trends in automation

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(A) High speed battery cell pick and place with the
Festo H-handler.
(B) Electric vehicles only from 2040.
(C) Individual battery cells need to be tested and
batched into modules with speed and accuracy.
(A)
(B)
(C)
The UK government has
recognised the opportunity and
the need to develop indigenous
capabilities to manufacture the
critical battery assembly technologies on
which electric vehicles depend. In July, it
announced a significant investment
programme to develop the battery
technology that will enable more energy
storage and support a low-carbon
industrial economy1. With regard to
electric vehicles, a project to
demonstrate that commercial production
of batteries for electric vehicles is both
feasible and cost competitive is now
under way. It is using Festo automation
technology to achieve the levels of speed
and accuracy required to pick, place and
handle components.
The £14 million AMPLiFII (Automated
Module-to-pack Pilot Line for Industrial
Innovation) project aims to create a proof
of concept for a new automotive battery
pack assembly line. The project is being
led by leading research and education
group WMG, at the University of
Warwick, and brings together Jaguar
Land Rover, JCB, Alexander Dennis (ADL),
Ariel Motor Company, Delta Motorsport,
Potenza Technology, Trackwise, HORIBA
MIRA, The University of Oxford, Axion
Recycling and Augean. The work also
supports the UK Advanced Propulsion
Centre (APC) National Spoke for
Electrical Energy Storage, hosted by
WMG, and has received £10 million in
funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s
innovation agency, and the UK
Government Office for Low Emission
Vehicles (OLEV).
Within the AMPLiFII pilot battery
assembly line, special purpose machine
builder and system integrator Horizon
Instruments Ltd, has developed a high-
speed cell picker system using Festo’s
H-handler technology. Setting a new
precedent for battery pack
manufacturing, the cell picker presented
several unique challenges.
Daniel Bolton, Technical Director at
Horizon Instruments, explains: “We
faced a number of technical and practical
constraints when designing the battery
module production line. These included a
relatively confined space in which to
1 Business Secretary Greg Clark announced details of the first phase of a four-year £246m investment into battery technology on 24th July 2017. The initiative
falls under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to drive innovation across six key areas, as announced in the 2017 Spring Budget.
Issue 32 trends in automation
Synergies 10 – 11