B&R Automation unveils its AcoposTrak flexible and intelligent product transport system, which is designed to allow for the manufacture of custom product sets at full production speed without changeover downtime.<\/p>\n
Customer demands have been leading manufacturers to pursue mass customization capabilities for years now. Numerous methods have been devised to enable this, but most have not been economically viable due to the mechanical realities of machine downtime and changeover requirements. To address these issues, B&R Automation unveiled its AcoposTrak technology at the SPS\/IPC\/Drives 2017 event in Nuremberg, Germany this week.<\/p>\n
Robert Kickinger, mechatronic technologies manager at B&R Automation, called the AcoposTrak an example of the implementation of \u201cdigitalization at the level of motion control and mechanics to move products through machines and lines\u201d and make mass customization\u2014even batches of one\u2014economically viable. Kickinger noted that AcoposTrak is based on long stator linear motor technology to architect flexible and intelligent product transport systems.<\/p>\n B&R Automation says AcoposTrak is an example of its adaptive machine concept, enabled by its use of electronic diverters that can pass product from one line of track to another at full production speeds and \u201csmart system software\u201d that allows for full speed merging of product flows and sorting. AcoposTrak also features hot-swappable shuttles that use magnets to hold shuttles in place, thereby creating no wear. Pit lanes on AcoposTrak allow for in-process changeover and servicing with no machine downtime. The system\u2019s technology is reportedly capable of accelerating at more than 5 g and has a top speed in excess of 4 meters per second.<\/p>\n Managing product transport out of four basic elements, AcoposTrak can be assembled into any shape, said Kickinger. \u201cTracks can be closed or open and can be combined freely to shape the track to meet the needs of your process,\u201d he said. Because AcoposTrak is based on a \u201cscalable, decentralized system architecture,\u201d Kickinger noted that the technology allows for \u201ctrack lengths in excess of 100 meters and more than 250 shuttles to be controlled by one automation PC.\u201d<\/p>\n In the demonstration at the SPS\/IPC\/Drives event, AcoposTrak\u2019s ability to generate a digital twin was also highlighted. According to B&R, the system automatically generates a digital twin by using the system\u2019s application code. With AcoposTrak\u2019s software-in-the-loop approach, users can validate engineering at early stages of development before deploying hardware, thus enabling the digital twin to help users optimize system designs for easier commissioning and smoother operation while reducing development times for new machines or implementing new products into existing machines.<\/p>\n AcoposTrak will be available in the U.S. in September 2018.<\/p>\n Source : https:\/\/www.automationworld.com\/article\/industry-type\/discrete-manufacturing\/mechanically-enabling-batch-one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" B&R Automation unveils its AcoposTrak flexible and intelligent product transport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n