Digital twins, cobots and artificial intelligence

Automation technology from the sensor to the cobot. Software for virtual product development and factory control.

Concepts for end-to-end data exchange and platforms for the use of artificial intelligence.

Arno Reich, department head for automation topics at the Hanover Fair:

"The topics that will largely determine what happens at the trade show in the coming year are. digital Twins, Cobots, and Artificial Intelligence."

When physical and digital world merge, Digital Twins are born.

They are created with the product idea, serve as a virtual template during production, and then grow in the Product development process and remain inseparably linked to their real twin over the entire life cycle.

Arno Reich:

"For the Industry there is huge potential in digital images of real products."

Instead of expensive prototypes and lengthy test chains, Digital Twins can be used to run through all kinds of scenarios in the shortest possible time, develop solution strategies, and explore and implement possible improvements.

A practical example: Machine manufacturer Optima uses simulation software to virtually reproduce, test and validate its packaging machines.

The Software comes from the Hannover Messe exhibitor Siemens. This allows the product flow of the Machine calculate and optimize before the Machine is actually built.

"The digital Twin of product and Machine is no longer only useful for Acceleration of Time to Market. It is already the basis for service offerings such as predictive maintenance or new Business models. Visitors will be able to see these and many other practical application examples at the upcoming Hanover Fair get to see"

Reich says.

By 2019, around 1.4 million new in-dustrial andRobot worldwide the Factories according to the forecast of the global industry association International Federation of Robotics.

These include a large number of cobots, or collaborative robots, which work hand in hand with humans.

Cobots are not only very easy to program. Some cobot models learn on their own, for example, when a technician performs a movement with the robot arm and the cobot automatically imitates the action.

They can be used flexibly at different points in the production chain.