PROJECT CLAUDIT DEVELOPS THERMOGRAPHIC SYSTEM TO PROTECT AGAINST LASER RADIATION EMISSIONS

Europe’s evolution towards the Industry 4.0 concept will enable it to maintain and improve its competitiveness, reaching the new standards being demanded at global level. We are already seeing this transformation in sectors like the automotive and aeronautics industries and we will see businesses of all sizes and sectors adopting the new methods and technologies of industrial digitalisation in the near future.

Laser is an essential technology for Industry 4.0. It can be used to cut, weld, mark, texturise and even manufacture parts by particle deposition, more widely known as additive manufacturing. However, working with this element requires protection from accidental exposure to the laser beam.

There are several active protection systems on the market, such as laser equipment booths, however these are costly to install and sometimes also to maintain. All of these require some type of intervention after each detection, incurring the costs of the intervention itself and of the necessary machinery stoppage caused.

Although these solutions are already applied by many large companies, their cost is too high for SMEs, which is why they may delay adapting their systems to the needs of modernisation and digitalisation of production processes and, in turn, diminish their competitiveness. Moreover, the metal-mechanical industry very often works for clients who expect their parts to be supplied on the basis of just-in-time logistical systems, meaning they may face penalties in the event of an unexpected fault that forces them to stop their machines.

Hence, there is a need for a solution beyond the products currently available to configure active booths for lower cost laser installations and, most of all, a solution that can drastically reduce operating and machine stoppage costs. It is patently obvious that the metal-mechanical industry (and others) needs economical and reliable solutions that enable them to use laser technology safely, efficiently and in line with the new standards required by the global market and, even more so in the case of SMEs, solutions with modest resources that will not require major investments or lead to penalties for failure to meet client deadlines.

CLAUDIT is the project that has found a solution to this situation, developing acquisition devices based on combining chambers in the close and long infrared range, which can detect if any parts of the enclosure are being subject to intense and sudden irradiation and overheating.

The revolutionary idea of CLAUDIT lies in detecting any fault with thresholds below the damage to the inside of the enclosure, thus avoiding costly repairs and long machine stoppages, and in turn improving productivity, facilitating the adoption of laser technology by small and medium-sized businesses in the sector so they may achieve Industry 4.0 standards. In addition, this functionality is implemented in a compact and easy-to-install device.

A testing and optimisation phase has been included within the framework of the project, implementing a pilot installation in a real production setting to verify the performance of the equipment and analysing cases of use to guarantee 100% reliability and prevent false alarms.