People, processes, products and the plant at the centre of this project’s strategy
Ford is participating in the European e-BEAT Project, which aims to optimise electric vehicle manufacturing under the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation. This is a research and development project in collaboration with Eviden, Valeo Iluminación, Vodafone, Mahle, TSE and Tyris.ai.
“In the manufacturing of an electric car, numerous systems are involved, yet there is currently no integrated platform that can enhance processes, prevent failures, and automate operations,” said Ignacio Collantes, the project manager for Eviden, an Atos Group technology company at e-BEAT.
The project will validate a tool that optimises every step of the electric vehicle production chain, investing its €8,177,206 budget into four key pillars. The first pillar occurs before the production of an electric vehicle even begins, focussing on the vehicle’s electrical architecture and optimising and verifying the functionality of all components and manufacturing processes.
The second point of investment concentrates on logistics and component traceability. This tool hopes to identify points of improvement in the assembly process, including the potential use of innovative technologies such as IoT on private 5G networks.
The manufacturing process becomes relevant in the third pillar, where the project’s tool aims to identify potential faults in the assembly process. The system collects data through sensors, cameras and AI-based image analysis to create predictive algorithms, detect issues early and even prevent potential future problems.
Lastly, the fourth pillar supports the assemblers themselves. By using cameras to observe the posture and movements of workers at each workstation, the system makes it easier to identify ergonomic improvements that can be made to ensure employee health and safety.
“The new platform will collect, consolidate and visualize all this information, facilitating decision-making both within each area and across the entire process,” said Collantes.
Such a consolidation allows real-time decision-making and for adjustments to made at the supplier level, preventing problems before they can form. It also supports the testing of new software without having to use resources to build the vehicle.
This could be helpful during projects such as WorldAutoSteel’s Steel E-Motive autonomous ride-sharing concept electric vehicles. These vehicles are unusually light, with some of its steel measuring as thin as 0.5mm. This type of experimentation could allow engineers to anticipate and respond quickly to potential issues with new designs such as this.
Eviden created the project’s SAM4P Digital Platform, which combines all applications and software for each part of the electric vehicle. Its AI and machine learning capabilities allow the project to identify and predict problems early in the supply and manufacturing process.
