Recently, in the sixth episode of “Digital New Engine” of the latest large-scale industrial documentary "Power Surging" broadcast by CCTV, the intelligent manufacturing upgrade scene of Sany Heavy Industry's Beijing Pile Machine Factory has attracted special attention.

Here, 5G, big data, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet and other digital new technologies and advanced manufacturing are integrated with each other, becoming the driving engine for Sany Heavy Industry to break through the waves, giving birth to the world's first factory for flexible production of heavy equipment.

Flexible production, generally speaking, is to use only one production line to complete the manufacture of multiple products of different specifications. In this way, the factory can customize production according to user needs, and at the same time, the customization cost will be effectively controlled.

For heavy equipment such as pile cranes, it is not simple to realize the flexibility of the production line. The main shaft is the core component of the pile machine. When it is put into the shaft sleeve by the manipulator, the position error cannot exceed 0.5 mm. The problem arises here.

The largest spindle of the model weighs more than 1000 kg. When moving parts of this weight class, a position shift of 2 to 3 mm is a common situation. The positioning must be carried out at all times, so that the control system always grasps the precise position of the part, in order to smoothly carry out the next operation.

If a mechanical or electronic sensor method is used, 100 types of parts must be matched to 100 sensor layouts, so the flexibility of the equipment is very limited.

By using a robot stereo vision system, Sany Heavy Industry has broken this predicament. The two cameras of the robot stereo vision system are like human eyes, with powerful perception and computing capabilities, and can generate 1 million three-dimensional data coordinates per second. Using binocular matching calculation, the scene depth information and 3D model can be obtained in real time.

In this way, large or small deviations of different types of spindles due to different weights during the handling process can be immediately sensed and corrected, so as to achieve error control within 0.5 mm.

Through this improvement, Sany Heavy Industry successfully released the flexible manufacturing capabilities of existing equipment. In the future, with 30 models of pile driver core components ranging from 4,300 kg to 16,200 kg, the manipulator can accurately control its position within 0.5 mm.

Today, the Chinese manufacturing upgrade story represented by Sany's smart manufacturing plant is being staged in China every day, and cutting-edge technologies such as smart perception, deep learning, and digital twins are taking root in the manufacturing field. From manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing, China is accelerating to become a pioneer of intelligent manufacturing with super strength.Editor/Baohongying