Festo Adopts an approach holístico for the subject of the ‘Industry 4.0'

Intelligence of system decentralised, a high degree of flexibility, engineering of system and set up simple for machines. In the operations of production of the future the networking will be in all the places since they merged the real and virtual worlds. Festo, global provider of the technology of automation, is using the subject ‘Industry 4.0' to illustrate several thematic developments from different points of view. The key questions treat no only like technological developments but also in a social context.

In the world of the production are taking place fundamental changes and these are being commented under the title of ‘Industry 4.0'. The forecast is that this modern information and the technologies of communication merge in a future with the classical industrial processes. “We are fulfilling with these changes working in group with partners of the industry and the science to tackle the challenges associated and exert an active paper in the forming of new technologies”, says the professor Dr. Peter Post, director of investigation and strategy of the program of Festo AG. The company Festo considers the development of the systems of production of a way holístico and from several different perspectives, loaning attention no only to the technology but also to other factors such as the cooperation between the human beings and the machines and the questions of learning.

A particularly important appearance for Festo is to look to the future. With his projects of biónica and future concepts, the company is investigating and discovering constantly new ideas for surroundings of future production. The models in the nature inspire to contrive unusual solutions to the developers of Festo. Once again in the Fair of Hanover of this year, Festo presented new projects treating big subjects that go from the integration of the function going through adaptative systems to machines operated intuitivamente.

The base for the systems of production of the future are intelligent components, modules mecatrónicos discreet working autónomamente. Of course, they will continue having a back evolutionary development in the systems of control of factory centralised, but at the same time there will be an even more frequent use of the principle of car-organisation decentralised that allows to execute the tasks assigned by a system of control of greater level. To make possible this type of global systems in network, Festo is realizar a more intensive development of technologies like engineering of precision and technology of microsistemas.

Festo Does not centre only in the technology. One of the central questions that treats the company is the cooperation between the human beings and the machines. For example, in the future the robots will help actively to the human workers in the manual activities. The human beings are highly flexible and can dominate a big number of tasks in a very short time. The machines of today day, on the other hand, often are static but able to work of fast way, exact and powerful. The challenge consists in combining these two worlds: the technology has to be able in the future to adapt to the changes of parameters and to the human interventions. The examples of this development are the ‘Assistant Biónico for Manipulation ', winner of a prize (German Future Prize 2010) and the ‘ExoHand' (nominated to Hermes Award 2012).

Education oriented to the future in a factory of learning

The activities of Festo do not limit to the operations of production - also occupy of the learning of the new generation of personnel described for the surroundings of production of the future. With factories of learning key in hand and solutions of laboratory, Festo Didactic offers the necessary tools for the instruction oriented to the future in the technology of automation and mecatrónica.

The machines, components and pieces will be closely interwoven in the future and will communicate between himself. Many of the necessary functions already are into use in the technology of automation of today day, for example the pinzas empty with functions of diagnostic or the terminal of valves with programmable logical controllers integrated , whereas others are still in phase of investigation. The professor Post underlines: ‘Industry 4.0' for us is a project of future highly interdisciplinary in which we are working continuously”.

Festo And the ‘Industry 4.0'

Like part of the future project ‘Industry 4.0'headed by Acatech, the German Academy of Technical Sciences, Festo participates in two groups of work: ‘Smart Factory' (intelligent Factory) and ‘The human Factor'.