RTD&I Technology Transfer - ITIA-CNR: Technology Transfer ITIA.pdf · Delmia Automation Virtual Environment Cycle specification Test cases design/generation RIMACS Tool RIMACS tool

RTD&I Technology Transfer

Report on

Industrial Impact of

Major RTD&I Results

by ITIA-CNR

RTD&I Technology Transfer ITIA-CNR

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Introduction The Industrial Innovation, at European and National level, represents the core of the strategic objective of the Institute, and the Technology Transfer is the strategic activity performed to reach this goal. To such an aim, ITIA actions take place considering three major factors: 1) The Industrial Demand

The Industrial Demand (in particular by SME) configures as potential demand within the Research-Innovation Value Chain. The Industrial Demand aims at gathering technology centred answers along the Research-Innovation Value Chain, searching them in forms and in places where they are generated, identifying strategic methodologies, opportunities, investment conditions, RTD&I suppliers to satisfy needs and objectives. ITIA, as reference actor of Industrial Innovation, performs its RTD&I activities by conjugating research based, applied research and engineering efforts along the Research-Innovation Value Chain, so effectively cooperating and supporting Industry in all phases, from conception, to development, to manufacturing, to market.

2) The Technological Response by ITIA

Within the Institute RTD&I areas, where research activities mainly address from enabling technologies to conception, design and hi-tech solutions, till applied technologies, the portfolio of ITIA research results requires differentiated actions for transferring them to specific industrial target enterprises. When addressing production systems, the technology transfer takes place through customized actions, characterizing the direct transfer of incremental innovations by ITIA. When the technology transfer focuses on emerging enabling technologies (thus on radical innovation), the technology transfer requires acting on two levels, cultural and logistic, laying the conditions for the creation of more complex, penetrating and long lasting co-research activities (i.e. R&D Consortium, Spin-off, etc.).

3) The access to Research Market

ITIA RTD&I results target several different typologies of Research Market: from Industry to Hi-Tech sectors, from Governmental Entities –National or Local-, to single Bodies. This wide spectrum represents a unique opportunity of growth and development for ITIA, considering the broad portfolio of needed Knowledge and Technologies.

In such a context, the Institute performed at different levels, transferring own RTD&I results, as described in the point 2 “The Technological Response by ITIA”. With reference to this, hereafter the most important actions are reported.


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Patent/Result generated from RTD&I contract/project

Patent US 2007/0040527 A1 - Method for managing systems provided with redundant actuators CNR-ITIA is co-author of a patent on innovative control algorithms, which allow integrating a specific kinematic architecture with a suitable management and synchronisation of the axes. New control solutions were developed, based on such algorithms, achieving cycle time reduction, work quality improvement and energy saving aspects on large size Cartesian machine.

Description and applicative potential

Redundant motion control algorithms have been studied, developed and implemented on Syncrono, a redundant parallel kinematics machine of Prima Industrie – devoted to laser cutting- that integrates into a single unit two perfectly synchronised machines: a small and light one, with very high dynamics and minimum moving mass, and a larger one with a wide work area (3,000 by 1,500 mm). Potential applicability of resulting algorithms and methods for managing operating machines with redundant axes, extends its to all possible machines architectures obtained by introducing two or more actuated axis along one or more kinematic degree of freedom. History and industrial impact

Present patent was initially developed in order to respond to the need for performance and flexibility of Prima Industrie on a specific family of punching machines. Syncrono, thanks to innovative patented redundant management, has doubled the market benchmark (from 600 to 1000 holes/minute), achieving cutting acceleration up to 6G, has increased productivity by 50% and has shown energy consumption values up to three times lower. These features won it the “The Best Metal Fabrication Machine Tool 2006” award. Prima Industrie, after introducing this new generation of machines in product portfolio, became market leader and registered a valuable rise in its income. CNR -ITIA added value

The following specific patent: Patent US 2007/0040527 A1 - Method for managing systems provided with redundant actuators has been developed. Overall activity resulted in about 200.000 Euro income.

Redundant parallel kinematics machine


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RIMACS Project - Radically Innovative Mechatronics and Advanced Control Systems – Tool. Description and applicative potential

The RIMACS tool aim is to support the agile specification, development and closed-loop validation of advanced automation solutions for the manufacturing industry. Main capabilities are: Advanced functionalities for formal specification and creation the machine nominal behaviour Integration with Dassault Systemes Delmia V5 to validate such behaviour “stand-alone” close-loop simulation based validation of single devices / modules, forcing fault

conditions close-loop simulation based validation of complex operations/sequences, by leading the system

in “ad hoc” conditions, and injecting faults History and industrial impact

The adoption of the proposed integrated approach by FIAT System Integrator COMAU on different industrial applications in the automotive field has evidenced several benefits compared to commonly used practices. First of all, overall line set-up and debug time has been trimmed down, thus reducing the commissioning time. All relevant “what if” scenarios have been tested before the real system construction, leveraging the collaboration - along mechatronic objects approach - between mechanical and control engineers, for optimal solution configuration and avoiding risks of real devices damages. Fast modification, reconfiguration and adaptation of resulting application to new production needs has been improved: furthermore, the formalized knowledge has been capitalized within object-oriented modules organized into a library, providing a framework for the rapid development of next solutions. Comparisons of developed applications with similar reference implementations in Power Train and Body Welding plants evidenced reductions in the overall lead time - impacting by 40% on design and delivery phases (from 9-10 to 5-6 months) – and consequently in the overall costs by 20%. CNR -ITIA added value

Result was developed in the RIMACS project (EU FP VI STREP), generating an income of about 150.000 Euro. The collaboration with Dassault Systemes – Delmia is under definition. The developed tool prototype is being further developed so to enhance its robustness.

HMI PLC with Ethernet OPC Communication

Main electrical cabinet

Machine Controller

Ethernet

OPC Ethernet

Delmia Automation Virtual Environment

Cycle specification

Test cases design/generation

RIMACS Tool

RIMACS tool workflow


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CEC-made-shoe Project – CEC Computer Aided Control System Design (CACSD) Tool

Description and applicative potential

Integrated software environment for the design and development of agile reconfigurable automation control solution. Main tool features are: Structured Object Oriented control system development approach Open Linux based execution environment Compliant with IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission – 61499 standards. Real time control code generation into properly structured ANSI C language. Effective high level application view Reusable control functionalities Rapid system reconfiguration Integrated simulation based verification

History and industrial impact

To cope with quick variation in product demand, modern automation systems shall be able to conjugate increasing complexity of controlled processes with agile reconfiguration of flexible manufacturing systems. To such an aim, structured approaches and proper supporting software tools for reconfigurable system design, based on formal reference models, have to be provided. The CEC - CACSD Tool, thanks to its capability of supporting the overall control solution development lifecycle, openness and object orientation, demonstrated several benefits: enhanced control code readability and maintainability, reduction in time and effort during control development and validation, increased control solutions re-usability, faster application distribution, therefore resulting in agile reconfiguration of control solution. Such benefits have been recognized within the application to a real industrial automation facility coming from the footwear sector. CNR - ITIA added value

The integration of advanced CACSD tool utilities is proceeding under the collaboration with Isagraf – A Rockwell Automation Company. In particular, a formal memorandum of understanding between ITIA and Isagraf is being defined. Present result was developed within CEC made shoe project (EU FPVI IP project), generating an income of about 100.000 Euro.

COMPUTER AIDED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN TOOL

Middleware area

Automaticallygenerated area

Run-timearea

RTOS I/O Network

Services Managers

61499 Applications

Step 1. Creating the basic control FB

Step 2. Creating the control application

Step 3. Generating and completing control code

CEC Computer Aided Control System Design (CACSD) Tool


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Automatic winding machine The patent addresses an automatic winding machine, which enables the production of thermoplastic wired coils without human supervision. Description and applicative potential

The automatic winding machine performs the following operation: - loading of new empty coil - insertion of the thermoplastic wire - winding of the wire on the coil - cutting of the thermoplastic wire - taping of the coil - discharge of the wired coil on the convey The machine can be used for coil winding of different material by modifying the wire gripper specifically designed for the specific thermoplastic material. History and industrial impact

ESSEBI Italy produces thermoplastic wired coils for shoe industry. Operation needed to produce such coils are today performed manually. The company asked ITIA-CNR to conceive, design and implement an automatic mechanical machine able to get the same final results but without man supervision. The obtained result is a totally automatic machine not requiring human interventions, impacting on overall production performance by 20% increase. CNR-ITIA added value

A specific patent application entitled “Dispositivo attuatore per l’automazione di processi industriali” has been developed. The development of present result generated an income of about 50.000 Euro.

Automatic winding machine


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Patent: An apparatus for the automatic dispensing of packages of solid food products addressing a totally automatic distributor of toasted coffee, enabling delivery of grains or milled coffee. Machine allows the customer to choose among 3 types of toasted coffee in grains or in 4 different types of milling (Moka, Espresso, American and Turkish), and performs all the operations from the roasting till packaging without human intervention. Description and applicative potential

The device performs the following functions: - Choice of Toasted Coffee typology and of milling type; - Feeding, through automatic process, of empty bags for food use; - automatic picking process - milling of roasted coffee in grains, if required; - Product automatic Weighing; - Filling, packaging and delivery of roasted coffee bags (in grains or milled); History and industrial impact

A commercial company specializing in the coffee sector, targeting the development of a fully automatic vending machine, with milling and mixture choice, not existing on the market, commissioned the work. After the industrialization process, the resulting machine is being produced and introduced on the market in dedicated vending corners. CNR -ITIA added value

The European Patent: Application No. / Patent No. 08166139.9 – 2221 was developed

Automatic dispensing of packages of solid food products


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Automatic taper machine The result of the project consists of an automatic taper machine used to perform the inverse cone-shape machining on hard-metal cylinders for production of drilling tools. Description and applicative potential

The automatic taper machine performs the following operation: - Loading of hard-metal cylinders in the rollers driving system - Machining of the inverse conic-shape by means of diamond grinding wheel - Discharge of the machined hard-metal cylinders History and industrial impact

MAYKESTAG – AUSTRIA produces drilling and milling tools. In particular for drilling tools, it is necessary to operate an inverse conic-shape to improve the chip extraction during drilling machining. The company asked ITIA-CNR to conceive, design and implement a new solution capable to perform the tapering operation automatically, addressing all production phases from the loading of the hard-metal cylinders into the machine till the discharge in a basket. Achieved result, being presently used at company premises, is that such automatic machine does perfom its production cycle without human intervention, addressing in parallel various tool diameters, resulting in a cost reduction and in a 15% production increasing. CNR -ITIA added value

ITIA-CNR drew up an industrial contract for the design and implementation of such taper machine, which generated an income of about 20.000 Euro.

Automatic taper machine


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Advanced IEC 61499 based control solution for the automation system of a footwear manufacturing line. Description and applicative potential IEC 61499 standard as a formal reference model enhances the definition of reusable and reconfigurable solutions, since the principles of modularity, encapsulation and standardization of interfaces are strongly exploited. Nevertheless, IEC 61499 does provide only a functional model, but not an execution model: therefore the definition of an operational model, a proper design approach and its application to complex systems is not clear. Therefore, the implementation of industrial test cases is mandatory in order to identify, consolidate and strengthen adequate design criteria. To such an aim, a collaboration by ISaGRAF was requested to consider an innovative shoe manufacturing plant transport line owned by ITIA-CNR as application platform. ISaGRAF Workbench, the first commercially available control system development framework supporting IEC 61499, has been exploited for the application deployment integration and configuration. History and industrial impact

ISaGRAF benefited from the collaboration with CNR-ITIA in terms of: ■ achievement of a design methodology support IEC61499 use ■ creation of a complex industrial application case, demonstrating the outcomes of ISaGRAF

IEC 61499 solution. CNR -ITIA added value

A memorandum of understanding between CNR-ITIA and ICS Triplex Isagraf, a Rockwell Automation Company, is being defined, addressing joint and cooperation activities. Furthermore, specific Sector/Application oriented customizations, as well as development of new advanced functionalities/services is being agreed upon with specific contracts as for cost and/or royalties

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IEC 61499 based control solution for a footwear manufacturing line


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Traceability system – HighValueShoes and Accessories project Shoes production tracking and tracing system exploiting RFID wireless technology to monitor production stages progress, semi-finished products and components movement between companies, and the integration with a finishing robotic cell was implemented to enable automatic work parameters set-up. Each finished-product box was labelled with special RFID tags to certify the product quality. Standalone and web software tools are used for traceability information management and to check shoes authenticity. Description and applicative potential

Lasts are the main tools of shoe production and follow the associated shoe for many production stages: earlier phases, from cutting to mounting excluded, are monitored by operators and the information system is updated manually. Each last is equipped with an RFID label and tracked during each stage of the production process. When the shoe is separated from the last, it is associated to an RFID identified box, so the product tracking can continue until shoes reach the shop or the final buyer (if he accepts to not disable the RFID label and accepts possible privacy issues). Several RFID reader stations are distributed along the shoe production chain, also into different companies; these PC-based nodes are connected to a central server through an IP-based communication network and permits to update the production progress as soon as an RFID tagged last comes inside the lecture range of the reader antenna. The presence of a special RFID label in the shoe boxes enable to check and certify the product origin and to trace its life-cycle through the traceability information system web service. History and industrial impact

In Italy the footwear value chain is composed by numerous micro and small companies, where the production stages progress is monitored through paper and human intervention. This is cause of wrong or not optimal management of continuously changing production orders. A traceability information system can improve the visibility of the entire process, improving movement of semi-finished products and components between companies and better management of production priorities. Many automatic operations in the shoe production process need a preliminary parameters configuration for each kind of shoe; integration of the traceability information system with the manufacturing machines control system can speed-up each set-up phase up to 90% and eliminate wrong configurations caused by human error up to 99%. Using new technologies to realize unique product identification is a strong way to react to the increasingly international threat of counterfeiting and dumping. CNR -ITIA added value

Result was developed in the HighValueShoes and Accessories project, generating an income of about 20.000 Euro. Feasibility studies with companies in progress

Shoes production tracking and tracing system


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New textile material based on a special spaced structure. HighValueShoes project. Development of an innovative material based on a special interweave, spaced structure. The material is especially suited for shoemaking applications, due to its mechanical and healthy properties. ITIA contributed to this development creating a production infrastructure able to test and validate the actual application of the material in shoe production. Description and applicative potential

The material is a special combination of fibres with different properties, mixed with silver. Its structure presents special properties enabling a better comfort and important healthy characteristics like permeability, antibacterial, thermal resistance, resistance to compression, etc. These properties make it an optimal choice for shoemaking applications, especially for components like insoles. It also presents important values for the treatment of critical applications like shoes aimed to diabetic people or sportswear subject to remarkable solicitations. History and industrial impact

Company Italian Converter reinvests a remarkable part of its budget in research. Their cooperation with ITIA has a strategic meaning in their development and innovation plans, and an important return in knowledge acquisition. ITIA analysed and tested various industrial application of the new developed material. The complete process of shoemaking with cutting, skiving, stitching and mounting the material was tested, solving various manufacturing difficulties and documenting the process. This integrated process allowed Italian Converter to package a complete industrial solution, not limited to the proposal of the raw material but extended to its industrial application in final products. CNR -ITIA added value

As a consequence of the successful cooperation, Italian Converter is now both a stable partner in RTD activities of ITIA and a customer for new internal development activities. New materials are regularly entrusted to ITIA to investigate for possible application in shoemaking. A consulting contract with ITIA is ongoing, aimed to the development of a new material and its testing and validation in shoemaking applications. Overall activity resulted in about 70.000 Euro incomes.

New textile material based on a special spaced structure


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New sewing machine for sole application. HighValueShoes project. Development of the first sole sewing machine with oscillating arm with a triple feeding claw device. The machine guarantees the full control of material transport, obtaining all stitches result of the same length, requiring less effort of the manual operator. A patent application has been developed on the machine. Description and applicative potential

The developed machine, based on the new triple feeding device with integrated claw, introduces new potentialities and applications in stitching shoes and ankle boots with box soles and leather goods. ITIA tested and validated the machine, also realizing specific shoe prototypes with targeted stitching requirements and involving sole suppliers from its industrial network. The granted advantages are a better quality in sewing, an easier working, an absolute control of the material in each phase of stitching, a longer life of the mechanical parts of the sewing devices and a lower frequency of the needles breakage. History and industrial impact

The results achieved with High Value Shoes project confirm and steady the role of MEC-VAL as a of leader in the sector of sole fixing to uppers, keeping on with the important innovations they introduced since 30's. The cooperation with ITIA enabled a stronger integration of the design and conception process in the life cycle planning of the machine. The ability of this new machine to guarantee a constant stitching length with every types of material increases the field of application of this type of sole stitching. The easier working phases lowers the level of expertise required for this job. Additional advantages come from a longer life of the mechanical parts of the sewing devices and needles. CNR -ITIA added value

The patent application BO2006A000527 “Sistema di trasporto a pinza per macchina cucitrice a braccio oscillante”has been developed on the machine. As a consequence of the successful cooperation, MEC-VAL is now both a stable partner in RTD activities of ITIA and a customer for new internal development activities. Running machines by MECVAL are indeed installed in Vigevano department for testing and experimental production of shoes prototypes. A consulting contract with ITIA is ongoing, aimed to the development of a new stitching machine. Overall activities resulted in about 45.000 Euro income.

New sewing machine for sole application


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Design and realization of prototypes and testing protocols for validation of product performances of Geyser sole An industrial contract with Eurosuole, a major sole producer in footwear sector was defined to set up and conduct testing protocols aiming at verifying and certifying properties like water proofness and vapour permeability of a new sole product. Description and applicative potential

Sole product performances in terms of breathability, vapour permeability are difficult to be reached, when combined with fatigue tests and with production gluing processes. Realization and validation of an assembly process and testing protocol of a sole endowed with aforementioned properties has therefore been the core of the activity - which was carried out at ITIA-CNR RTD&I factory in Vigevano - enabling the creation of an expertise of ITIA-CNR usable in similar applications. History and industrial impact

The collaboration with ITIA-CNR enabled the validation of the product and therefore the patenting by Sole producer (patent application MC2007A000115:“Membrana con ventose a forma di clessidra aperta stampate in materiale termoplastico flessibile su un supporto idrofilo e/o traspirante per un maggior comfort della calzatura”). CNR -ITIA added value

ITIA revenue of about 15.000 Euro was derived from the industrial contract set up with sole producer

Validation of product performances of Geyser sole


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MGD: Manual Guidance Device (International Patent Application EP08425778) Description and applicative potential

Manual guidance is a programming technique and it is used to show robots a certain task, by moving the tool into the position required to complete the action by direct interaction. The MGD is a 6DOF optical device that can be located in different points of the end-effector using a plug-in fasten mechanism. With respect to other solutions available is extremely cheaper and it can be used for the lead-through programming of multiples robots. It is an embedded system that communicates by wireless channel communication with the robot controller. It allows a strong reduction time in the programming phase of the robot and not-qualified human operators can use it also. History and industrial impact

The theoretical investigation has been performed within the SMErobot project (European Integrate Project FP6). Sensorless solution and force-sensors use have been firstly investigated, and, as second step, an industrial contract (100 k€) has then been stipulated with COMAU to develop an industrial prototype customized for the C4G Comau Robot Controller. At the end of this industrial contract but before the patent application COMAU bought the exclusive use of the developed technology (150K€) CNR -ITIA added value

1) International Patent Application EP08425778 2) Comau S.p.a. “Sale of the joint MGD technology” project size k€ 150 3) Comau S.p.a. “Industrial Research and Pre-competitive development of a manual guidance

device …” project size k€ 100


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Laser Scanner Device Description and applicative potential

The Laser Scanner Device is a prototype that has changed the paradigm in the laser scanner technologies: the new idea is that the accuracy in the measure is reached by using low-cost mechanics and by developing an innovative calibration system. To model the whole complete workspace, a pre-calibrate pattern of point is acquired, and all the data are interpolated by polynomial functions of user-fixable order (usually 3rd order). The calculation of all the coefficients and the storing of them is performed by a self-developed embedded system based on a scalable multi-CPU cluster. This system architecture is scalable and modular: for each different application can be defined the best laser-scanning-system using different laser emitters, different cameras, different typologies of movement (linear/rotational) and different position of the sensors.The low cost components and the modularity allow enhancing the potential application where the laser scanner technologies can be used. History and industrial impact

The activities have started in the 2006. The bug-fix prototype is already available and the research activities focus on the testing of the system in a widespread sector of applications. Robotic applications: bin-picking end environment reconstruction. The LS3D is fixed to the workspace and/or to the end-effector of the robot in order to get an automatic plan of the trajectory for the robot. Integration of Laser Vision into automation of technological process. The object is double use the laser scanner vision in order to verify the correct clamping of the object and the automatic generation of the CNC part program on the basis of the 3D model of the fixtures/jigs and objects acquired. Medical Applications: a modular-scalable system for the acquisition of the trunk and lower limbs for the prosthesis development. Architecture and artistic heritage 3D modeling (e.g. statues). CNR -ITIA added value

The testing applications of the full-running prototype are embodied within the collaboration-contract with C.I.A. Automation and Robotics (C.I.A. S.r.l. “Study and development of innovative and adaptable robot systems…” project size k€ 380)


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PARALLEL KINEMATIC MACHINES Description and applicative potential

The Parallel Kinematic Machines (PKMs) are machine tool based on a parallel mechanism, closed-loop mechanism in which the end-effector (mobile platform) is connected to the base by at least two independent kinematic chains. ITIA developed different PKMs in the last 10 years, and a integrated mechatronic approach to the design phase has been investigated developed. Furthermore, various design tools have been developed in order to optimize the topological architecture and the correct definition of mechanism with respect to the target application. These manipulators have a widespread application area due to the fact that they are in the middle between serial robots and application-designed machines: PKMs are designed and optimized for a set of similar applications and it allows to reach a good versatility although the design is customize on the application. History and industrial impact

The first PKM designed and built by ITIA is Acrobat in the 1997, followed by: DragonFly (2000), the SPI3 (2001), DragonFly2 (2000), the Celerius (2002), Morpheum (2003). * MASMEC: On market with PKMs based on the ITIA prototypes and design methodologies since 2005 * PKRadioCouch (2006), Parallel Kinematic RadioTherapy Couch (PTC/IB2007/002893 International Patent Application) * Gauntry-Tau (2009) The last innovative ABB-GUDEL PKM * PRIME INDUSTRIE: On market with Syncrono machine for the 2D laser cutting. The completely isotropic 2dof head is based on common ideas CNR -ITIA added value

The last reseach contract (still running) dealing with PKMs acquired by ITIA-CNR has an overall funding of about 100 K€. During the last 10 years the overall dimension of the contracts acquired is equal to 2.250 K€

ITIA PKM evolution


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Design Tools and Methodologies for high performance machine tools development Description and applicative potential

The DASM (Dynamic Analysis and Simulation of Machinery) of ITIA CNR has developed numerical and experimental techniques to support the industrial development of high performance machine tools. The basic strategy is to adopt a multi-disciplinary analysis approach that permits the estimation, already during product design, of the final machine performances. In order to reach such a goal, it is necessary to consider the complex interaction between the mechanical structure, the motion control system and the machining process. The proposed methodologies have been implemented in two CAE environments: a library of models and analysis procedures in a Finite element package and a custom environment for integrated machinery simulation. DASM tools and skills permit a strong reduction of the risk involved in the development of innovative prototypes, allowing an early estimation of final machine performance and the identification of most influencing components. History and industrial impact

The activity began in 1993, leading to a paper [see G. Bianchi, F.Paolucci, P. Van den Braembussche, H. Van Brussel, “Towards Virtual Engineering in Machine Tool Design”, Annals of CIRP, Vol. 45/1/1996]. After development in several European (Kernel I and Kernel II, NemPro,Mecomat, NEXT) and national projects (SPI 1, SPI 2, SPI 7), the know-how and tools have been applied by ITIA during the development of several innovative industrial machines: Comau Celerius machine (1998) MT3 (2002); Rambaudi VAR45 (1999), MCM Forerunner SPI1 (2002); Pietro Carnaghi (2002); Mecof Prima (2003); Gildemeister Italiana lathe GMC 35 (2006); Linea Modula (2006); Jobs Linx30 (2005) Tarkus (2007); Mandelli Spark 1600 (2007) con erogazione corso, Rumble (2009); Capellini Xevo (2008) CNR -ITIA added value

The activity has brought to industrial service contracts for numerical modelling, experimental testing and training. The goal is to provide a specialized high level technical and cultural support to the Italian machinery sector (where Italy keeps the fourth position in the world), characterized by a majority of small medium enterprises, bringing to a series of small contracts, for an average annual budget of 45k€ FOR DASM in the last 4 years. The environment for integrated machinery simulation has been

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Cutting process analysis (DASM group) Description and applicative potential

The DASM (Dynamic Analysis and Simulation of Machinery) of ITIA CNR has developed in the years numerical and experimental techniques to analyse the cutting process in milling and turning operations. The analysis is devoted to: 1) perform quick experimental analyses on prototypes and machines to indentify optimal process

parameters and critical machine components 2) develop numerical process models to be integrated in the whole machine tool model, used to

support design of innovative machines DASM models are based on last scientific discoveries and, in the last period, DASM is carrying original research (in the NEXT project) to develop new process models, in order to gain a better forecasting accuracy. History and industrial impact

The activity began in 2005, leading in a short time to several direct industrial applications. Typical contracts are based on:

1) experimental characterization of a machine prototype and corresponding cutting tests 2) DASM-made software package to forecast machine cutting capability from structural

machine finite elements models 3) specialized courses, organized both in a specific company and centrally in ITIA (see the

DynaCut course in September 2008) Services have been supplied to several companies, like: Jobs, Mandelli, Gildemeister, Ermando Rosa (grinding machines). Numerical cutting process models have been sold to Sintesi scpa, while a SW for stability analysis in turning has been sold to Gildemeister Italiana. The Capellini company (a spindle producer), after ITIA training, is supporting its customer with experimental analysis of the cutting process. CNR -ITIA added value

The activity has brought to the definition of industrial service contracts for numerical modelling, experimental testing and training, for an average annual budget of 15k€ in the last 4 years, plus a fundamental side effect on DASM services based on integrated machinery analysis.

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VIRTUAL MAQUETTE Description and applicative potential

The developed tool supports the motorbike designer during the evaluation of virtual mock-ups of a new product and during the selection of the prototype to be manufactured. The virtual environment is projected on a stereo big screen. The same software tool gives the possibility to compare various models thanks the use of augmented reality. History and industrial impact

The product has been developed within the research project TWO (Eureka Factory N° 2790 - "TWO wheels optimized") for APRILIA. The company has positively judged the results. The designers started to use it building up virtual environments where load various motorbikes models and evaluate them trough high-quality and stereoscopic graphic. The system allows shortening the time and reducing the costs during the development of new products reducing the physical mock-ups to be manufactured. CNR -ITIA added value

The technology transfer, the training and the guidelines allowed the designers to introduce the VR in the daily practice. With such system Aprilia will be able to better compete with the other motorcycle producer; some of them already use virtual prototyping


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Simulator for a multifunctional woodworking machines (Finishing/Milling) – is a tool for supporting the programming and the simulation of a woodworking machine. Description and applicative potential

The tool aims to create an Object Oriented representation of the kinematics of a generic machine and the objects (including the environment) to which it’s correlated. The component allows to present both the movements of the machine as simulating the behaviour of the objects, the parts and their interactions, such as the modification of the product and of the materials. The system is a valid support during the machine tools programming thanks to the formalisation and the storage of the knowledge Moreover the success cased are kept for further utilisation. An expert system is able to retrieve solutions and adapt them according to the environments parameters and the geometry of the new pieces. The combination between the proposed solution and the geometry of the machine allow the collision check and modification of the part program where needed. The 3D simulation component is an example of open architecture system. History and industrial impact

The result has been achieved within two European projects: KOBAS (Knowledge Based Customized Services for Traditional Manufacturing Sectors Provided by a Network of High Tech SMEs): n. 505339-2 FP6-2002-NMP-2 St. Joseph (New generation woodworking machinery/distributed control with vision for agile furniture factory in JIT enterprise): E! 1770 CNR -ITIA added value

The simulation environment has been developed for the company SCM and in detail, for a woodworking machine. The libraries are currently extended by TTS in order to cover new sector (i.e. metal) and to allow the integration with existing numerical control. A specific simulator has been realised for interfacing with TPA’s numerical controls


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Patent/Result generated from RTD&I contract/project Magic Mirror Description and applicative potential

The MagicMirror system proposes a new paradigm for the selection and buying of customised shoes. The customer selects from a digital catalogue, on a PC in the shop or through internet, the model within a specific collection and then decides which personalisation s/he wants to apply to colours, materials and styles. The MagicMirror then allows the customer to try-on the just customised shoes in an augmented reality environment. The customer, dressing a special pair of shoes, looks in s mirror (a LCD screen). In it s/he can see her/himself like in a real mirror but now dressing the shoes just customised. The customer can freely move around like during a real try-on and can verify the aesthetic of the new shoes. Several shoes can be visualised in the same session: when the customer is in the try-on area with a graphical interface can manage the customised shoes and select the ones s/he like to dress. The customer tries the pair of shoes or s/he can decide to have different shoe on left and right foot without the need t pull off s/he real shoes. History and industrial impact

The MagicMirror has been developed with the European research project CEC-MADE SHOE, Comfort Environmental and Custom Made Shoe. 6 FP Priority IST-NMP. HUGO BOSS and BASE Protection have shown a special interest for using the system in their showroom in order to achieve the virtual try-on. HUGO BOSS has supported the system validation during the project and a specific booth containing the MagicMirror has been realised at HUGO BOSS premise in Coldrerio (CH). Base Protection is evaluating the system for using it during the presentation of the new collection at the exhibitions. An example (see next pics) was the Expo Protection fair hold in Paris (F) on November 4th – 7th 2008. CNR -ITIA added value

Italian patent N° MI2005A001093


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LIGHT VIEWER – Virtual Environment for the photo-realistic simulation of lights Description and applicative potential

The product is a virtual environment able to show the area illuminated by the lights of operator machines. The tool has been developed for COBO’s lights. In order to obtain such result a tool for the conversion of the measured illumination in the standard format IESNA has been developed. In this way was possible to use such data within a commercial application able to manipulate physical lights (3DSMax). A 3DSMax script has been developed for supporting the user in the manipulation of physical lights and in the generation of the texture. Moreover, ITIA has developed a viewer fro the 3D visualisation of the scene on a monitor or though stereoscopic devices. Main objective is to support the designer with and effective tool for the verification of lights behaviour giving the customer the possibility to see the lights in a “real” environment. History and industrial impact

The product has been developed for an industrial contract with COBO. The request from the company is to have a tool that allow to reduce the physical prototypes and at the same time, able to show the new products to the customer in a faster and flexible way. CNR -ITIA added value

The industrial contract with the company COBO for the implementation of the Light Viewer has a value of 18.000€.


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GIOVE - Libraries Description and applicative potential

GIOVE (Graphics and Interaction for OpenGL-based Virtual Environments) is a set of libraries and software tools written in C++ for the development of VR (Virtual Reality) application based on the OpenGL standard. At the high level the GIOVE Toolkit has been developed. It’s a set of libraries that speed up the development of VR applications that implements most of the VR tools functionalities: GIOVE Viewer, GIOVE Virtual Showroom and GIOVE Virtual Factory. GIOVE Viewer is the base functionalities tool (visualisation, shadows, lights, stereos, ...). GIOVE Virtual Showroom for the configuration and evaluation of virtual prototypes. Finally, GIOVE Virtual Factory is the tool for the factory layout design. The system allows to add process information and to exchange data with other tools. All this tools use the same modules of GIOVE for the multi-user collaboration in a shared virtual environment. History and industrial impact

Industrial interest for the GIOVE libraries has been shown by several companies: Skype is interested in the collaboration aspects and the possibilities of having immersive 3D environments within the chat sessions; COMPA is validating the Virtual Factory and it’s going to use it for the re-configuration of its production systems. Finally, ELECTROLUX is evaluating the libraries for implement their Virtual Reality Lab. CNR -ITIA added value

Industrial agreements are in progress both with COMPA and Electrolux for the use of the GIOVE libraries.


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Drilling Head Configurator is a software tool (mainly base on a knowledge system) able to supporting the configuration of drilling heads for wood panels. Description and applicative potential

The tool realised allows configuring the drilling heads for woodworking machines in an optimised and automatic way. Such machines are equipped with several spindles that need to be configured, giving a drill-head to each of them. In this way is possible to work out several customer panels in the better possible way, faster and reducing the set-up time among the different batches. The user can define the main characteristics of the machine like the number of supports and the heads for support, the number and the position of the spindles for each head, dimension of the working area in order to be adapted to various machine models. After loading the information related to the available heads, the tool computes, for each panels, the movement of the spindles in order to achieve the smallest number of descents, so the fastest. Then the optimal (or sub-optimal) configuration is searched. Finally, after the definition of loading/unloading time, speed, acceleration and the drilling time of the specific machine, the system produce the sequence of descents for each panels, which need less movements (so less time) and present to the operator the working time for the entire batch History and industrial impact

The result has been achieved within the project SPSF (Sistemi di Produzione e Servizi del Futuro; Eureka 2005 – 2007 ) and it has been validated by MORBIDELLI. Moreover MORBIDELLI, looked the performances of the system, has requested to extend the configurator to a wider set of machine in order to configure the entire production CNR -ITIA added value

On the base of the project results, TTS (ITIA’s spin-off) has developed a configuration software for MORBIDELLI.


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DISCRETE EVENT SIMULATION TOOL (DEST) is a prototype tool for supporting the design of micro-assembly systems. ASSEMBLY SYSTEM PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION TOOL (ASPCT) – is the prototype tool for the representation of assembly and reconfiguration sequences for a micro-assembly line. MODULE TOPOLOGY AND CONNECTIONS TOOL (MTCT) – is the prototype tool for the creation of control instruction for micro-assembly line. The three tools represent the system developed for the design and configuration of a micro-assembly line. Description and applicative potential

The objective is to give the designers a set of software tools for a faster specification and a supported procedure for the high precision “on demand” assembly systems. With the DEST, ITIA has implemented software able to evaluate the performances of configured lines thanks to a discrete events engine. In the ASPCT, the assembly and reconfiguration procedures of a line are shown in a three-dimensional environment with movies, images and using the 3D construction drawings. Finally, MTCT allows translating the topological and production information in a format suitable for programming the control of each cell. History and industrial impact

The result has been achieved within the research project EUPASS (Evolvable Ultra-Precision Assembly Systems): n. 507978-2 P6-2002-IST-NMP-1 and is currently used by MASMEC

Module Topology Architecture and Connections Tool


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Patent/Result generated from RTD&I contract/project Warehouse tool – tool for the process optimization of a warehouse. Description and applicative potential

Models and algorithms for planning the warehouse, distribution, and the management of services provided for the logistic chain have been implemented. The objective these models aim to reach is the integration between different activities, namely the possibility to optimize simultaneously the decision-making variables relating to different functions. The contribution of this result is to provide tools for local optimization of several logistic problems. In particular, with regard to a key warehouse optimization process, the tool addresses multi-order picking issues while primarily considering the batching aspect. A batch consists of a set of orders that are picked up during a single tour throughout the warehouse while satisfying vehicle capacity constraints. Order batching aims at reducing the average travel time for each order fulfilment. Generally, trade-off decisions considering urgency and efficiency are made due the divergence between performance objectives (i.e., throughput maximization, responsiveness, delay risk minimization related to the farthest warehouse locations, etc.). It is possible to integrate the tool in existing warehouse management systems in order to optimize the performance of some processes such as, for instance, picking operations, drops operations, packing operations. The tool can be also integrated for concurrently optimizing shipping processes and then transportation. History and industrial impact

The tool is one of the results developed by ITIA CNR in a project coordinated by CEVA Logistics; the tool is now operative in the CEVA Warehouse located in the Interporto Sud Europa of Marcianise (Caserta), Italy. CNR -ITIA added value

The development of the tool is based on an industrial research contract between CEVA Logistics and ITIA-CNR. The size of related project “New integrated logistics framework based on ICT and distributed decision systems” is 575 k€.


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Optimization/Simulation platform – tools for the simulation and the optimization of processes. Description and applicative potential

ITIA-CNR offers optimization/simulation services by developing platforms that enable performance improvement in several processes, such as operations, logistics, emergency, transportation, etc. The scopes of the optimization/simulation services can be: demand forecast and optimization of transportation operations throughout logistic networks, simulation and scheduling of resources, traffic monitoring, risk management. The services optimization/simulation can be provided to: - the public sector for traffic management, urban waste collection optimization, simulation and

optimization of distribution of public resources (e.g., water), emergency management in particular territorial locations;

- the private sector for vehicle fleet management, warehouse optimization and distribution centres, production planning and simulation.

History and industrial impact

In the past years, several co-funded projects allowed to develop ITIA CNR competencies oriented to simulation and optimization of production and logistics while entailing the creation of an ICT laboratory for testing. The optimization/simulation services can have relevant impacts on the territory management by supporting public decision-makers. However, remarkable impacts are expected on the private sector where the innovation demand coming from SMEs or other important enterprises can be satisfied. In fact ITIA-CNR is currently involved by large companies and agencies in integrated management services offers, for example by Telespazio and Elsag-Datamat, Finmeccanica companies, for the optimization of logistics processes and intermodal transportation. CNR -ITIA added value

The development of the tools is based on research contracts based on Public and Private Funds.

Documents

RTD&I Technology Transfer - ITIA-CNR: Technology Transfer ITIA.pdf · Delmia Automation Virtual Environment Cycle specification Test cases design/generation RIMACS Tool RIMACS tool