LS Electric Advances Smart Factory With Four-Legged Robot

LS Electric has introduced an advanced walking robot at its production site. The aim is to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness by advancing its smart factory capabilities. LS Electric announced on the 22nd that it had introduced Spot, Boston Dynamics' four-legged walking robot, at its Busan plant.

LS Electric and Hyundai AutoEver have collaborated since last July and completed about two months of test operations at the Busan plant. Before formally deploying the four-legged walking robot, LS Electric carried out test operations and is now operating two Spot units in full.

The Busan plant's main product is extra-high-voltage transformers. As global demand has recently risen on the back of expanding investment in AI data centers and power grids, production volume at the Busan plant is also increasing rapidly.

LS Electric is using Spot at key extra-high-voltage transformer production facilities. It is being used for real-time inspections and has been introduced to advance production equipment monitoring, quality control, and safety management systems.

LS Electric is building a Predictive Maintenance system using Spot to anticipate equipment failures in advance. Through this, the company is pursuing additional gains in production stability and quality competitiveness.

Spot is first being used to manage equipment in the Vapor Phase Drying (VPD) process, a core process for extra-high-voltage transformers. The equipment mounted on Spot is a thermal imaging camera. Inspection targets include abnormalities in VPD chamber door sealing and heat leakage, and the checks are carried out in a noncontact, automated manner.

Spot also collects data on heat, noise, and vibration from vacuum pumps, heat, noise, and vibration from motors, and heat, noise, and vibration from control panels. The company said this would allow it to detect signs of abnormalities early.

LS Electric expects to be able to continuously inspect equipment conditions across the VPD process, which is directly tied to the insulating performance of extra-high-voltage transformers. It also said it expects to improve production quality stability and minimize production disruptions caused by equipment failures.

LS Electric said Spot autonomously patrols the production site. In addition, it uses AIVI(AI Visual Inspection) technology to monitor the operating status of temperature- and humidity-controlled facilities, and uses a newly developed measurement system to automatically collect temperature and humidity data. The company expects the level of production environment management to improve.

Spot can secure environmental data in Dead Zone areas that are difficult to verify with existing sensors, and is used to improve the accuracy of process environment management. LS Electric plans to use accumulated data for this purpose.

Based on the accumulated data, LS Electric plans to analyze the correlation between the production environment and product quality. It also plans to establish optimal production conditions.

Spot is also used to manage test equipment. By monitoring the test equipment's external condition, abnormal noise, and heat generation, it can help detect signs of anomalies early.

LS Electric is establishing a Predictive Maintenance system for key utility facilities across the plant. The target equipment includes motors, coolers, pumps, chillers, and generators, and the company plans to have Spot periodically patrol key facilities to collect temperature, vibration, and noise data and link them to an AI analysis system to predict equipment abnormalities in advance.

LS Electric plans to build an AI analysis model based on Spot operating data from the Busan plant. Going forward, it plans to expand the scope of application to major production bases at home and abroad.

As a mid- to long-term strategy, LS Electric plans to establish a smart patrol system based on walking robots across all its plants and build a digital manufacturing platform that integrates production, quality, and safety data. To this end, it is actively applying AI and robot technologies to manufacturing sites to secure competitiveness in quality, price, and delivery.

LS Electric said it will first introduce a smart management system based on walking robots at the Busan plant and, using that implementation as a starting point, accelerate digital transformation across all its plants. It added that it is also pursuing the goal of securing smart manufacturing competitiveness at a global level.

Source: TECHWORLD · Lee Gwang-jae
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407243

References

• https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407243