The model, which was already a success in 2008, is being continued in 2010: AUTOMATICA, International Trade Fair for Automation and Mechatronics, and Intersolar, International Trade Fair for Solar Technology, will take place parallel. The link makes sense, because the global demand for solar cells is increasing, and the solar industry is betting increasingly on the automation industry to stay competitive and produce more efficiently. Numerous exhibitors are exhibiting automation solutions for the solar industry at AUTOMATICA 2010, the International Trade Fair for Automation and Mechatronics. The trade fair will be held from 8 to 11 June 2010 at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre and will present the world's largest offer of robotics, the key technologies assembly and handling technology, industrial image processing and associated technologies. The international trade fair Intersolar concentrates on the areas of photovoltaics (PV) and solar energy. This trade fair, which is held annually, will also be held from 9 to 11 June in 2010 on the grounds of the New Munich Trade Fair Centre in the directly adjacent halls and consequently overlap on all three trade fair days with AUTOMATICA. The combination of the two leading trade fairs in their segments is pioneering, especially for production professionals. Behind the use of environmentally-friendly solar technology, there are the most modern production and assembly systems, which have become increasingly automated over the past years to cut costs and consequently make the industry competitive with conventional energy sources. Markus Elsässer, Managing Director of Solar Promotion GmbH, which is the organizer of Intersolar in collaboration with FWTM (Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG), is looking forward to the expected synergies of the two successful trade fairs: "A few thousand visitors took advantage of the link between AUTOMATICA and Intersolar in both directions in 2008. This will not be any different in 2010, because automated production is going to be an essential element of solar technology in the long term. After all, the industry expects long-term growth, which has been slowed somewhat by the global economic crisis this year. New subsidy programs and initiatives in the USA, Japan, Eastern Europe and even in China provide justified optimism for this."

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The new Industrial Automation and Drives division at ABB comprises products and systems used in the discrete production industry (e.g. robots and programmable logic controllers) and provides drives for factories (motors and drives). Photo: ABB

The firm ABB has restructured its automation divisions to be better able to respond to the spectrum of customers. As a result, ABB tell us, growth opportunities in the service sector are to be exploited more consistently and its presence in the discrete production industry is to be expanded. With effect from 1 January 2010, the business units of the divisions Automation Products and Robotics are to be combined in two new divisions: Industrial Automation and Drives, and Low Tension Products. The Process Automation division is to remain in its present form and will simply be expanded to include the instrumentation business from the Automation Products division. Focus on productivity and energy efficiency promises a potential for growth “The automation business of ABB, with its focus on productivity and energy efficiency, promises enormous potential for growth,” says Joe Hogan, chairman of the group management of ABB. “We are taking our lead more from the market by grouping together business fields with similar customers, technologies and service models. In this way we will in future be even faster in developing solutions for our customers.” The new Industrial Automation and Drives division comprises products and systems used in the discrete production industry – including robots and programmable logic controllers (PLC) – and products that provide drives in factories (motors and drives). This division furthermore has a broad range of products for the solar and wind sector and also for rail transport. These products are mainly sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), system integrators and also directly to end consumers, and they require a more intensive, made-to-measure service. This division achieved a pro forma turnover in 2008 of 6.6 bln. dollars.

The Process Automation division of ABB is to remain in its current form. It will simply expand to include the instrumentation business of ABB, which at the moment belongs to the Automation Products division. This move will strengthen the division’s process automation platform, because measuring instruments for temperatures, throughflow, pressure etc. play a significant role in the optimation of industrial products. This division achieved pro forma turnover in 2008 of  8.4 bln. dollars.
The new division, Low Tension Products, mainly comprises business areas providing low tension products with small maintenance requirements for sale to wholesalers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators.
The reorganisation of ABB’s automation business has also led to various changes at management level. These will also come into effect on 1 January 2010.

Reorganisation at management level as well
In future, Tom Sjökvist, currently responsible for the Automation Products division, will take over responsibility for the new Low Tension Products division.
Ulrich Spießhofer, at the moment responsible at group management level for group development, will take over as director of the Industrial Automation and Drives division. Anders Jonsson, presently director of the Robotics division, continues as a member of the group management, while taking over responsibility for a continuation of the cost reduction programme and also the ABB Global Footprint Initiative. Veli-Matti Reinikkala remains director of the Process Automation division.

The first series application in the world: two lightweight robots in the assembly of rear axle differentials at Mercedes Benz. Photo: Kroh

This the first series application in the world of lightweight robots from the aerospace and car industries: in rear-axle assembly at the Esslingen-Mettingen section of the Mercedes Benz Untertürkheim works, two CFK robots have been fitting crown wheels and bearings into gear housings since March 2009. “For us, these lightweight robots are the right answer to the rising demands on production regarding flexibility, adaptability and productivity,” Günter Kasper, director of axle production in the Untertürkheim works, emphasises. Dr. Michael Zürn, director of production and material technology at Daimler AG adds: “Conventional automation is no longer able to master the increasing complexity with ever more variant products. A cognitive automation is therefore needed. The lightweight robot offers new possibilities for adaptable assembly processes.” The joint development project by Daimler and the German Centre for Aerospace (DLR) and the Kuka Roboter GmbH started in 2004. “The modular lightweight robot has seven joints and is very similar to the human arm in size, strength and freedom of movement,” is how Prof. Dr. Gerd Hirzinger, director of the Institute for Robotics and Mechatronics at the DLR describes the device.

Lightweight robot weighs only 14 kg
The 14 kg robot has a programmable compliance facility. With its integrated sensoring (two angle and one moment sensor per joint as well as torque moment sensors) it is therefore capable of yielding to external forces.  The difference compared to earlier robots is explained by Manfred Gundel, board chairman at Kuka Roboter GmbH: “Industrial robots carry out one task 1000 times, the new robot generation carries out 1000 tasks, once only if necessary.”

Lightweight robots replace manual assembly stations
Since the beginning of the pilot operation in March, around 18 000 rear axle differentials have been produced for customers’ cars. The two lightweight robots were integrated into the existing lines, where assembly used to be manual. “But the robots do not follow pre-determined paths,” Zürn emphasises. Although their work is automated, they approach objects carefully, thanks to their sensor-guided torque control, and adapt to changed circumstances. If, for example, a component is not in the ideal position, the lightweight robots adjust their motion program accordingly.
“This way, they manage with simple tools and without complicated grip sensors.” Zürn is therefore optimistic that it will possible to select even more areas for lightweight robot operations as part of the Mercedes assembly strategy.

The Vario-Robot in practice: painting in the car industry. Photo: Eisenmann

In an MM exclusive interview, Ralph Meier, director of research and development in the field of robots and applications for the Eisenmann AG, Böblingen, explains application opportunities for jointed-arm robots in painting installations and comments on trends in the automation of industrial painting processes. Mr. Meier, what preconditions do you look for in a customer’s project before recommending an application technique with a jointed-arm robot? Meier: The objects to be painted should be complex components with a definitely three-dimensional structure. In what areas are these preconditions most often fulilled? Meier: Usually in the areas of car and component manufacture. What adaptations are necessary with jointed-arm robots so that they can handle the component without problems or hitches? Meier: With a few exceptions, no adaptations are needed. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to add an fourth axis.

Eisenmann make jointed-arm robots themselves. Why?
Meier: The Vario-Robot by Eisenmann also has six axes, but does not correspond to the definition of a jointed-arm robot. To reduce the cabinet volume, the Vario-Robot was conceived so as to be able to fit into the existing cabinet structure. For this reason, the first axis is supplied not as a rotating axis, but as a linear axis. The system was developed specially for the painting of parts with large surface areas, such as car bodywork, lorry driver cabs, fan vanes or large surface extension parts. A jointed-arm robot is therefore not really necessary. It is conceived in such a way that only the easily cleanable, smooth-surfaced process arm reaches into the spraying cabinet. Due to being integrated into the cabinet wall, the Vario-Robot makes smaller spraying cabinets possible. This results in advantages in costs for cabinet installation and operation, as the amounts of air supplied, circulated and extracted are significantly reduced. The cleanroom conditions are improved as well, as all mechanical parts are mounted outside the cabinet and thus easily available for maintenance.

How are the robot and painting process linked from the control point of view, to be sure of optimum coverage?
Meier: At Eisenmann, the control architecture is conceived on a modular principle. The robot and application controls are clearly separated from each other and run in parallel. This control structure enables the customer to achieve optimum coverage for the component to be painted. Thanks to the modular concept, the Eisenmann application can be combined with any robot type by any robot manufacturer.

How do you assess painting of small and medium workpiece runs with the help of a jointed-arm robot?
Meier: Taking the ROI into account, the great advantage of robot painting is the consistently high quality, combined with a tried and tested process parameter documentation. Thus, all standard requirements of today’s quality management are satisfied.

As we know, linear robots are used more frequently than joint-arm robots in painting. How would you describe the potential applications, cost-effectiveness and efficiency of these two automation solutions?
Meier: In a comparison of both systems, the spectrum of components to be painted always plays a big role. If the products to be painted are exclusively two-dimensional, the user can take full advantage of linear robots. These offer lower investment and running costs and simpler technology. The latter means effectively less demands being made on operational and maintenance staff. Once the components to be painted are three dimensional, the user would be well advised to take a jointed-arm or Vario-Robot solution. The higher investment costs and demands on staff know-how  are counterbalanced by the great flexibility of the whole installation. As a result, there are many options regarding the spectrum of components for painting. The high costs, for example, generally pay for themselves within a short time. In isolation, the two systems are hard to compare in terms of efficiency. Only a combination of optimum application technology with individually suited choice of robot makes the whole system efficient. Thanks to the modular control scheme, this efficiency is always attained when an Eisenmann system is used.

Which further developments do you see in the interaction of jointed-arm robots and painting technology?
Meier: The level of automation in the painting process will continue to rise. Even if parts of the process chain have to be considered separately as far as this development is concerned, it is essential to keep the whole process in mind. For only an optimum matching of all components will raise the potential in terms of costs and quality.

Josef Kraus

Its appearance has little in common with the “Star Wars” robot: the partially autonomous maintenance robot by the Fraunhofer IPA – here turning a handwheel. Photo: Fraunhofer IPA

As early as 2006, the Fraunhofer IPA constructed a mobile off-shore inspection robot “Mimorex”, capable of working safely in an explosive atmosphere and of carrying out patrol duties on its own. The new maintenance robot developed as part of the Imronet project is additionally capable of simple operational tasks such as opening and closing valves with the help of  handwheels. For this, the robot is controlled remotely by an operator who is, however, supported by the robot’s partially autonomous safety and movement functions. This simplifies the control of the robot in teleoperation and helps to avoid damage to the installation if, for example, the robot end effector is guided along the wrong path during the opening or closing of a handwheel. Image processing evaluates the robot’s surroundings The robot’s image processing must recognise the position and orientation of special objects in its proximity (such as handwheels to be turned). For this, a 3D depth sensor is used, recording the robot’s surroundings in the form of a three-dimensional scatter plot as well as a two dimensional depth image. Since handwheels or gauges have something very close to a round form, algorithms for the recognition of ellipses are applied to the data from the depth sensor in order to determine essential parameters like radius, normal direction and position.

3D models serve as basis for collision prevention
As an additional aid to collision prevention, 3D models are made of static obstacles such as walls, handrails or machines; these are presented to the robot in the form of a three dimensional model of the surroundings. This is also visible, along with the recognised object, on a graphical user surface as support for the teleoperator.

For intuitive teleoperation of robots, the use of haptic effects is helpful. In controlling the robot, a haptic input unit for force feedback is available. The feedback is linked to the interaction of the cursor in the graphical user surface with objects in the 3D surroundings. Handwheels, for example, attract the cursor, while other objects, such as obstacles, repel it. With help of the cursor, it is possible to select, for example, a handwheel to be turned or to produce a certain movement in the robot.

Once the object recognition has defined the position and rotation of the handwheel, the robot can approach it on its mobile platform. A target position relative to the handwheel is calculated so as to make  manipulation of the handwheel possible.

The robot can enlarge the manipulator’s working radius
After arriving at the wheel, an arm trajectory is calculated on the basis of the wheel parameters and the model of the surroundings, so that the wheel can be moved in the selected direction. The use of a force sensor during this process makes it possible to compensate for inaccuracies in the 3D sensing or in the localisation. If a very large handwheel is to be moved, exceeding the working radius of the manipulator, the mobile platform can be moved back and fore to provide the necessary enlargement of the manipulator’s working radius.

In energy requirements, the Chinese government wants to reduce its dependence on coal power stations. The technically available wind energy is estimated at 700 to 1200 GW. Photo: MM-Archiv

The state-supported wind energy sector in China offers attractive opportunities for foreign firms. There are, however, numerous hurdles to overcome before starting a project. These include the state of the electricity network and the lack of suitable competitive tariffs. This article is centred on investment conditions for onshore windparks with a capacity of up to 50 MW. The example here is based on national law and provincial law in Inner Mongolia, the Chinese province with the best natural wind resources. Peking is promoting wind energy strongly The Chinese government supports not only the development of the wind sector, but also renewable energy as a whole. This is an important part of China’s strategy in refoming the country’s coal-dominated energy structure. Since the passing of the law concerning renewable energy in 2005, China has almost doubled its wind energy output every year. The cumulative available wind energy power was 13.2 GW in 2008 and is expected to reach 100 GW in 2020.

Plentiful wind energy is available in various parts of the country
The usable wind energy in China is estimated as between 700 and 1200 GW. Areas with plentiful natural wind resources are the southeast coastal regions (approximately the provinces Shandong, Jiangsu and Guangdong), the northern part of China (e.g. Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang) and certain areas in the country’s interior.

The  feed-in tariffs for wind energy into the electricity network in China have so far been set either on a project-to-project basis or by set tariffs fixed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is directly under the control of the government. For large planned investments (as a rule with available power of more than 100 MW), the feed-in tariffs are set in a so-called concession auction procedure, organised by the NDRC. The price determined by the auction procedure becomes the feed-in tariff after the NDRC has approved and possibly slightly adjusted it.

China is attempting to establish a fixed local tariff system for electricity from wind energy
For wind energy projects which are not covered by such concession auction procedures, the feed-in prices are set by the appropriate price department of the NDRC or by their corresponding regional offices. Up to the end of 2006, the prices set by the NDRC varied between 0.4 and 1.2 Yuan (CNY) per kilowatthour (the exchange rate is currently 1 Euro = 10.147 CNY). Since 2007, the Chinese government has been attempting to establish a fixed local tariff system based on the natural resources and infrastructure available locally, after recognising that an inconsistent price structure has negative effects on the development of the wind energy sector.

The feed-in prices set by the NDRC or by the local authorities responsible are regularly higher than the prices obtained in the concession auction procedure. To impose uniformity on the price system, and thus to enable the investors in the wind energy project to make a better profit prognosis, the NDRC has issued a directive regarding feed-in prices for onshore wind energy projects. This has introduced four tariff levels, dependent on wind resources and project conditions. They extend from 0.51 to 0.61 CNY/KWh.

China supports foreign wind energy investments
Foreign investments in building and operating wind parks are supported by Chinese policy. This investment can either be in the form of a so-called “wholly foreign-owned company“, a limited liability company similar to a plc, with 100% of the shares owned by foreigners, or as a joint venture with a Chinese partner.
The total investment necessary in an investment project of this kind must be in proportion to the planned available power from the wind park. The guideline here is an investment of around 1 mln. Euros per MW available power.

70% local participation in wind energy installations necessary for support
As a result of a current ruling by the NDRC, it is also necessary for all wind park projects to have a domestic (Chinese) share (“local content requirement”) of at least 70%. Many foreign wind installation manufacturers have therefore undertaken a joint venture with local production, thus on the one hand reducing manufacturing costs, and on the other hand satisfying official requirements concerning local participation in the installation.
To be able to construct or operate a wind park, the investor must obtain the relevant permission from the NDRC or from the appropriate offices locally. Projects with available powers of 50 MW or more are subject to permission given by the NDRC, while projects with available power ratings under 50 MW can be approved by the Development and Reform Commission (DRC) at province level. As projects under 50 MW are the most common in practice, we concentrate here on the permission procedure with the DRC.

Obtaining permission in two steps
The DRC issues two essential licences in its approval procedure. In a first step, a licence is issued for carrying out the preparatory work. This covers investigations of local conditions and testing the site for the wind park, applying for further preliminary permissions, the carrying-out of a feasibility study, consultations with electricity network operators, negociations with banks and other financial institutions and also with potential suppliers.
When all preparations are complete, an application can be made to the DRC for development rights. With this licence, the investor receives the right to develop the wind park.

Local government is very important for success with windpark licences
The government of the town or community in which the windpark is to be erected plays a decisive role in the success of an application for development rights. The support of local government can be very helpful, not only for access to information about natural features of the locality and the infrastructure for the windpark, but also for co-ordination with other official bodies. Investors are usually asked to make an agreement with the local government about the development of the windpark.

A guaranteed connection to the electricity network is essential for profitable operation of a windpark. Although electricity network operators are obliged, according to the law for renewable energies, to buy all the in-fed wind power, there are still some windpark projects which have been hindered in starting normal operation because they have not had sufficient access to the electricity network in past years. It is therefore necessary for the investor to take up contact in advance with the relevant electricity operator and to make sure that a guarantee is given for the connection to the network.

Billions invested in construction and infrastructure in the national electricity network
The government is increasingly aware that the weak electricity network is a hindrance for the development of renewable energy and has already taken measures to improve this situation. Of the 4000 bln. CNY economic stimulus package (more than 400 bln. Euros) released at the end of 2008, 1800 bln. CNY were invested in the construction and infrastructure of the electricity network.

The development of wind energy in China offers interesting opportunities for foreign investors. There are still challenges in the development of a dependable electricity network and competitiveness in the network tariffs for wind energy. Similarly, the performance of locally produced installations and a lack of qualified specialist workers represent obstacles for foreign investment. China’s strong committment to wind energy, however, is a promising basis for improved investment conditions and for creating interesting investment opportunities, although these must be examined very carefully.

HONG YAN AND ALEXANDER FISCHER
Hong Yan is legal counsel with Rödl & Partner in Shanghai, China: Alexander Fischer, lawyer and qualified translator for Chinese and Korean, is in charge of the permanent legal office representing Rödl & Partner in Shanghai.