CUSTOS
Innovative monitoring of the quality and precision of mixing and dispensing of polyurethane resins with high thermal insulation generated with recycled materials and development of predictive digital control systems
Scheda del progetto
Polyurethane foams are excellent thermal insulators for refrigeration systems and to protect electric vehicle batteries.
To date, there are no machines on the market equipped with digital analysis and predictive production control for polyurethane foam products. The CUSTOS project plans to digitalise the production of foams made by maximising the use of secondary raw material from recycled sources. The aim of the project is the sensorization of the machine, in order to use the data collected to improve control performance and to develop predictive algorithms, integrated in the control and accessible to the user through dedicated pages in the operator interface.
Contact:
- Alessandro Mancini, amancini@cannon.com
The digitalisation of polyurethane foam machines has seen major developments in recent years. This need for digitalisation is increasingly evident as the introduction of recycled materials increases the possibility of waste in production. In fact, non-constant variables compared to production with virgin material require much more flexible and real-time control actions that only a highly digitalised process starting from the mixing head up to the verification of the manufactured product can provide. Currently, there are partial automations linked only to process control.
The project responds to numerous indications of remote control and verification on the machinery and requests to apply reactivity linked to process quality in the mixing head and - subsequently - the product. Also in the market related to reactive resins machines, there was a need for a digital control process of machine performance, with predictive analysis algorithms on possible deviations in quality, performance and controlled parameters.
To achieve this goal, the project includes the study and implementation of dedicated sensors to guarantee the correct operation of the machine, the use of robotic systems for automation during the handling of finished products or rejects, and the introduction of vision systems to support artificial intelligence algorithms for the recognition of defects on visual products.
The CUSTOS project represents the first mass-production response to the requests for digitalisation and data analysis increasingly present and sought after by the market, which today are not reflected in the production of components obtained with polyurethane foams, particularly as regards not only improving the production process but also the use of A.I. for predictive maintenance (fault prevention) and qualitative analysis of parts at the end of the line.
Controlling and improving the quality produced by systems using A.I. brings significant environmental benefits from the fact that improving quality improves the thermal insulation coefficient of refrigerators and panels.
As a result, there are savings in the thermal energy lost during the life cycle of refrigerators and buildings. After 8 years, it is estimated that 84,240 tons of CO2 could be saved in Italy alone.
To this estimate must be added the minor environmental impacts of recovering waste in the production of polyurethane foam.