Chip by chip

One word, two figures and a punctuation mark are sparking plenty of animated debate, as did once upon a time the vision of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM): we’re talking about Industry 4.0, the new manufacturing concept with web-based networking. But what role are the tools playing in this context? A situation report from the 2012 Tool Conference in Schmalkalden, the meeting point for insiders from the metal-cutting sector.

The controversial issue of Industry 4.0 – some people are already dubbing it derisively “CIMera 2.0” – was not on the agenda at the 10^th Tool Conference in Schmalkalden. Nevertheless, the manufacturers and users of metal-cutting tools are not indifferent to the issue: when you take a closer look, you can already discover some tools with the right stuff for Industry 4.0. As indeed the 200 conferees saw for themselves, both in the presentations and during a tour of the test bay and the laboratories of the GFE – Gesellschaft für Fertigungstechnik und Entwicklung Schmalkalden e.V. (Society of Production Technology and Development), who organised this symposium themed around high-precision tools.

When the tool transmits

The experts in Thuringia unveiled a mechatronic tool, for example, designed for retrograde machining of large boreholes, which uses telemetry to acquire the ongoing status of the tool during the metal-cutting operation. This tool, which acquires and transmits measured data, fits in neatly with the new concept known as the “Internet of Things”, in which basically all participants communicate with each other just like on the conventional web. To quote GFE scientist Bernd Aschenbach: “The use of mechatronic tools with integrated sensor-monitored actuators can help to downsize the amount of work required for producing retrograde counterbores on large-size machining centres while retaining high levels of process dependability.”  In order to reduce the costs involved, GFE has developed a prototype featuring standard electronic modules. What are called Hall sensors monitor the end positions of the hydraulic cutting drive, which are communicated to a base station.

The BMBF’s (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) joint project called Sensomikrosys goes one step further. What’s been created here is extremely small sensors that monitor in real-time machines and tool components exposed to highly dynamic loads. These microsystemsFootwear