Since 2016, Accerion has worked on the Smart Tooling project sponsored by the European program Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland.
Objective:
SMEs and service providers from the Belgium-Netherlands border region have been working together to develop robot technology. The aim is to strengthen our region’s position in the industry by working together more safely and more cost-effectively.
KicMPi has been responsible for the financial and substantive project management of the Smart Tooling project.
Within the project, the following project partners worked together closely:
- BASF
- Dow Benelux
- Impuls Zeeland
- REWIN
- BOM (Brabantse Ontwikkeling Masschap)
- BEMAS
- Sirris
- University of Ghent
- University of Twente
- Avans University
Currently, 19 Project Partners are actively participating in this project in the form of clusters, namely the inspection cluster, workshop cluster, UAS cluster and cleaning cluster.
The project has been running for almost three years now.
Extension of project duration:
The Smart Tooling project started on 1 September 2016. The original end date would have been 31 August 2019. However, on 10 July 2019, we received approval to extend the project duration until 31 May 2020.
A number of subprojects require a longer duration than the current project duration in order to realize the test plans. Due to the extended project duration, the various subprojects can be completed with a qualitative result.
Progress Cluster Cleaning:
The cleaning theme focuses on development of a robot that will recognize, loosen and remove contaminants in confined spaces as well as on industrial surfaces. The aim is to use the robot autonomously to recognize and distinguish dirt in order to achieve a higher level of safety and efficiency.
Project partners: Buchen, Group Victor Peeters, VTEC, P. de Boevere B.V., Accerion, Nobleo Technology, Avans University, DERC Waterjetting, BASF, Mourik, Dow Benelux
The three service companies providing additional input are Mourik, Buchen and Group Victor Peeters. They share their unique knowledge about cleaning and also provide support within the robotics tests.
Mourik focuses on navigation.
Buchen focuses on the degree of cleaning.
Group Victor Peeters focuses on measurements, data analysis and autonomous working.
The technical group within this cluster is formed by:
- Accerion
- VTEC Lasers & Sensors
- P. de Boevere B.V. (Serenity)
- Nobleo Technology
- Avans Hogeschool
VTEC focuses on the sensor technology and communication of the data.
P. de Boevere B.V. has the task of focusing on data acquisition, data logging, reporting and data processing.
Within this project, Accerion and Nobleo Technology focus on positioning and navigating the cleaning robot.
In the Cleaning Cluster, DERC Waterjetting supplies a carrier platform (carrier). DERC Waterjetting will design and install the adaptation to the platform.
The goal is to develop the carrier platform for autonomous operation and cleaning.
Nobleo Technology has further developed the navigation software and performed several tests on the test facility at Group Peeters.
A high-pressure test was performed by Mourik in a tank at Dow.
Serenity worked on the dashboard software and organized a meeting to map the interactions between the different systems.
The Avans Foundation has built the pollution-measurement sensor developed by VTEC into a student-designed Inspection robot.
The next step is equipping the robot with a navigation system, then testing these VTEC sensors. Future steps include making improvements on the basis of practical tests with regard to regulating the magnetic strength of the Cleaning robot. A control system will be developed for this purpose. The height of the magnets of the DERC carrier will be adjustable.
In the coming period we will work on the integration of the Serenity-Nobleo technology.