Save FA refugees!Smart factory from yama not only cyber and physical [Part 2]: Smart factory at the forefront (page 1/4)

Yamaha Motor, a major motorcycle giant, has a bitter experience that the smart factory project could not move forward from POC (conceptual demonstration), and the factory is smart for the people in the field who actually make things.We are promoting efforts to turn.In the first part, we asked Yasumitsu Ibaraki, Director of the Yamaha Motor Production Technology Division, and about the ideas, devices, and concrete measures and achievements to promote the smart factory project.

In this second part, what kind of efforts will be made about the four key technologies developed by the company for smart factories, "Automatic Transport", "Automatic Examination", "State Monitoring + Tressabi".Introducing whether you are.

AGV (unmanned carrier) has been attracting attention in the automatic technology in the factory, which is even more demanded by Corona evil.However, AGV, which uses induced products such as magnetic tape methods used so far, is not easy to use, but the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) method is expensive.It is an issue.

In the "Automatic Transport" of the Yamaha Motor, the use of AGV is not required, indoors and indoor and outdoors are classified indoors, and "1 million yen can be indoors and outdoors in the SLAM method that does not require guide".The following super -inexpensive AGV is being working on.

First of all, AGV, which is developed in the "SLAM method that does not require induced goods, indoors and outdoors", is based on golf cars, a product of Yamaha Motor, and heavy objects inside and outside the factory.

At the Hamakita Plant (Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture), the processing shift is 3 directly, while the logistics such as parts transport are one directly by the “Calgamic System” that drives a carcager equipped with parts in a manned driving vehicle.I was there.For this reason, there were issues such as the part of the midnight shift for the shift in the shipping location.Therefore, we considered the introduction of AGVs that could transport heavy objects and use outdoors, but there was no optimal one, so we developed AGVs equipped with Tia For technology known for automatic driving software in golf cars.Mr. Ibaraki said, "When I did various tests about this AGV, there were more realistic problems such as hiyari hat, nighttime detection, and emergency stops during luggage.He also decided to commercialize it based on this development results. "

In September 2021, EVE AUTONOMY, a joint investment company of Yamaha Motor and Tia Four, announced the pre -order for the "Eve Auto" automatic driving car for the premises, such as factories and logistics bases.There is.

On the other hand, in order to make AGV active in various sites as a "capillar role" of the factory, the Yamaha Motor's Equipment Technology Department has planned "super -inexpensive AGV of 1 million yen or less".It is a module development concept that combines materials and parts that do not cost 100,000 yen, which allows AGV for 300,000 to 1 million yen.This module development concept is not all in -house of the AGV, but will be supported at first, but it will be "just let the engineer on the site do it yourself" (Mr. Ibaraki).ing.

In addition, many factories have a difficult work environment.For example, the site that handles casting parts, which has a product temperature of 300 ° C, is a high -temperature environment, and there is a sand drop of a middle child.The durable model required for such an environment uses industrial parts and wheelchairs for structural materials, and controllers and sensors can be selected for industrial grades.

AGV with similar functions is available for 1.5 to 3 million yen.Mr. Ibaraki said, "However, if you buy things from the outside, the contents are black box, so it takes time to introduce it, and sometimes you can't use it well. Then, in -house AGV, which is not inexpensive and not black box.He thought it would be easier to introduce. We believe that developing AGVs with the functions related to their own sites will help improve the IT literacy of site engineers. "

In addition, in the "self -worked" using AGV, not only things but also information are important, and AGV status monitoring data, battery status, AGV log information, etc. can be used and utilized.I have prepared.As a result, the battery replacement of AGV is also possible with a robot.

Mr. Ibaraki said, "While PL (profit and loss statement) is emphasized, it is difficult to estimate the effect of BS (balance sheet) / CF (cash flow) due to the introduction of AGV, which is higher than a certain amount. In other words, the introduction of AGV is not progressing.The cause is that AGV is expensive, and it has been solved by making it cheaper. "