How does the laser system ensure process stability when running lights out?
Well, to answer that question we have to start with the software. When running unmanned production, it is very important to have a very stable program. And therefore, there are some features in the software that can be chosen to avoid the tilting of parts and to have a stable program for production. This means we can add micro joints, we can destroy holes and even have a smart collision avoidance system calculating the different paths. This topic was touched upon in one of our previous virtual tech sessions. When all of that is taken care of in the software, which is of course the responsibility of the programmer, then normally the machine will function properly during the night.
But in any case, the machine has been equipped with features to increase stability and to increase its production capabilities during unmanned production. For example, the machine has what we call a touch feature. If the material so much as brushes against the nozzle, this is detected as a crash. This doesn't cause any physical change on the cutting head but the machine stops to avoid further possible damage.
When we have a nozzle changer installed on that machine, we can recover automatically. This means the machine will detect this, it will check the nozzle changer with the camera to see if everything is still okay and then we can finish that same part and from the location where we left off. So this is one of the features that ensure that the production process can continue.
Also, software is developed in such a way that, for example, when different batches or different jobs are run in succession and for one job the material is not present, production doesn’t stop entirely. We will skip that one job and continue until the rest of the programmed jobs are finished. In the morning, the operator can see the list of jobs that remain to be executed because of an issue during the night.