The coatings industry faces far-reaching challenges: rising costs, a shortage of skilled workers, high quality requirements and increasing international competitive pressure. Traditional, manually-based processes are increasingly reaching their economic and technological limits.
For example, cost-effective electroplating is generally only feasible for large series of components. In the aerospace industry, however, exceptionally high coating quality and reproducibility are required even for the production of single parts. The flexibility required to achieve this, whilst keeping process costs low, can only be realised through innovative technical developments. The first presentation in this session describes the comprehensive modifications, extensions and modernisations to the robot-assisted electroplating plant – winner of the 2021 Leipzig Electroplating Award – featuring automated component handling and integrated in-line process monitoring for small production runs in aircraft manufacturing.
Humanoid robots are regarded as the next step in the evolution of industrial automation: they combine human-like kinematics with AI-based perception and are expected, in the future, to be able to work in environments where equipment, tools and workstations were originally designed for human use. Whilst traditional industrial robots perform highly standardised tasks in isolated cells, humanoid systems promise greater flexibility in dynamic environments with frequently changing requirements. Surface technology represents a particularly exciting yet challenging field of application in this regard. A presentation will examine whether and how humanoid robots can be deployed in this context.
The following presentation uses practical application examples to demonstrate how the consistent application of modern automation, digitalisation and AI technologies enables the transition from traditional coating processes to a competitive, sustainable industry in line with Industry 5.0. The focus here is not on pure automation, but on flexible, modular systems that support people, stabilise processes and ensure reproducible quality.
The final presentation describes the development and implementation of a highly automated loading and unloading system for electroplating processes. At the heart of the system is the robotics, which impresses with its high speed and repeatability. By gripping several components simultaneously, a throughput of over 1,000 parts per hour is achieved, with cycle times of less than three seconds – depending on the type of component supply, component properties and rack configuration.