AI makes coffee stronger, grippers smarter

Figure 1: Altair collaborated with Gruppo Cimbali, an Italian coffee-machine manufacturer, to develop a digital-twin-drive process to better manage the equipment’s lifecycle.

Who doesn’t love the smell, taste and energy boost of a good cup of coffee? Altair collaborated with Gruppo Cimbali, an Italian coffee-machine manufacturer, to develop a digital-twin-drive process to better manage the equipment’s lifecycle (Figure 1).

Using artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC), the entire system can be simulated, using information about each drink crafted, with the help of Altair Activate, an open integration and simulation platform which can also reduce the number of physical prototypes (Figure 2). Time to market for the coffee machine is 30% faster, and energy consumption has been reduced by 25%.

Figure 2: Using artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC), the entire system can be simulated, using information about each drink crafted, with the help of Altair Activate, an open integration and simulation platform which can also reduce the number of physical prototypes.

Simulations like the coffee-machine project were among the many examples of AI applications on display at Hannover Messe.

Another was Festo’s self-directed picking with robots, cobots or Cartesian gantry. The GripperAI follows an autonomous learning scheme to identify and grab unfamiliar objects, a functionality Festo claims is the first of its kind.

Read about more AI applications that were demonstrated at Hannover Messe on our Endeavor Business Media partner brand, Machine Design.