Festo created a new solution for high throughput dry-room electrode assembly of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The company has also developed an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) system to lower energy use and improve predictive maintenance on pneumatic systems. Both solutions are on display at the Battery Show, October 7 through October 10 in Detroit, Michigan, at Festo Booth #5025.

Dry room electrode production improvements

In 2022, the Festo electric mobility initiative demonstrated an automated degassing cell. In 2023, the company developed an automated chemical processing solution for recycling the valuable materials incorporated within EV batteries. Now, in 2024, Festo focuses on dry-room electrode production. The new display simulates the unrolling, cutting, aligning, and layering of anodes and cathodes.

The first high-precision proportional valve terminal on the market — the new Festo VTEP — maintains roll tension, which is critical to the quality of EV batteries, and does so at a significant cost saving compared to electric automation. VTEP is the latest controlled pneumatics solution from Festo. Controlled pneumatics is the next stage in the evolution of pneumatic solutions for the 21st century, combining high-speed, long-life, and energy-efficient piezo-electric valve cartridges with sensors and control algorithms into a single smart unit.

With the VTEP, users set performance parameters per valve channel and the proportional pressure valves provide closed-loop control to those presets. Valves deliver highly dynamic response and precise pressure control to achieve “target reached” status for each channel, which equates to the motion complete function in electric drive technology. Sustaining the target setting makes the VTEP terminal ideal for maintaining roll tension in automated dry room electrode production.

The display highlights the performance advantages linked to huge bandwidth – 200-megabyte rate – and exceedingly low cycle time — under 100 milliseconds — of the new Festo Automation Platform (AP) I/O. The AP’s CPX-AP-A remote I/O and CPX-AP-I decentralized I/O communicate at backplane speed. This I/O architecture is compatible with EtherNET/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, Modbus, and IO-Link by applying a protocol-specific AP bus module. This is a plus for OEMs supplying multiple control systems on serial machines as the bus module changes, while the I/O stays the same.

The Festo components for dry room applications are copper and zinc free, which adhere to best industry practice. Festo offers copper and zinc free options in dozens of product families, including valve manifolds, actuators, air preparation systems, and accessories. Festo copper and zinc free product variants feature a “F1A” designation in their model numbers.

Lowering energy consumption and boosting uptime and quality

The Festo AX industrial intelligence AI/ML system monitors this battery handling system and provides actionable real time data on edge or in the cloud. Source: Festo

Festo applies its AX industrial intelligence, the company’s AI/ML solution, to display an AI approach to predictive maintenance, lower energy usage and improved performance of pneumatic automation. In this display, AX provides real-time, actionable data on pneumatic actuation and can do so on edge devices or in the cloud. In this display, Festo AX has been integrated with the Festo Smartenance mobile digital maintenance manager, which alerts maintenance personnel to system issues, including a description of where and what the issue is.

Closing the skills gap in EV and semiconductor manufacturing

Closing the skills gap — the disparity between skills needed by industry and the number of workers with those skills — is vital to the health of EV and semiconductor manufacturing due to the number of new plants and revitalization projects coming online. Festo Didactic, the learning arm of Festo, now offers Electromobility Training online through the Festo Learning Experience portal, on-site customized training, and expertise in establishing and maintaining apprenticeship programs.