and mechanics now also have an interdisciplinary presentation and networking platform in Thuringia.

No electrical automation is possible without a power supply. HY-LINE Technology therefore offers a comprehensive range of solutions for power supply. The range covers the entire spectrum of possibilities from components for discrete development to modules for integration into the customer's system and ready-to-use power supplies.

From component to system

HY-LINE has been serving many customers in automation technology for 35 years. As of 1 September 2023, the company has bundled its application know-how in HY-LINE Technology GmbH. According to the motto "Everything from a single source", customers benefit from the strategic reorganisation of the company.

PERI 3D Construction’s project showcases 3D construction printing's potential beyond low-rise residential housing, utilizing COBOD's BOD2 printer.

Mastering tomorrow's challenges today.

From a shortage of skilled workers to high energy prices and supply bottlenecks: Small and medium-sized enterprises are currently facing major challenges. In the future, the situation might even become worse. Automation is not the answer to all challenges faced by SMEs, but it is the answer to many. With cobots, industrial robots and software that fits the industry, companies increase their efficiency, add value to jobs, and remain competitive.

TDK Corporation presents the introduction of the 20 W TDK-Lambda brand PYD20 series of DC-DC converters. Featuring an 18:1 ultra-wide input range of 8.5 to 160 Vdc, these board mount products are packaged in the industry-standard 2 x 1 inch format measuring 50.8 x 25.4 x 10.2 mm (L x W x H).

Mak­ing prod­uct data for plant com­po­nents avail­able dig­i­tally and at all times – that is the basic idea of the Dig­i­tal Data Chain (DDC). Siemens is a pi­o­neer in map­ping the en­tire dig­i­tal data chain as the com­pany has now sup­plied Bayer’s Crop Sci­ence Di­vi­sion with sev­eral SITRANS P320 pres­sure trans­mit­ters with stan­dard­ized ID links for unique ob­ject iden­ti­fi­ca­tion.

Turnkey RFID store solution for material logistics. Using an RFID system solution from Turck Vilant Systems, wholesaler chain ProMart developed the “EasyMart” shop concept – self-service containers or store rooms that make fixing materials and tools available at any time and on any site.

With the KRT 3C contrast sensor, Leuze is presenting the smallest contrast sensor it has ever made for the packaging industry. Plant operators benefit from a compact device that can be used in many different ways.

Maintenance events in industrial production sites can only be anticipated, evaluated and properly handled with the right strategies. The main task is to decide which strategy is to be used in a given situation. Using structured methods for this task results in sustainable increase in availability, reduction of waste and thereby a significant business advantage. Synostik describes the appropriate approach in the following article.

The demands on communication systems in rail transport have increased considerably in recent years. In addition to WLAN for passengers, diagnostic systems for predictive maintenance, applications for video security or real-time travel information are increasingly becoming state-of-the-art. With Colibri, Deutsche Bahn AG offers a modular solution for transport companies that covers all communication tasks, including support. At the heart of Colibri is an intelligent high-performance PC from...

Displays are in demand at the industrial environment. They are used in diverse areas and therefore have to meet very different requirements. For this reason, DMB Technics does not develop standard solutions, but customized displays and display systems – also for SMEs (SMEs = Small and Mid-size Enterprises).

Wind River Supports Airbus in its Certification Milestone for Automatic Air-to-Air Refueling (A3R). Wind River®, a global leader in de­liv­er­ing soft­ware for mis­sion-crit­i­cal in­tel­li­gent sys­tems, has col­lab­o­rated with Air­bus to sup­port the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Trans­port (MRTT) for au­to­matic air-to-air re­fu­el­ing (A3R) air­craft. The MRTT air­craft is the world’s first tanker to be cer­ti­fied for au­to­matic air-to-air re­fu­el­ing boom op­er­a­tions in day­light.

A special highlight at this year's AMB was the world premiere of the new BA 711 space – a flexible single-station machine for small and medium series production of precision parts made of cast iron, cast steel or steel.

Programming of a laser stripper during operation by operators without software know-how. MBDA, a leading European aerospace manufacturer, wanted to robotise certain processes in small series or even single unit production, by allowing an operator with no programming skills to teach the robotic system, in just a few seconds, the process to be carried out, and then to execute the cycle with complete confidence without human supervision. Fuzzy Logic's Repplix™ application software module addresses...

Until now, it was common in the automotive industry to purchase an individual system for the automated production of a specific product or workpiece. This investment paid for itself due to the plant and product runtimes of almost ten years each. But the situation is increasingly changing. Production capacity utilisation with a single product type produced in high volumes over a long period of time is only possible in rare cases.

A comprehensive range of digital services leads SW's customers into the digital age in a practical and production-oriented manner. From this so-called life data portfolio, modules can be flexibly selected that best support a company in achieving its individual goals – for example, increasing productivity. Data sovereignty always remains with the customer.

Pressing, joining, screwing, gluing, coating – SW Automation designs custom solutions for assembly automation that increase efficiency in automotive manufacturing. Employees are deployed precisely where their flexibility and intuition are indispensable.

Siemens AG has launched an open digital business platform, Siemens Xcelerator, to accelerate digital transformation and value creation for customers of all sizes in industry, buildings, grids and mobility. The business platform makes digital transformation easier, faster and scalable.

The market for transflective displays has grown recently, especially in the e-mobility sector. The potential applications in this field require high readability in different light conditions, such as direct sunlight.

With the automation modules from SW, CNC machining centres and peripheral stations can be optimally linked to form highly productive production lines or operated in a matrix production.

Whether for dip coating basins or container ports – radar technology offers clear benefits over alternative solutions using ultrasonic or optical sensor technology in many application fields. However, radar sensors have rarely been used to date for distance or level measurements in production and logistics. With its LRS+ and DR-M30 radar sensors, Turck now offers efficient solutions for demanding applications in these areas as well. The browser-based Turck Radar Monitor visualizes the signal...

The development of rubber gloves is a lengthy process. Malaysian company Le Inoova has automated this process – with the help of integrator IDEA and a KUKA robot. It now ensures greater precision and less waste.

Sierra Space, a lead­ing com­mer­cial space com­pany at the fore­front of cre­at­ing and build­ing the fu­ture of space trans­porta­tion and in­fra­struc­ture for Low Earth orbit (LEO) com­mer­cial­iza­tion, has im­ple­mented Siemens’ Xcel­er­a­tor port­fo­lio of soft­ware and ser­vices as the foun­da­tion of its next-gen­er­a­tion dig­i­tal en­gi­neer­ing pro­gram.

KUKA robots relieve the staff of a private brewer when palletising and depalletising beer crates. Small but excellent – that’s the motto of the Christian Fiedler private brewery from the Saxon village of Oberscheibe. With 18 employees, the family business is very successful in producing premium beers according to the time-honored art of German brewing. A KUKA robot makes this work easier.

Spectra PowerBox 5000: Scalable high-end GPU computing system.

Modern processes in industrial AI and machine vision are closely linked to image processing. This requires industrial PC systems with CPU and GPU performance large enough to process the tasks in real time.

Spectra PowerBox 3000C – Mini‑PC with Coffee Lake Power.

High com­put­ing power, ex­ten­sive ex­pan­sion op­tions as well as the com­pact de­sign have made the mini PCs of the Spec­tra Power­Box 3000 se­ries a real 19-inch al­ter­na­tive since the first gen­er­a­tion. Due to these char­ac­ter­is­tics, they are rec­om­mended, for ex­am­ple, for use in ma­chine and sys­tem con­trol.

Spectra-Panel Z-Series meets requirements of the food, pharmaceutical and medical industries.

Hygiene requirements are particularly high in the food, pharmaceutical and medical industries. Since the spread of particles, germs and other contaminants must be prevented at all costs, materials are used in the production process whose contamination potential is as low as possible.

UniStream: Compact All-in-One controllers now with 10‑inch display.

For system integrators, compact All-in-One PLCs offer a particularly convenient way to implement interactive control tasks. If the appropriate programming software is also included in the package, implementing the tasks is particularly easy.

Industrial mobile routers. Re­mote main­te­nance and re­mote man­age­ment of ma­chines and plants are im­por­tant com­po­nents of dig­i­tal­i­sa­tion. They save time-con­sum­ing and costly on-site ser­vice vis­its and are at the same time the entry into IIoT and In­dus­try 4.0. With the 4G routers of the UR se­ries, Spec­tra of­fers a com­plete range of in­dus­trial 4G mo­bile radio routers.

Special format, high resolution, suitable for industrial use and even with touch! Is it all possible? All this is possible with DMB Technics. With the small bar-type TFT display, the most diverse application wishes can be realised.

Using Kaizen methods and the goal of lean intralogistics and production, the Panasonic Laboratory for intralogistics explore inventory and material flow and ultimately create a future-proof process flow.

Service Center, laboratories and development departments at Panasonic Campus Munich. Laboratories and service centers are the core of technological innovations - and ultimately guarantee customized solutions across all industries. In this article, you will learn why the Customer Experience Centre on the Panasonic Campus Munich with its bundled development and service competence is the centre for high technology that creates concrete added value.

The two particularly compact and flat silicone keyboards DS85S and DS105S TP from Printec-DS offer full functionality, are very space-saving and designed for the harshest, industrial applications (IP68).

The CONEC connector series with bayonet quick locking system allows safe and quick locking even in areas that are difficult to reach and / or not visible. With the three-point bayonet locking, it is possible to lock the connection by hand with a 90° turn. You get a direct tactile and acoustic feedback as soon as the connector is locked.

DC-DC converters are used in many applications; telecom, data communications, test and measurement, process control, semiconductor fabrication, industrial manufacturing, medical devices and battery powered equipment. They offer a simple way of deriving additional low power outputs from a higher power AC-DC supply, for example a 24 V output driving motors, relays or pumps. Alternatively if the system is powered by a 12 V battery, DC-DC converters can provide stable, regulated voltages during the...

Ma­chin­ery and plants as well as pro­duc­tion processes gen­er­ate a con­tin­ual flow of data. Com­pa­nies that are able to gen­er­ate added value from this data will be able to enjoy suc­cess in the fu­ture. How­ever, the large amount of gen­er­ated data must be eas­ily ac­ces­si­ble to the ma­chine op­er­a­tor via a HMI (Human Ma­chine In­ter­face). With the u-cre­ate PRO­CON-WEB SCADA soft­ware tool and PRO­CON-WEB Em­bed­ded Sys­tem, Weidmüller pro­vides vi­su­al­i­sa­tion so­lu­tions with...

The successful Y-Circ P series of push-pull circular connectors from Yamaichi Electronics is being expanded with a new release system.

With the Mustang-T100-T5 ICP Germany expands its portfolio of AI accelerator cards and brings another possibility to extend existing systems with AI functionalities.

Innovative robot teaching without programming efforts. It is no longer possible to imagine the industrial environment without robots. They are the backbone of the smart factory. Increasingly, however, the digital helpers can also be found in other environments. The Dresden-based company Wandelbots has now developed a solution that makes the use of robots interesting for small and medium-sized companies in many industries. An industrial PC from Kontron plays a central role in this setup.

The latest generation of electrified drives is produced at the Dingolfing site in Germany, the BMW Group competence center for e-drive production. Here, KUKA implemented a fully automated test system for testing up to eight different drive variants. For more than 35 years, KUKA has been successfully integrating assembly and test systems for the automotive industry internationally and optimizing their production through efficient automation solutions.

Since time immemorial, many display manufacturers have been advertising ever higher resolutions for their panels. Yet resolution is only one of many characteristics of a high-quality display. For some years now, displays can be produced with such a high resolution that this criterion has become secondary. A high pixel density also has disadvantages with regard to the brightness or contrast ratio of displays. DMB Technics explains the advantages of local dimming and how this solution becomes...

Dynetics presents the SOMANET servo drives from Synapticon: Integrated motion for robotics, machine building and autonomous industrial systems. Synapticon, based in Schönaich near Stuttgart, Shanghai and Redwood City (Silicon Valley), is reshaping the world of motion control for robotics and machines at the point of motion. The company is introducing an entirely new approach to motion axes by integrating formerly discrete components such as motors, drives, sensors and gears into seamless units,...

Bressner Technology, a leading provider of hardware and software solutions, expands its IoT portfolio with the Digi IX15. It is the only fully functional industrial cellular gateway with Zigbee support. The Digi IX15 serves as both a gateway and a router, providing mission-critical applications with a suitable network platform.

Capacitive silicone force sensor SXTSC1 by Sateco. Through its subsidiary, Sateco XT AG, Sateco is breaking new ground and adding the capacitive silicone sensor SXTSC1 to its portfolio of established keypad systems. The elastomer sensor works according to the capacitive operating principle and can continuously measure both touch and compressive force.

Push­ing the per­for­mance en­ve­lope with ad­vanced edge-based hard­ware, Sfera Labs has in­tro­duced its lat­est multi-sen­sor mod­ule. The Exo Sense Pi lever­ages Rasp­berry Pi 4 com­put­ing ca­pa­bil­i­ties. This com­pact wall-mount unit fea­tures a 64-bit quad-core ARM Cor­tex-A72 proces­sor run­ning at up to 1.5 GHz, which is way be­yond what other sen­sor mod­ules on the mar­ket can de­liver.

Spectra PowerBox 5000: Scalable high-end GPU computing system. Modern processes in industrial AI and machine vision are closely linked to image processing. This requires industrial PC systems with CPU and GPU performance large enough to process the tasks in real time.

CoreTechnologie's 3D printing software 4D_Additive enables quality check, repair and preparation of models in accordance to CAD‑engineering standard. Considering the demographic development and the fact that the baby boomers will retire within the next fifteen years, industrial production will have to be guaranteed in the future with increasingly scarce human resources. A drastic population decline is also forecast in China. Thus, the disappearance of the world's extended workbench is a very...

iTAC.​SMT.​Edge: Efficient solution for standardisation and centralisation of data in SMT production. Data is becoming more and more important in electronics manufacturing. It is the basis for increasing efficiency, avoiding errors and creating more value, for example through prevention and prediction services. SMT manufacturers and other manufacturing companies are faced with the challenge of having to collect and analyze data accordingly in order to be able to develop such services. Especially...

With the Y-FLEX high-speed FPC you can establish data rates of 56 Gbps (PAM4) over a cable length of 100 mm. Conventional technologies such as Flexible Flat Cables and Flexible Printed Circuits (FFC/FPC) or micro-coaxial cables cannot cope with requirements for extremely high reliability and continuously increasing data transmission rates between internal printed circuit boards. The Y-FLEX technology of Yamaichi Electronics solves this problem.

Wearables from ProGlove make humans a driving force of Industry 4.0 and digital transformation. The Digital Twin is a digitized model that maps the physical characteristics of a production environment as well as the processes. But this mapping has its limitations, as it only includes data from machines and not from humans. At the same time, human employees will continue to play an important role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. The challenge lies in combining the...

maxon precision motors control the pitch of the rotor blades. Space fans are thrilled: NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has successfully completed its pioneering flight on Mars. This is the first time in the history of powered, unmanned spaceflight that a device has flown in a controlled manner on another planet – also thanks to DC motors that have been modified for this challenge.

Bressner Technology, a leading provider of specialized high-performance computing (HPC), has expanded its PCI Express Gen 4 product line with the introduction of the 4U Pro, a professional Gen 4 expansion platform that offers twice the performance of the previous Gen 3 standard.

PrintJet CONNECT – The networked high-performance printer for efficient and high-quality markings. Today's marking processes need to be as fast, reliable, efficient, and flexible as possible. At the same time, customers also expect a print result that is perfect in every respect. And this is precisely where the new PrintJet CONNECT from Weidmüller comes in. Fitted with a high-quality industrial print head, the high-performance PrintJet CONNECT inkjet printer is the logical continuation of the...

In the body shop of the international automobile premium manufacturer, an automated guided vehicle (AGV) system makes fully automated production safer and more efficient. As general contractor, KUKA was responsible for the AGV system integration in the entire body shop: from the development of the safety concept, through planning, engineering, simulation and project management. A milestone was set in the AGV supported production of vehicle bodies.

Every manufacturing application is different. Every operating environment is unique. To take account of the wide range of applications, Spectra offers industrial PC systems in various designs and system configurations – off the rack or perfectly matched to the respective application.

KUKA is implementing a fully automated test system for testing the oil and water cavity and the fuel rail in the engine block. The BMW Group plant in Hams Hall, just outside Birmingham, UK, produces three- and four-cylinder gasoline engines. The production also includes the machining of key engine components. Here, KUKA has implemented a fully automated test system for testing two different engine generations.

Solutions and innovations for factory automation, material flow, laboratory, and people counting. High-precision sensors for medical technology, high-performance control technology, and IIoT-based material flow solutions – Panasonic Industry Europe presents innovative products and solutions to meet today‘s challenges across industries and in society.

In 2014, the collaboration between CONEC and the team of Kamaro‑Engineering began. Kamaro-Engineering e.V. specializes in the development of field robots which enable new, environmentally friendly methods in agriculture.

With each new generation, electrical devices are becoming smaller, more powerful and safer to use. The devices have to meet the ever-growing market requirements and within increasingly shorter development cycles. In addition, the digital transformation in industry continues to progress and requires reliable and stable connections for its implementation. All this presents device manufacturers with major challenges that must be solved using the right device connection technology.

NASA’s fifth rover is on the way to Mars. Its main mission is to collect soil samples that will be analysed on Earth later. The rover will also carry a helicopter that will perform the first flights on the Red Planet. maxon's precision DC and BLDC motors will be used for numerous mission-critical tasks.

Printec-DS Keyboard has launched the DS1T product series of industrial single pushbuttons. Using the new series, existing systems can be expanded easily, and customer-specific new developments can be implemented quickly and cost-effectively. Thanks to the universal design of the buttons, combinations of different technologies are possible in a very small space.

What was unthinkable a few years ago is now becoming reality with digitalisation and additive manufacturing – for example customized bicycle helmets. The head is simply scanned with a smartphone app and the process for the custom-made helmet is initiated. Siemens, together with EOS, has supported this vision of the bicycle helmet manufacturer Hexr.

dSPACE and Velodyne Lidar Inc. have entered into a partnership to accelerate future developments of lidar technologies for autonomous driving. To this end, dSPACE, a leader and partner for simulation and validation in the automotive industry, has joined the Velodyne program ‘Automated with Velodyne.’ The program aims to accelerate ecosystem interactions and rapidly integrate lidar innovations into a range of autonomous solutions including autonomous driving.

Climate change requires a rapid rethinking of energy policy worldwide. Renewable energy plays an important role in this context. In Germany, power generation with wind turbines is a key component of the turnaround in energy policy. However, critics fear that the expansion of wind farms will be at the expense of nature. With a solution based on embedded computing technology from Kontron, Fleximaus GmbH is building a bridge between wind power and species conservation.

The ProGlove smart glove scanner has been in use for a number of years at TTI Europe, based in Maisach near Munich. Since deploying the ProGlove barcode scanners, the electronics distributor has unlocked multiple productivity efficiencies through its ergonomic handling, reliability and robust industrial design. Overall, the time saved due to the introduction of streamlined barcode scanning exceeds ten hours per day.

Ice cubes. A shot of rum. Stir in the cola. Preferably add a slice of lime. And voilà: the Cuba Libre is ready. But on the rooftop terrace of the TownHouse Duomo Hotel in Milan, the drink is not mixed by a bartender, but rather by a robot. With “Toni”, a KUKA robot from the KR AGILUS series, visitors can order their drink via app – and then enjoy it freshly prepared a few minutes later. “Toni” merely has a few problems with the small talk.

KINEXON implements intelligent navigation for driverless vehicles with the Kontron KBox. Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things are changing production and logistics processes in the long term. In the future, objects will be networked and interact automatically in all areas. In order to guarantee smooth processes, detailed position and status data must be generated and analyzed. KINEXON, located in Munich, Germany, has developed KINEXON Brain, an intelligent solution based on an IoT...

New automation solutions including servo drives, operating terminals and communication modules for a wide range of industries. Panasonic Industry Europe presented its technology portfolio for the automation sector at the SPS 2019 in Nuremberg. From 26 to 28 November, the Panasonic Industry Stand in Hall 4A showcased 341 products and solutions for a wide range of industries. From high-precision sensors to control technology, drives and operating terminals, Panasonic is the partner of choice when...

No matter if it’s a flashlight or a Tesla: They don’t work without a battery. maxon recently started a small but excellent workshop for manufacturing lithium-ion battery packs.

In the future, applications in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be established in almost every industry and will decisively determine progress in entrepreneurial value creation. For this reason, Kontron offers powerful systems for AI applications, such as the KISS 4U V3 SKX industrial server and the KBox B-202-CFL.

LaVa-X from Aachen has developed a machine that uses the LaVa process to increase the quality and welding depth of laser welding of metals.

Two KUKA omniMoves automate the transportation of goods at Austria Metall AG (AMAG). The autonomous transport platforms are responsible for the independent transportation of heavy aluminum plates and contribute greatly to making the intralogistics more flexible. The omnidirectional platforms move autonomously and perform the final production step independently.

Above all, standardisation, automation and process-wide solutions offer considerable optimisation potential for time-consuming, manual activities such as panel building. Weidmüller has been working very intensively on these areas and has developed solutions for every work step, speeding up processes by up to 80 per cent.

With the Mustang-MPCIE-MX2 card, ICP Deutschland expands its portfolio of AI accelerator cards with a Mini PCIe plug-in card variant.

Panasonic Industry is well known for its extensive automation technology portfolio with industry-leading innovations and components. With this article, WA3000 Industrial Automation reports about Panasonic's core competencies in the areas of safety technology, energy management and efficiency.

The concept of the seventh axis provides robot applications with an increased motion range. With the Seventh Axis system from the Actuator System Line Rollon offers a practical solution for this task.

It started with a blank. But how does the workpiece get onto the line or into the machine? Depending on the state it is delivered in, this task can quickly become very complex. Reliable 3D object detection systems optically capture and evaluate data. Liebherr works with a variety of 3D vision systems to match the requirements and smoothly handles the supply of every haphazardly stored part with process precision.