The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association), Frankfurt am Main, had actually intended to present the Stuttgart-based research trio Caren Dripke, Tonja Heinemann and Christian von Arnim with the "Project of the Year" award at the METAV in March last year. But then came Corona. The METAV did not take place, nor did any conferences or meetings that would have provided a worthy setting. So everyone involved had to wait a long time before the certificates could be presented in a small ceremony just before Christmas.
The "Project of the Year" award is presented annually by the VDW Research Institute on the basis of a decision by the Scientific Advisory Board. "The award is deliberately aimed at the scientific staff at the research centres, i.e. the people who have done outstanding work in their project," explains Dr. Alexander Broos, Head of Research and Technology at the VDW.
Clear vote of the scientific advisory board
While the projects deemed worthy are usually discussed extensively by the Scientific Advisory Board across all working groups, the decision last year was very easy, says Broos. The choice quickly fell on the project "Connectivity for Industry 4.0" (KonI4.0 for short) and thus on Caren Dripke, Group Leader Industrial Control Technology at the Institute for Control Technology of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) at the University of Stuttgart, and her colleagues Tonja Heinemann and Christian von Arnim. This project laid the foundations for the presentation of umati (universal machine technology interface) and the success of the showcase at EMO Hannover 2019.
"A project as complex as KonI4.0 with many partners from companies involved represents a particular challenge," emphasized Broos in his laudatory speech. "Ms. Dripke and her team have done a great job of contributing their technical expertise and at the same time involving the project partners in the project work with the necessary tact and sensitivity." The whole thing was paired with an extraordinary identification with the project and corresponding personal motivation. Broos was particularly enthusiastic about the development of Tonja Heinemann and Christian von Arnim, who "joined the project as young employees at the ISW and have not only excelled professionally, but are now important pillars of the project work". Tonja Heinemann had the central responsibility in the development of the specification as well as the iteration with all participants and acted as Editor in Chief of the OPC UA specification document. Christian von Arnim used his technical expertise to develop the basis for the showcase on display. In addition to programming the dashboard and backend, this primarily involved adapting communication networks to the trade fair infrastructure.
Surprisingly fast implementation speed
The rapid development and success of umati as a standard for simple and secure connectivity throughout the mechanical and plant engineering sector has surprised many industry experts, most of all the award-winning scientists themselves. "I would never have believed that umati would become so strong and achieve such an effect in such a short time," admits Caren Dripke. After studying technical cybernetics and mechatronics, the 30-year-old has been a research assistant at ISW since 2015, working on both control algorithms and communication interfaces for industrial control systems. The request from the VDW came in September 2017. Dripke took over the management of the KonI4.0 project, which was presented to the public for the first time in September 2018. It then took less than a year until EMO Hannover 2019 and the showcase with 110 machines.
Dripke and her colleagues at ISW also found that there are highs and lows in project work. Highlights included trips to Thailand and the USA to promote umati at an international level. Talks or participation in congresses offered the opportunity to experience the local perspective on the topic of digitalization. However, the biggest highlight was the showcase at EMO Hannover 2019, in which 70 companies from 10 countries took part. "It was great that we achieved so much, it made us proud," admits Dripke.
Protagonists with a sure instinct
In between, however, there were also phases in which the young scientists had the odd "hangover", as Caren Dripke recalls. "We had a big goal," she says, "but project work can sometimes become quite fragmented." According to Dripke, very different companies were involved, all of which had their own ideas. "There was a lot of twisting and turning until everything fell into place." Ultimately, the decisive factor was that there was always a great deal of support, so that the project never ran the risk of "petering out", but instead experienced the hoped-for major breakthrough.
However, the work on the project is far from over, as Dr. Alexander Broos made clear in Frankfurt. Thanks to the cooperation with the VDMA, umati now has a very large community. As face-to-face events are currently not possible, the project is celebrating interim virtual results. These include the final specification, which was published in September 2020 as promised at EMO Hannover 2019. In addition, there were two plugfests in the machine tool community for the direct implementation of the specification as well as several virtual events, including one together with the VDMA under the slogan "The Global Production Language - OPC UA Companion Specifications". At the umati web event in mid-December, a virtual trade fair, the VDW also offered five selected partners the opportunity for the first time to present products that integrate the functionalities of the OPC UA for Machine Tools (OPC 40501-1) and OPC UA for Machinery (OPC 40001-1) specifications.
If the pace that the Stuttgart-based scientists have always set seems to have slowed somewhat at the moment, this is at best due to the restrictions on external communication. The trade fair appearances are simply missing. As with the presentation of the "Project of the Year" award, it will probably take some patience before spectacular and effective showcases such as those at EMO Hannover 2019 can be realized live again.
