The so-called Cyber Factory is fitted with the latest technology for smart factories and the training equipment has been supplied by automation technology provider Festo.
Described as “Industry 4.0 ready”, the new building houses a number of double-sided pneumatics and electro-pneumatics learning systems, PLCs, modular production systems and a process automation system.
The training equipment supplied by Festo comprises a comprehensive six-station table top unit (two production cells of three stations), as well as two bridging stations that enable an automated guided vehicle (AGV) to deliver the logistics/transport between the cells. Siemens equipment is also part of the set-up.
Fully automated, the facility also features an energy monitoring system; RFID - a method for tracking components and goods by means of tags which transmit a radio signal; a digital maintenance system; augmented reality; near field communication (NFC) – which enables any object equipped with a chip to exchange information directly without the need for a computer or communications network; and a manufacturing execution system (MES).
Commenting on Festo' role, professor Mehmet Karamanoglu, design engineering and mathematics head of department at Middlesex University, says: “We are also grateful to Festo for bringing along some of their partner companies to enhance our provision, such as Siemens. All our automation labs are now fitted with technologies provided by Siemens. The benefit for our students, in working with such industry partners, is immense and will continue to have a huge impact on their employability.”
Says Babak Jahanbani, head of learning systems at Festo Didactic (GB): “Festo and the University share a common goal to ensure that the key skills necessary to deliver the full potential of industrial automation are being developed alongside advances in the technology. We have collaborated closely on a number of topics and also partner the University for the annual Mechatronics Competition of World Skills UK.
“As a result of our long-term partnership, Middlesex University is one of the best equipped centres for Festo Didactic and runs very successful engineering degree courses. This new training facility is the first of its type in the UK and will provide essential practical experience for the engineers of the future.”
And he adds: “By adopting Industry 4.0 more extensively, we could soon see factories where components can automatically “talk” to each other and the machines to share function and specification data, enabling us to create more complex products more quickly. It even makes batch size of one economical. Production lines will know when stocks are low and order more of what they need to continue making things, without human intervention.
“In addition, the smart factory will also constantly check for parameters like energy consumption and maintenance requirements, scheduling activity in the most efficient and cost-conscious way.”
Says Brian Holliday, managing director, Siemens Digital Factory adds: “I’m delighted that our advanced automation technology features in the new Cyber Factory training facility at Middlesex University in support of the leading-edge, digital skills training the university is undertaking to prepare UK graduates for the industrial digital revolution - Industry 4.0.”
