EQUIPPED FOR THE INDUSTRY 4.0 ENVIRONMENT

Bietigheim-Bissingen, April 2018 - Dürr's 12,000th painting robot, an EcoRP L033i, will be painting plastic components for automotive production together with its 21 'siblings'. Fitted with a host of sensors, these robots are equipped for the requirements of the Industry 4.0 environment. They are part of the latest generation of the Ecopaint robot family and provide real-time data, which is analyzed and evaluated using Dürr's new software products.

As the general contractor, Dürr is in charge of delivering the turnkey paint shop of a polymer specialist in Europe. The scope includes a total of 22 six-axis EcoRP L033i, which show off their versatility in the painting process. A single robot model can take on very different tasks: the application of primer, base coat and clear coat as well as flame treatment. This method prepares plastic surfaces, ready for coating. For this purpose, Dürr equips the robots with a special device, which enables them to operate a burner and be moved together with it. The 12,000th robot will be used in the top-coat line.

The seamless component design and the low complexity of the latest robot generation facilitate any maintenance work. One example is the easy removal of the outer casing. This reduces the time it takes to replace integrated pneumatic, control or high-voltage components in the robot by up to 50 percent.

Equipped with the latest software

The state-of-the-art paint shop is designed for Industry 4.0 production and includes a whole range of applications such as EcoScreen Equipment Analytics. This software captures process and motion data of individual robots and entire painting cells in real time, and displays them on an operating computer.

"Once analyzed online, this information helps us make processes more efficient, eliminate faults and support any maintenance work", says Dr. Hans Schumacher, CEO of Dürr Systems AG, listing the key benefits.

The EcoScreen Maintenance Assistant indicates when maintenance work is due through a traffic-light function on the monitor. For this purpose, the software is not guided by time-based maintenance intervals, but instead analyzes the system status using variables such as the number of valve switching cycles or the load profiles of the servo motors.

The new plant will also be equipped with the latest generation of visualization software, EcoScreen 3D-OnSite 4. It serves as a tool to program, simulate and parametrize painting robots. Since it is connected to the robot controls via the network, it is possible to change teaching programs and process data in the shortest space of time.