Digitization and robotics for more flexible production and customized manufacturing
Creative Robotics (CR), a research unit within the Linz University of Art and Industrial Design in Austria, studies robotics as an interface between the physical and digital worlds. CR works with robotic arms and focuses its research efforts on new applications to enable more flexible production and tailor-made manufacturing, as opposed to mass production and conventional automation. Creative Robotics chooses to work primarily with small businesses who wish to implement robotics in their existing processes. From this perspective, robotics not only enables efficiency gains, but also the creation of entirely new products.
The interdisciplinary team of architects, designers, 3D artists and engineers collaborating on this project is striving to go beyond conventional automation, and find new, innovative solutions.
The CR laboratory is housed in a 4,000 m² industrial innovation workshop, named Large Garage. The aim of this collaboration is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge about robotics methods to pupils, students, start-ups and companies.
The 3D scanner ACADEMIA by Creaform is accompanied by a range of educational programs that go beyond simple didactic tools. The ACADEMIA range, specifically developed for the education sector, is a complete didactic solution for teachers and researchers who use the most innovative industrial technologies for teaching and research, and who wish to introduce their students to these cutting-edge technologies. Students will be able to use portable 3D scanners in real-life applications such as reverse engineering, industrial design and quality control.
Here are just a few of the many Creative Robotics projects involving the ACADEMIA 3D scanner:
Customized soccer ball with 3D scanning, in collaboration with BallDesigner
BallDesigner sells customized soccer balls, individually manufactured in a short time. The aim of this research project was to label the balls directly on site. To achieve this, it was necessary to digitize some of the balls in order to obtain the material tolerances, which could then be compensated for using a robot.
KUKA CEE robots installed for Halloween
A robotized installation was developed by KUKA for Halloween, enabling customers to design their own pumpkin decorations in 2D on a tablet at an event. The robot then applied the design directly to the pumpkin. In this case, it was necessary to scan the pumpkin in advance, in order to take into account the shape of each individual pumpkin.
Quality control from SPIF
Nicole Hübscher is a designer who has developed a breakfast tray based on "single-point incremental forming". A sheet of aluminum is gradually deformed by pressure applied by a robot, without having to heat the material. Since metal deforms plastically, but also elastically, the ACADEMIA 3D scanner was used to compare the target CAD model with its current state.to be able to rework the metal on site, if necessary.
Johannes Braumann, Director of Linz University of Art and Industrial Designsummarizes: "It was impressive to see how well the students, with no previous experience of 3D scanning, were able to work independently with the ACADEMIA scanner and VXelements software, after just a few minutes' training. The accuracy/performance ratio of Creaform's solution is superior to that of comparable structured white light scanners, while being within the same budget range and suitable for most of our applications. As well as being an invaluable tool for research projects, the ACADEMIA scanner has been an excellent gateway for our students to experiment with 3D scanning technology".