Micropsi Industries MIRAI AI Vision Software Use-Cases

BSH are home to established appliance brands such as Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau, and Neff. At its Spanish production site, BSH manufactures refrigerators and freezers. In the process, the company must test the metal piping of the refrigerators for leaks. For leak testing of refrigerators, a so-called sniffer probe is run along the metal pipes and compressors to check solder joints for leaking coolant. The challenge: the back of each produced refrigerator is unique in terms of position, color, shape, and even amount of soldering points. For a conventional robot, such variances are an insurmountable obstacle. Until now, the repetitive inspection process was left to human workers.

Today, a complete robotics solution takes over the inspection process at BSH. Thanks to the integrated MIRAI robot controller, the robot:

• reliably identifies all solder joints to be inspected
• approaches the sniffer probe with millimetre precision—regardless of position, shape, or color of the joints
• responds to its environment in real-time handles even unforeseen deviations with precision can reliably
• handles even unforeseen deviations with precision

The advantage of the fully automated solution is high quality combined with absolute process reliability. By repeatedly demonstrating the motions, BSH employees trained the robots on the required skills in just a few hours without the need for programming or artificial intelligence (AI). With the MIRAI-controlled automation solution deployed for this “fridge sniffing” task, BSH has lowered ongoing operating costs and reduced maintenance and troubleshooting.

Siemens Energy wanted to automate a process step in the refurbishment of a gas turbine vane. After several years of use, the vanes are reshaped and surface treated. Along the surface of the vanes are hundreds of tiny drillings, each roughly two millimetres wide. The drillings were used for air cooling during the vane’s previous use — when temperatures in the turbine get so hot that the vanes would melt without measures like air cooling and coatings. In the refurbishment process, the drillings must be filled in before surface treatment. This involves inserting a thin needle into every individual drilling and dispensing soldering paste. The dispensing task brings three main challenges:

• The drilling positions on the gas turbine vane deviate because of temperature deformation of the vane during prior use.
• The soldering-paste dispensation is cumbersome, with hundreds of drillings to be filled. It takes hours for a human to fill them all.
• The vanes themselves come in different versions and different states of wear.

Thanks to MIRAI, Siemens Energy is now able to automate the process step in the refurbishment of gas turbine vanes. An industrial robot equipped with MIRAI can insert the dispensing needle into the drillings of the turbine vane, overcoming:

• Variance in the drilling position
• Variance in the shape of the vane
• Variance in the condition of the vane

• Improved accuracy: The MIRAl system enables precise localization of the drillings, compensating for any deviations in their positions.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automating the process step eliminates the need for manual soldering-paste dispensation, saving time and reducing labor costs.
• Adaptability to variations: The MIRAl system can accommodate different vane sizes and wear conditions, ensuring the automated process is flexible and adaptable.

1. Deviations in drilling positions: The drilling positions on the vanes can deviate, making it difficult to accurately locate and fill the drillings with soldering paste.

2. Cumbersome soldering-paste dispensation: The process of dispensing soldering paste into hundreds of tiny drillings manually is time-consuming and labour-intensive.

3. Variations in vane sizes and wear conditions: The vanes come in different sizes and states of wear, requiring flexibility in the automated system to adapt to these variations.

Siemens Energy has adopted the Micropsi Industries Al-driven MIRAl robot control system to automate the process step of gas turbine vane refurbishment. The MIRAl system enables industrial robots to observe their workspace and respond in real-time to changing situations.

The MIRAl system takes over the complex parts of the task. It handles the movement of the needle from one drilling to the next and the insertion of the needle into the drillings. The robot's native controller manages the paste dispensation and other predetermined aspects of the task.

1. Improved accuracy: The MIRAl system enables precise localization of the drillings, compensating for any deviations in their positions.
2. Enhanced efficiency: Automating the process step eliminates the need for manual soldering-paste dispensation, saving time and reducing labor costs.
3. Adaptability to variations: The MIRAl system can accommodate different vane sizes and wear conditions, ensuring the automated process is flexible and adaptable.

Overall, the integration of Micropsi Industries' MIRAl robot control system streamlines the refurbishment of gas turbine vanes, making the process faster, more accurate, and cost-effective for Siemens Energy.