At Omron’s recent Innovation Conference, delegates were briefed on the latest developments in IIoT and the smart factory, and the benefits of Omron’s new i-Automation solutions. Country general manager, Victor Marques set the scene with a preview of Omron’s exciting new Q2A series of VSDs.
Omron’s concept of i-Automation for smart factories comprises the three I’s – i-automation, i-intelligence and i-interactive – and together they facilitate innovation in manufacturing in a smart, connected factory. This leads to an improvement in overall equipment efficiency (OEE).
Another innovation is the NX1 series 2-in-1 machine automation controller. The NX1 interprets the data in the controller and turns it to information and then actions a roadmap for intelligent production. Omron’s OEE improvement roadmap allows Big Data to be turned into actionable information – the key to OEE. Another of Omron’s advanced motion solutions is the i4H Scara robot series, which was developed in an alliance with Techman Robotics.
Omron is also the first in the industry to introduce motion control with artificial intelligence (AI). This is in the form of a library of algorithms and function blocks based on a machine learning engine. The machine automation controller can use AI in production processes. It monitors all the patterns in a machine, for example if a bottle moves or spills, and reacts accordingly.
The cherry on the top was the introduction of Forpheus, Omron’s ping-pong robot, based on its proprietary prediction model. Not only can Forpheus play ping-pong, it can also predict the ball’s trajectory and adapt to its opponent’s skill level.
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