Waldkirch / Düsseldorf, June 2019 – During its very first participation in the Automotive Engineering Exposition (AEE) in Nuremberg on 4 - 5 June 2019, SICK AG took first place in the AEE Innovation Award 2019 with its BPS5400, a camera-supported localization system for vehicle bodies.
With its innovative BPS5400 Body Positioning System, SICK – in collaboration with a customer in the automotive industry – has developed an innovative system offering new levels of freedom for vehicle body construction. Unlike conventional positioning systems based on mechanical substructure clamping technology, the non-contact complete solution from SICK offers greater production flexibility, shorter cycle times, minimized wear, and maximum energy efficiency. The BPS5400 also provides all the functionalities for integration in Industry 4.0-oriented production structures – and thus offers a high level of investment security and a guaranteed future. “We want our BPS5400 to revolutionize car body construction while taking another step towards Industry 4.0. Winning this award confirms that we are on the right path,” stated André Hack, Manager Industry Cluster Automotive at SICK AG. “Above all, given the electrification of vehicles that require different platforms but are produced on the same line, our system offers greater flexibility for production.”
SICK’s solution won through against entries from nine nominated ‘Innovation Stars’ in the voting by the specialist public and the international OEM Committee. Prof. Christoph Wagener, Chairman of the OEM Committee of the AEE, particularly praised the system’s development partnership approach in his laudatory speech: “This year’s prizewinner is an excellent example of the founding ideals of the AEE as a platform for innovation that helps connect vehicle producers and suppliers more closely to one another.”
The BPS5400: non-contact localization instead of mechanical centering
The BPS5400 localization system for vehicle bodies ensures robust and highly precise measurement of body position. The calculated 3D position coordinates enable process-safe adaptive robot guidance. The BPS5400 can be integrated in all control environments and is available ready-to-use for a variety of operating distances and field-of-vision widths – though it can also be adapted to individual customer and application requirements in many ways.
The localization data impress: with localization rates of more than 99.996 percent and potential savings in cycle times of five percent or more. In addition, mechanical wear and maintenance effort are almost eliminated compared to mechanical solutions. Significant savings in energy and operating costs, as well as an improvement of the CO2 balance, can be achieved because, unlike using RPS, localization with the BPS5400 does not require any lowering of the skid lift. The innovative localization system from SICK also convinces regarding space requirements and weight, opening up greater levels of freedom in the design of robot cells or the installation of elevated conveyor levels.
About the AEE Award
The AEE Award is bestowed within the framework of the AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING EXPO (AEE) – for the second time in 2019. Nine new innovations from exhibitors were nominated at the specialist trade fair for the vehicle body-related process chain (from design to final assembly), which took place on 4 - 5 June 2019. The OEM and Supplier Committees, as well as specialist visitors and congress participants voted – and chose SICK AG, Fronius Deutschland GmbH and Sika Technology AG as the top entrants in 2019.
SICK is one of the world’s leading producers of sensors and sensor solutions for industrial applications. The company, founded by Dr. Erwin Sick in 1946 and based in Waldkirch-im-Breisgau near Freiburg, is a technology and market leader. It has a worldwide presence with more than 50 subsidiaries and associated companies, as well as numerous sales offices. SICK achieved Group sales of almost EUR 1.6 bn. during the 2018 fiscal year with nearly 10,000 employees.
More information on SICK is available at http://www.sick.com.