Everything will be digital, everything will be smart, everything will be networked in the factory of the future. Manufacturing will become extremely flexible and adaptable to various challenges, including a wide variety of products and flexibility down to batch size 1. This process will be supported by comprehensive digitalization, now commonly referred to as Industry 4.0.

This term first came into the public eye at the Hannover Messe 2011. Over the past ten years, this development has taken on clear contours: Factory automation is shifting towards the intelligent and networked smart factory. But where do you start? To answer this question and implement processes accordingly, SEW-Eurodrive created the Maxolution System Solutions business unit. Here, the Bruchsal-based company bundles technologies and expertise in order to offer its customers holistic system solutions.

Vision of the modular factory

Anyone who does not yet know exactly how to modularize and flexibilize the processes in a factory first needs a concept. Experts from SEW-Eurodrive are on hand to provide help and advice. The extensive range of consulting services offered by the Maxolution System Solutions business unit supports customers in developing their own picture of what possibilities are conceivable for the modular factory of the future.

If a company comes to the conclusion that it wants to continue along this path or already has a concrete idea of its modular factory, the concept is turned into detailed planning. As soon as this planning is complete, the new production facility can be experienced in a virtual environment. Virtual reality (VR) makes it possible to walk through the factory and test work steps before even a single screw has been installed. With the help of VR, users can virtually inspect their specific vehicle, load handling equipment or the entire system before the first vehicle has been assembled.

During the implementation phase, Maxolution creates the mobile assistance systems that are to be used in the customer's new or existing factory. SEW-Eurodrive produces these vehicle modules at the Bruchsal and Graben-Neudorf plants. They are assembled both as standard and on a customer-specific basis. They range from intelligent, small and mobile logistics assistants to interactive, mobile assembly assistants and powerful, networked transport vehicles.

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in a production or logistics facility consist of one to many automated guided vehicles (AGVs). However, these designations are not clearly defined on the market. SEW-Eurodrive builds mobile assistance systems as successors to classic AGVs. These vehicles are designed to optimally support people in all processes. People add value and the logistics are taken over by assistants.

Variety from the modular system

Mobile assistance systems can be used universally and in a variety of ways. A special feature of the assistance systems from SEW-Eurodrive is that they are based on a modular system. This allows them to be designed flexibly according to the needs of the application or special requirements. They can also be easily adapted to existing structures and interfaces.

The experts at Maxolution developed their own software, the Fleet Manager, for fleet management. It handles communication with the higher-level goods management system and controls the individual assistants according to their transport orders, manages intersections and priority rules.

The mobile assistants are equipped with a positioning and navigation system so that they can find their way around the room. Different technologies are used depending on customer requirements. The assistants can be guided inductively via the line conductors of the Movitrans contactless energy transfer system. Or they can use laser contour navigation to determine their surroundings and navigate to the next station. Alternatively, they can also be navigated using RFID or a gyro sensor.

Flexible and extensive energy supply

The mobile assistants are powered contactlessly via an air gap by the Movitrans energy supply system. The energy is transmitted either via a fixed conductor or stationary at a holding point above a field plate. With these two variants, Movitrans line and Movitrans spot, SEW-Eurodrive gives the user a high degree of freedom in routing.
With Movitrans spot, the vehicles are independent of fixed routes and can move freely in space in two dimensions. Only one stationary stopping point above a charging plate is required for inductive charging of their energy storage units. Thanks to this wear-free and low-maintenance form of energy transfer, Movitrans spot offers particularly high ground clearance and flexibility. This system can be used across all sectors for autonomous mobile systems, people movers or transverse transfer cars.

Movitrans line enables energy transmission even over long conveyor distances - contactless, quiet and wear-free. The socket virtually moves with you. The air gap between the line conductor and the transformer head is nominally 20 mm. Thanks to this freedom from contact, high speeds of over 10 meters per second can be achieved. Even if the transformer head is not positioned at a constant distance above the line conductor, high transmission performance is possible. The electromagnetic coupling is completely wear-free and low-maintenance. Movitrans line is very well suited for flexible material transportation in numerous industries. It is predestined for electric monorail systems, lifters, storage and retrieval machines, floor transport systems, shuttles, push platforms with lifting tables or transport systems in logistics centers.

Energy storage for future requirements

The choice of the right energy storage system is crucial for the efficient operation of the mobile assistance system. It depends on the application and the general conditions of the mobile assistance system and is determined by thorough, preliminary system planning. Different storage technologies are used in Maxolution's mobile assistance systems.

They serve a wide range of applications from high-performance, fast-charging capacitor storage systems ("supercaps") to hybrid concepts with nickel-metal hydride storage systems and typical lithium-based traction batteries with a high energy content. The range of storage systems also meets future requirements for factory automation in terms of intermediate charging and fast charging capability. In combination with the stationary energy infrastructure, maximum system availability is achieved. Scheduled downtimes are used effectively for charging.

Components from SEW-Eurodrive's modular drive system are used to move and load the assistants. The products used range from small bevel geared motors to Movi-C drive inverters and servo drives. A Movi-C controller from SEW-Eurodrive ensures the autonomy, communication and control of the drive technology as well as the evaluation of the positioning data in the mobile assistants. It is responsible for the various travel and braking movements as well as for the movement of the respective load handling device on the assistant.

Comprehensive safety precautions

To ensure the safety of people, assistants, factory equipment and machines, all mobile assistance systems are equipped with integrated safety technologies. These range from safety scanners to the Movisafe HM31 central safety controller from SEW-Eurodrive. Each vehicle is intrinsically safe and safely reduces speed to avoid imminent collisions. Thanks to the safe swivel castor with brakes, emergency braking is possible at any time should an obstacle unexpectedly appear on the road.

The assistance systems can communicate with each other and with the environment in different ways - via a configurable WLAN module, via visible light, with the aid of integrated camera systems or an audio unit. Another option is an interchangeable HMI module for local operation on the vehicle. It has variable computing power and enables an immediate status overview with the help of pictograms. There are also studies and already implemented applications for the use of 5G for vehicle communication.

Comprehensive customer service

Regardless of whether factory planners and process optimizers already know exactly how the intralogistics of their factory should change or whether someone wants to take the first steps in this direction: SEW-Eurodrive supports interested parties as well as potential and existing customers in all necessary steps from concept to simulation to commissioning as well as in all services during the entire product life cycle.