Siemens is committed to "Digitalization in Machine Tool Manufacturing" and intends to present extensions to its digital enterprise offering for the machine tool industry at EMO. This includes the "new machine tool control system geared towards digitalization, edge and cloud computing, artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing", as Dr. Wolfgang Heuring, CEO of the Motion Control Business Unit, explains in the run-up to the trade fair. According to Heuring, the basis for these technologies is the availability and transparency of data, which can be used to create digital twins - of product, production and performance - and which map and link all steps of industrial production in virtual space. "The decisive lever is to convert this data into valuable knowledge - for higher performance and flexibility as well as faster time-to-market," Heuring continues.

The 'Digital Native CNC'

With the new CNC generation Sinumerik ONE, Siemens is presenting what it says is the decisive core component for the digital transformation of the machine tool at EMO. As a so-called 'digital native', the control system comes with the 'Create MyVirtualMachine' software. It can be used to create the machine control and associated digital twin with just one engineering system. The seamless interaction between the virtual and real portfolios should enable a significant reduction in time-to-market and an increase in machine performance.

The virtual preparation of commissioning significantly reduces the duration of real commissioning. Furthermore, machine concepts and functions can be discussed in a targeted manner even before the real hardware is available. The realistic machining simulation of the control system enables machine users to simulate the programming of the workpieces and the setup and operation of the machines completely on the PC. Staff can also be trained away from the real machine on the digital twin.

The CNC system with integrated Simatic S7-1500F PLC is available as a control cabinet-based and panel-based version. The control system can be integrated into the TIA Portal and opens up the possibilities of an efficient engineering framework for the machine manufacturer. The CNC is also based on Safety Integrated - the Siemens industry standard.

New Edge application

With Analyze MyWorkpiece/Monitor, Siemens is expanding its range of software for workpiece quality at EMO. The new edge application enables continuous monitoring of the production of workpieces in machine tools. For this purpose, measured values such as position data, torques or control deviations together with context information, such as the tool currently in use, are recorded from the machine via Sinumerik Edge at high frequency and without feedback. The measured values are continuously compared with a reference model. If deviations occur that exceed a previously defined level, the application logs the result, sends it to the machine tool and enables the operator to react promptly - thus enabling unique process-parallel quality control during production, for example.

The new software complements the existing applications in the area of workpiece analysis: The edge application Analyze MyWorkpiece/Capture records selected data, which can then be visualized with the PC application Analyze My-Workpiece/Toolpath. The high-frequency data points allow detailed visualization and comprehensive analysis of the workpieces produced. This allows the workpiece quality to be optimized during the production launch.