The first half year of the I-MECH project focused on detailing the tasks specified in the I-MECH project proposal. Insights from engineers involved in participating pilots proved to be valuable for defining more tangible descriptions of tasks and I-MECH building blocks that will result in the I-MECH reference motion control platform. Building block owners therefore visited the pilots of Philips, Sioux CCM and Nexperia, all residing in the Netherlands, during a two day conference in February.
The group enjoyed an introduction of each pilot through plenary presentations and demos during the first part of each pilot visit. Small groups sat together per building block to align specific details during the second part of each visit. Participants took a next step during these sessions by discussing how building blocks can be integrated into specific pilots while keeping in mind that all I-MECH building blocks eventually should be interoperable in a common platform.
Integration of building blocks on a standardized I-MECH platform is to ensure that building blocks are interoperable, can also operate on common platforms and support additional functions to for example self-deploy, configure, and report their status. Partners discussed possible integration of building blocks on a case to case basis and mapped possible configurations. This led to further insights on the requirements for building blocks and issues around standardization of interfaces. Teams will now further work out specific pilot cases, which will be used to demonstrate the I-MECH motion control platform and building blocks later in the project.