Heurisko 2023

A case study on digital operator support for inbound logistics in a Sheltered WORKPLACE. 

We present here a method to estimate the deformation in sheet forming processes, without the need to conduct complex process simulations. For hydroforming, we demonstrate how this can make designs more quickly ready to start production.

A robust single-oil cooling & lubrication approach will be presented which solves major challenges to implement advanced oil cooling techniques in an automotive drivetrain. The presentation includes results wrt

• Validated easy design tool to optimize & control an innovative single-oil drivetrain architecture

• Validated innovative robust direct cooling & patented sealing concepts & design tools for an E-motor of DANA

• Validated innovative robust oil-cooled inverter (AI) heat sink designs & design tools

The manufacturing industry is moving towards mass customization and high quality demands. One of the tools to achieve this, is a robot arm equipped with a camera for quality inspection. Flanders Make developed an Active Vision System to autoconfigure itself for quickly scanning defective areas in a part with a known but complex geometry. Atlas Copco is using this Flanders Make's viewpoint optimization tool to determine the optimal amount of cameras and their placement to detect defects on various types of compressor air ends.

At DANA, high quality requirements engineering is key to improve product quality and reduce testing costs, and is demanded by several customers. This means requirements must be consistent, precise and formal, structured and traceable. In the aSET project, we followed a model-based systems engineering approach and used formal models to enhance the definition, verification and traceability of requirements.

In the design-to-order paradigm, an important resource is the domain knowledge needed to design functional and efficient components. Often, specialised design knowledge is concentrated in a small number of senior engineers. This may limit the productivity of more junior employees, and introduces the risk of knowledge loss when key engineers retire or leave. In collaboration with the company Saint-Gobain, the DTAI research group of KU Leuven has developed the Digital Engineer tool to (1) capture the relevant design knowledge and (2) leverage it to make the design process more efficient through a flexible decision support system. The Digital Engineer uses a combination of expert knowledge, that was obtained from the engineers in a series of interactive workshops, and data in the form of CAD drawings from previous designs. Practical tests show that this tool indeed succeeds in capturing domain knowledge, that it is a valuable teaching tool for junior engineers, that it can provide a 25%-50% reduction in the time needed to produce a design, and increase the number of "first time right" designs.

We present a model to estimate the cost of introducing a new product variant in a product family. The model can be used in the early design phase and helps to gain insight into the effect of component commonality (inducing scale economies) on the costs, specifically the material (purchase) and inventory costs. We discuss how the business value of the model’s application at Barco.

e-TROVA ‘s vision is to enable the realization of the emission reduction targets for transport as set forward by the Green Deal. e-TROVA offers diesel-to-electric repowering of heavy-duty trucks with a range up to 300 km. The retrofit conversion will be done in 48 hours for N3 class trucks. This includes different brands, types, and years of manufacturing.

In 2022 a prototype truck was built based on a Volvo FH platform. For this truck, e-TROVA has subcontracted all engineering activities to Flanders Make. Flanders Make was responsible for the design and architecture of the electric powertrain, the development of simulation tools, reverse engineering, the selection of the VCU (Vehicle Control Unit) and the development of the vehicle software. At the end of 2022 the driving prototype was presented.

GaN based power devices enable applications with lower losses at higher switching frequencies, increasing performance of new on-board chargers in terms of efficiency, power density and packaging. Application and optimization of such power electronics systems pose challenges to the GaN converter in terms of system integration, safety, durability and performance. This study demonstrates the detailed specification and design optimization of the automotive on-board char­ger based on GaN technology for a more compact system with high power density.

With the growing demand of high-mix-low-volume production, supporting tools are needed to enable fast reconfiguration of robotic workcells. This talk will introduce such tools, recently developed at Flanders Make, which could pave the way towards fast reconfigurable robotic workcells. 

This presentation gives an overview of virtual commissioning approaches and best practices for manufacturing environments based on available commercial tools for simulation and emulation.  Research results are presented that lower the digital model configuration effort and facilitate model (re)use towards value creation. The main concepts are demonstrated on the InfraFlex research infrastructure.

Business Process Management (BPM) methods and tools have been successfully applied in the Service Industry. Recent research elaborates on how the same techniques  can also contribute to the Manufacturing Industry as an enabler for Industry 4.0.  In this talk a selection of research cases are presented that clearly demonstrate the added value of using process modelling, process simulation, process automation and other BPM methods and tools for the Manufacturing Industry.