About us

Industrial Automation Group

We are the Industrial Automation Group at the Department of Control and Instrumentation , Brno University of Technology, the Czech Republic. Our teaching efforts focus mainly on designing and modifying industrial control systems, functional safety, embedded devices, communication systems, production line simulation, and virtual commissioning.

We assemble and implement complex platforms for the acquisition, processing, and web-based presentation of various data, utilizing the Asset Administration to ensure industrial systems interoperability.

Barman project

Key aspects of the testbed

Interoperability

Advanced asset administration shell to allow information exchange between all the production participants.

Cyber-Physical System

Virtual twin of the production device enabling simulation and optimization of the entire manufacturing process.

Modularity

Adaptable layout of the production cell to optimize the manufacturing cycle.

Rapid Prototyping

Simulation tools and additive manufacturing to build production devices.

Adaptive Manufacturing

The product is able to respond autonomously to the current state of the manufacturing equipment and process.

Decentralization

Distributed and autonomous control of separate segments participating in the process.

Cloud Services

Hosting digital twins of manufactured products for the entire life cycle and running complex optimization algorithms.

Augmented reality

Facilitates simpler integration of the human operator into the manufacturing process.

Testbed production and information segments

Liquor Storage Cell

Allows storing alcoholic beverages to be distributed in small volumes, such as 0.02 l, and automated dispensing of the stored items to an inserted vessel. This operation is performed by an in-built planar manipulator.

Beverages storage cell

Facilitates storing non-alcoholic beverages and distributing a volume of a stored item into a preselected vessel. The system comprises an automated cooling component drawing the coolant from the central generator.

Glasses storage room

A crucial segment of the entire manufacturing cycle transforming the virtual form of the product into a physical container (a vessel with a memory chip). The cell obtains a virtual instance of the manufactured product, transfers this instance to the chip, and prepares the vessel for transportation.

Soda Maker

Enables the production and storage of fizzy water, distributing a desired quantity of the liquid into a preselected vessel. If the stored item cannot be supplied at an adequate quantity, the unit will produce the missing portion autonomously. An automated system to replenish the individual source materials, such as CO2, is embedded.

Shaker

Automatically homogenizes the liquids in the vessel. Considering the different contents of individual containers, the cell comprises a washer to clean the components after each homogenization cycle, thus maintaining a high quality of the following product.

Ice Crusher

Ensures ice storage and exact dispensing into a vessel. The quantity of the ice is determined via continuous weighing of the container with the contents.

Transporting Unit

The transporter (robotic manipulator) relocates semi-finished products between the individual autonomous cells. The actual operation is offered as a service to be ordered or booked by a product via its administration interface.

Distribution Centre

The unit consists in a conveyor belt that, in the safety zone, receives full vessels containing the products and secures their distribution within the zone. Each product on the conveyor is clearly visually identified by an adjacent large-sized imaging device.

Project sponsors

IFM electronic

Main project sponsor, which provided necessary sensors for several autonomous cells.

6/2018Working since
Huge amount of sensorsProvided for free

Siemens

SIEMENS

Main project sponsor, which provided HW for autonomous cell control (Simatic S7-1200 s HMI panels) and software (Teamcenter platform, NX).

6/2017Working since
SW a HWProvided for free

AXIOM

AXIOM TECH

Czech supplier of Siemens software solutions. Provided free installation of Teamcenter platform and employee training.

3/2018Cooperating since
Instalace SWProvided for free

UAMT

Department of Control and Instrumentation

Department is funding periodical software licencess necessary for Siemens Tecnomatix products

LicenceProvided ofr free

Industry 4.0 Testbed

Barman