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Reduce machine development times significantly

Semi-automated production line with operators. In the foreground, a service technician reads out parameters using his laptop.

Given the many movements encountered in assembly and handling systems, it is important to keep track of the cycle and execution time in each case. This makes it possible to react quickly if necessary, for example in order to replace components or carry out maintenance in a timely manner. To meet these and other requirements, Bosch Connected Industry’s Nexeed portfolio offers assistance systems which are already used in hundreds of assembly and production testing systems. These proven apps are also available in Bosch Rexroth’s ctrlX World. In 2022, the new modular and model-based engineering system from Nexeed will also be integrated into the Bosch Rexroth ecosystem. As a result, it will be possible to reduce machine development times by up to 50 percent.

Bosch Connected Industry offers IIoT software and services for the digital factory. These include the Nexeed product portfolio which is geared to optimizing automation, manufacturing and intralogistics processes with regard to transparency, agility, costs, quality and time. It includes an automation solution and the modular Nexeed Industrial Application System for connected production.

With Nexeed, Bosch Connected Industry is a ctrlX World partner. The modular engineering solutions for machine manufacturers and the assistance systems for machine operators fit perfectly into the partner world of ctrlX AUTOMATION, Bosch Rexroth’s open automation platform. After all, the Nexeed assistance systems are small applications with their own web UI. Machine manufacturers can integrate them via standard interfaces into any project based on ctrlX AUTOMATION – simply through configuration.

Nexeed assistance apps: Identify errors and increase efficiency quickly

The use of apps from the Nexeed portfolio offers immediate benefits. For example, they visualize deviations from the target state for machine operators at the machines themselves. Deviations from the target cycle time are shown in real time for each machine cycle in order to take suitable measures quickly and safeguard output. Error sources can therefore be localized quickly and downtimes in the event of an error can be significantly reduced.

Nexeed Cycle Time Assist is geared to this use case. This app allows cycle time information – including information relating to individual actuators and sensors – to be recorded, evaluated and displayed. With Cycle Time Assist, movements and other activities, e.g. exchanging data with machines’ IT systems, can be recorded and, on this basis, the cause of cycle time deviations can be identified. As a result, cycle time fluctuations and problems soon become apparent and the reasons behind them can be identified definitively.

Nexeed Virtual Assist is an app which can be used as a 3D-based alarm system for production. It complements existing alarm systems with a 3D image of the machine which allows faults to be localized quickly and easily. Virtual Assist can be linked to any apps from the ctrlX World via data layer connection. Displaying error statuses in the 3D model is useful in all sectors and complements any existing reporting system with a spatial view of the error cause.

After the two assistance systems from Bosch Connected Industry were integrated as apps into the ctrlX World in 2021 and have been used successfully by ctrlX AUTOMATION customers, the collaboration will be stepped up further. After all, the fast-growing Bosch Rexroth ecosystem is an ideal propagator for the Nexeed solutions. In 2022, the modular, model-based engineering system will be incorporated into the ctrlX World.

The system aims to reduce the development time for a machine application comprising control and visualization. Modeling (instead of programming) the machine with integrated object management and code generation on that basis makes it possible to reduce the development time by up to 50 percent. This way of working helps machine manufacturers to maintain their competitiveness.

The collaboration between the two Bosch companies shows that various solutions within the Bosch Group complement each other ideally and can be successfully combined in order to create seamless, barrier-free and intermeshing solutions for the Factory of the Future.

If you have any questions or require further information regarding ctrlX AUTOMATION, please contact us:

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Portrait view of Marc Bindel, Head of Product Area Automation & User Experience at Bosch Connected Industry

Marc Bindel

Head of Product Area Automation & User Experience
at Bosch Connected Industry

 

The future of automation – Part 3

Like many other sectors, the industry is in the midst of change. Increasing digitalization and networking give rise to new technologies and processes, but, above all, create significant potential for automation and optimization.

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