Time saver Trumpf AI speeds up the commissioning of punch-laser machines

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The software "Runability Guide" now supports the manual setup of new orders for the fully automated punch-laser machine Trumatic 5000 using artificial intelligence (AI).

At its Intech 2024 in-house exhibition, Trumpf is showing with the "Runability Guide" a first version of a new AI-based tool that allows users to set up the Trumatic 5000 punch-laser machine faster and easier. So far, every time a production worker wants to produce a new order with previously unknown geometries or materials, he has to individually test the program on the machine. Especially with fully automated machines that produce many different parts, this results in unproductive downtime, according to Trumpf. However, with the AI-supported software Runability Guide, you can now avoid up to 20 minutes of downtime when setting up the machine. The software shows the employee, using different rating models for each order, whether the Trumatic can directly produce the components, or whether manual interventions are expected. This not only saves time, but can also deploy the expertise of the staff for value-added tasks, or train new personnel.

The risk of jammed components is minimized.

If a machine produces parts automatically, errors can occur. It can also happen that the automation cannot correctly remove the part from the skeleton due to jamming, as Trumpf further explains. This results in a stoppage and a production worker must manually remove the part from the machine room. The machine must also be restarted. Whether the component can be removed reliably depends, among other things, on the geometry of the part and the position of the grippers on the workpiece. The Runability Guide now checks, for example, how much the component bends under the action of gravity during removal and can thereby jam. If a pre-determined limit value is exceeded, the software marks the corresponding spot in red, it continues. This allows the employee to immediately see which components of an order he should adjust. In addition to details about possible errors, the AI-based software also makes a recommendation as to which orders are suitable for the night shift.

AI tool beats physical simulations in terms of time

The Runability Guide uses various models to determine the complexity of the component. For this purpose, Trumpf developers continually provide the knowledge of experts from production in the cloud, as we further learn. In addition, the software performs the evaluation using physical simulations and AI to identify possible challenges in the process steps. Lastly, the smart tool works with the real machine data from users of the Trumatic 5000. This allows conclusions to be drawn about sources of error in the processing. Once all models have reviewed the order, the tool makes its prediction. Traditional physical simulation models would take up to an hour to make the prediction, depending on the component, as noted by the Ditzingen. But with AI, this process can be significantly accelerated and essentially run in real time.