Smart Factory Expo 2022 in Liverpool.
This past Wednesday, Manufacturing Quality travelled to the Smart Factory Expo in Liverpool. The Liverpool Exhibition Centre is a modern, riverside venue and we were immediately struck by how well-designed the show was. Most stands were custom-built, with a large pavilion spanning the centre of the hall.
There was a lot to see, even if the show was significantly smaller than Advanced Engineering, which we recently attended. Of course, when we first arrived we had to take a walk around to get our bearings and find the metrology, inspection, and quality assurance exhibitors.
Stepping into virtual reality with Microsoft
The first stand that caught our eye was Microsoft. The developments surrounding virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are absolutely fascinating, so we jumped at the chance to try the Microsoft Hololens when the team offered. Honestly, we were blown away by the experience. The demonstration is meant to show how complex tasks can be taught to people with no prior experience. The experience involved changing the brake pads of a car (which was a first for us), and the AR guidance was clear and easy to follow.
Seeing what feels like a hologram from science fiction directs you to pick up a certain tool or show you how to move a component was a very enjoyable experience. How long are we away from AR becoming a common training tool? Or, perhaps, will it become a regular stand-in for remote supervision, demonstrations or tours of factory floors?
Introducing ourselves to 'man's best friend'
Another major highlight was when we got to see Spot, Boston Dynamics' robot dog, in person for the first time. We were initially taken aback by the dog's size, as it was a fair bit larger than it appears in videos, but it was also remarkably quiet. Even when the dog was moving around, you couldn't hear the actuators or any of its movements over the background noise of the show.
This particular Spot came from the Manufacturing Technology Centre and was equipped with a module meant for analysing apple orchards. It was aptly named, Robo Crop. Essentially, it's meant to be an autonomous quality control operator for the agricultural sector. Having a highly mobile, small and all-terrain robot that can independently inspect a range of trees and then flag up which trees are infected seems like a hugely promising innovation that has many positive implications: reduced labour costs, a non-intrusive inspection method, and a highly efficient way of inspecting everything accurately.
We've previously written about Spot before, specifically with a laser scanning attachment, so we were terribly excited to see it in person. On the professional side, it also makes me excited to see how this sort of technology might be implemented on factory floors. Of course, automatic inspection isn't new, but in most cases, the process involves a sensor mounted along a conveyor belt, or maybe a robot arm with sensors in a scanning box.
Exploring inspection with Zebra Technologies
From the inspection side of things, we spoke to Zebra Technologies. At the company's stand, automatic inspection sensors were taking high-speed photographs of products moving along a belt. This is a practical solution that works well within a factory setting. At the same time, there was also a warehouse-type robot, which looked similar to an automatic filing cabinet. Capable of carrying over 70kg, the solution could sort items on shelves and move them around.
Between the sports cars, thermal imaging, VR headsets, software companies and countless robot arms, there was so much to see in Liverpool that it is quite difficult to summarise. While there wasn't an abundance of metrology companies, we did see Hexagon and Keyence. Software Imaging showed us an impressively simple system for implementing full traceability on factory floors. Vinci Construction allowed us to view a construction site timelapse on a VR set. Meanwhile, ACMI4.0 shared interesting insights on its view on inspection and production optimisation, and Brainboxes showcased a simple, effective solution that's produced entirely in the UK.
Overall, while the Smart Factory Expo may not have been directly aimed at our demographic, it is important to remember that everything must be measured.