Wireless Sensor Detects the Position of Casting Clusters

Field Communication Wireless Sensor Detects the Position of Casting Clusters

2025-09-27 By Sascha Elsner | Translated by AI 4 min Reading Time

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Via wireless to the rotating robot gripper—this type of signal transmission was independently implemented by the operating technicians of the Doncasters precision foundry in Bochum, Germany. The wireless sensor signals the operating status of the gripper, which removes the casting clusters from a suspension conveyor.

The robot removes the casting clusters from the hanger, dips them into a ceramic bath, and moves them to ensure that undercuts are also coated.(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski) — The robot removes the casting clusters from the hanger, dips them into a ceramic bath, and moves them to ensure that undercuts are also coated.
(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski)

At Doncasters Precision Castings in Bochum (DPC), precision casting is used to produce blades and vanes for stationary gas turbine power plants and aircraft engines. The plant, which employs more than 500 people, relies on a high level of production depth and also manufactures the casting molds in-house. A robot immerses a casting cluster with wax models into a basin filled with a ceramic-based liquid, moving it to ensure the liquid reaches recesses and undercuts. The robot then holds the cluster in a rotating drum, where it is coated with sand. This creates a ceramic mold that encases the wax model. In subsequent process steps, the wax is melted out, and the mold is filled with liquid metal heated to up to 2,730 °F in vacuum furnaces. The process concludes with a controlled, very slow cooling phase.

Targeted Three-Dimensional Movement of the Casting Cluster

When handling the casting clusters before immersion in the molding material, the plant technicians had a challenge to solve. Maintenance expert Guido Neef explains: "The robot's gripper picks up the casting cluster from the suspension of an overhead conveyor system. A pneumatic pin enters the tube of the suspension to fix the pendulum-mounted casting clusters. This is the prerequisite for a targeted three-dimensional movement of the casting cluster in the basin."

Gallery

Guido Neef (right) found the solution for signal transmission from the rotating gripper to the robot control and installed the wireless sensors in the mold production at Doncasters. Left in the image: Sascha Elsner, Product Manager Wireless Applications at Steute.(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski)

The robot's gripper with the retrofitted wireless sensor (visible in the center).(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski)

Detailed view of the suspension gripped by the robot.(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski)

An intermediate product in the vacuum investment casting of turbine blades: casting clusters with ceramic molds.(Image: Steute Technologies/ Udo Kowalski)

Gallery with 7 images

There was a need for optimization here because, in some cases, the pin of the robot gripper could not enter the hanger—for example, when the pin is misaligned or not optimally positioned. The system then failed to detect that the casting cluster guided by the robot could swing. This posed a risk of collision with system components.

Suitable Sensor Sought

The idea from Guido Neef: a sensor that detects whether the pin has entered the tube. In principle, such a query can be easily implemented, for example, with an inductive sensor. However, in this case, the challenge lay in energy and signal supply: "Because the gripper must be able to rotate 360 degrees, implementing a power supply under the given conditions is difficult. That’s why the pin is also pneumatically extended." The logical solution: a (preferably battery-powered) sensor that transmits the "pin extended" signal wirelessly. This way, cables to the gripper head can still be avoided.

The intensive search for such a sensor led Guido Neef, among others, to the homepage of the Steute Controltec division, which offers a comprehensive range of industrial-grade wireless switching devices and sensors. They are powered by a long-life battery and communicate wirelessly with the corresponding receiver unit, which is housed in the control cabinet in larger systems.

Found: Wireless Inductive Sensor

In coordination with Steute, a cylindrical RF inductive sensor of type RF IS M 12 was selected. Both the power supply (via battery) and the signal transmission are handled by a separate, compact module. The sWave wireless technology developed by Steute is used, ensuring reliable signal transmission even under challenging industrial conditions.

New generation of wireless inductive sensors

Of course, wireless sensor querying on robot grippers or other handling technology components is not only suitable for retrofitting—especially since Steute is currently preparing the series launch of the newest generation of the RF IF series. Among other features, it differs from the previous model by automatically adjusting its switching point to the respective conditions. This makes it suitable for both flush and non-flush installation, and it can also detect dynamic changes such as increasing contamination. The sensors are thus always operational and only switch when the situation or operator request requires it. Additionally, the Steute designers have significantly reduced the energy consumption of the wireless sensors, extending the battery life of the universal wireless modules. Steute will present the new wireless sensor series, available in four diameters from M 8 to M 30, for the first time at SPS 2025.

The maintenance team at Doncasters initially installed such a sensor as a test on a robot gripper, protecting the separate battery module with a self-made enclosure. The sensor is mounted in the gripper and reliably detects whether the pin is extended and thus whether the (otherwise pendulum-like) connection between the gripper and the casting cluster is rigid. It then wirelessly sends a signal to a receiver unit with an antenna, which is attached to the control cabinet of the system a few meters away.

The result of retrofitting the robot head with a wireless sensor speaks for itself: the wireless sensor with point-to-point radio connection functions flawlessly even in critical areas. The robot only starts when the pin is fully inserted into the gripper. This eliminates the risk of accidents or damage to both the system and the casting molds. The consequence, according to Guido Neef: "We will gradually equip all robots in mold production with the wireless sensors."

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Field Communication Wireless Sensor Detects the Position of Casting Clusters

Targeted Three-Dimensional Movement of the Casting Cluster

Suitable Sensor Sought

Found: Wireless Inductive Sensor

New generation of wireless inductive sensors

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