Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital twins: These innovative technologies are fundamentally changing the way industrial enterprises manufacture products and optimize processes. Starting with selecting the appropriate components, artificial intelligence can simplify the work of designers. At the Hanover Industrial Fair, igus proved this with igusGO. This artificial intelligence based application only takes a few seconds to discover the potential of igus's lubrication free components in optimizing user application technology. For this reason, designers do not need to browse product catalogs, make phone calls or email inquiries, they only need to take a photo of their application. This application utilizes artificial intelligence algorithms to recognize objects and provides recommendations for igus products to help users improve application reliability and reduce costs. Taking bucket wheel excavators as an example, applications may recommend heavy-duty bearings made of high-performance engineering plastics. In addition, a new study conducted by scientists from Aachen University of Technology in collaboration with igus quantifies for the first time the economic and ecological benefits of non lubricated engineering plastic bearings: based on different applications, lubricant costs can be saved by 70 to 14 million euros per year. At the same time, not using lubricants can also help reduce potential CO2 emissions. Taking Heineken Brazil Brewery, which participated in this study, as an example, by using engineering plastic bearings, the company can reduce its annual CO2 emissions by 0.18 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. "If all of Heineken's global subsidiaries switch to engineering plastic bearings, it can reduce 28.814 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent CO2 emissions annually. This is a small change, big return. Using igusGO can make it easier and faster to discover the potential of sports plastic products in optimizing customer applications. igus launches a large number of innovative products every year, with 227 in 2023 alone. Now, igusGO allows customers to efficiently and transparently browse our growing product library." said Tobias Vogel, head of igus sliding bearings and linear technology. The database of this application now stores over 580 different applications, and this number is increasing every day, involving numerous industries and fields such as coffee machines, crane systems, and airplanes.

Plastic intelligence helps you easily and low-cost achieve predictive maintenance

IGUS's engineering plastics are also very intelligent. At the 2024 Hanover Industrial Expo, igus will showcase intelligent plastic solutions, including drag chain systems equipped with intelligent sensors, cables, linear guides, as well as sliding bearings, self-aligning bearings, and rotary ring bearings. They can not only perform real-time status monitoring, but also connect various networks and IoT systems. This means they can be integrated into predictive maintenance concepts to avoid unexpected equipment shutdowns and potentially costly production shutdowns. Sensors, evaluation modules, and software make dynamic lifespan calculations possible and can help determine the optimal maintenance time for products, which also has significant advantages in improving sustainability. Because this helps to avoid unnecessary or premature product replacement, ensuring that products are only replaced after their lifespan has expired.

But that's not all, igus is constantly developing new smart plastic services to address challenges such as a shortage of skilled labor. One of the achievements of igus is the digital service superwise, which allows users to continuously monitor their applications through a central control panel, greatly reducing the number of workers. The intelligent connection between applications, products, and sensor data, combined with IoT integration options, ultimately results in achieving comprehensive coverage of "plastic intelligence". Customers will automatically receive timely maintenance suggestions, recommendations, warnings, or improvement suggestions. Customers automatically receive timely maintenance suggestions, recommendations, warnings, or improvement suggestions. If the customer does not have time to monitor the application on their own, igus can execute it on their behalf. When there is something they need to complete, they will proactively contact them. Michael Blass, the head of the igus drag chain system, said, "Superwise services combine modern sensor technology for smart plastics with comprehensive digital services. In times of multiple crises, such digital innovation has an unprecedented decisive role in improving competitiveness for enterprises. igus hopes that small and medium-sized enterprises with relatively scarce technology and budget constraints can also benefit from trends such as predictive maintenance."

Utilizing artificial intelligence voice and gesture control to easily operate low-cost robots

Igus will also showcase new products in the field of low-cost automation at the 2024 Hanover Industrial Expo. This is where Cologne Intelligence comes into play. All Igus robots are manufactured in Cologne, covering the entire process from injection molding production and assembly of circuit boards to programming. This includes the ReBeL collaborative robot, whose fully configured plug and play version is currently only sold for 4970 euros. For users who require a more compact solution, igus has developed ReBeL KID.

Visitors attending the preview of this exhibition will also have the opportunity to see our educational AGV, which is an open-source solution and self-learning platform composed of an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system that can be combined with collaborative robots such as ReBeL or ReBeL KID. With the support of various online tools and 3D models, customers can freely match various low-cost accessories (such as grippers or visual systems) from over 100 manufacturers in our RBTX online market, ensuring compatibility between all products. The purpose of establishing this RBTX platform is to enable companies of all sizes to easily and low-cost begin automation. Artificial intelligence is also playing an increasingly important role in this regard. Artificial intelligence can help develop automation solutions faster and easier, such as AI based product simulations. Customers do not need to purchase robots and spend energy on integration work, but can test their applications online in advance.

In addition, igus also offers products based on artificial intelligence voice and gesture control. You can directly connect the Amazon Alexa artificial intelligence app to the igus robot, or integrate gesture control function through ROS 2. The support of artificial intelligence, intuitive and easy to operate features, and low prices have paved the way for low-cost robots to enter the mass market. At present, igus mainly utilizes artificial intelligence to monitor robots and quickly and easily integrate visual sensors. However, igus's robot team is currently researching flexible programming using speech or gestures, with the goal of making it easy for everyone to program robots, not just for robots, but for the entire application. "Whether it's lubrication free, reducing CO2 emissions, or automation, igus' high-performance engineering plastics always bring surprises," Tobias Vogel emphasized. "By combining our innovative products with digital services and new technologies, we hope to demonstrate that igus' lubrication free sports plastics can improve various applications, enhance their sustainability, and help achieve Industry 4.0 integration." Michael Blass concluded.

To help customers achieve sustainable Industry 4.0 transformation, igus has launched low-cost robots supported by artificial intelligence, intelligent maintenance concepts, and online tools based on artificial intelligence, such as the igusGO application, which can discover the optimization potential of customer applications (such as crane systems) in seconds. (This article is from the official website of Jiandao: www.seetao. com. Reproduction without permission is not allowed, otherwise it will be punished. Please indicate Jiandao's website and the original link when reprinting.) Jiandao's mechanical column editor/Zhou Yingwen