The technical closing report about EMO Hannover 2017 shows that exhibitors presented many innovations.

For instance, to enable large components to be flexibly and cost-efficiently machined irrespective of the component's dimensions, the start-up Picum MT, created by the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools at Leibniz University in Hanover, Germany, is adopting fresh approaches. Instead of bringing the component to the machine tool, the Picum One, an intelligent tool robot weighing about a mere 100 kg with its own single-software solution and innovative metrology, is brought to the component. According to the startup, procurement and operating costs are thus avoided, as are inaccuracies increasing with the machine's size. The Picum system docks with any desired component and automatically determines its position in the space to an accuracy of 15 µm. The prototype is fitted with 5-axis kinematics and a 7.5-kW milling spindle and handles tasks like drilling, milling and grinding. In future stages of development, expansions to the system will be able to perform additional jobs, like measuring, laser cutting and 3D printing.

Also, an innovation in the field of spindle manufacturing was showcased by Carbon-Drive GmbH from Darmstadt, Germany. The startup venture from Darmstadt University of Applied Science is the first manufacturer of full-carbon motor spindles for machine tool construction. High levels of specific rigidity and thermostability open up a multiplicity of advantages in the application concerned. Thanks to the reduced mass of the material used, the spindle is 50 percent faster in all acceleration and deceleration functions, thus reducing energy consumption, nonproductive times and costs. In particular, locally adaptable material properties are ideally suited for integrating metrological equipment to provide real-time monitoring of the metalcutting process.

And for vertical lathes, the tool manufacturer Vandurit from Leverkusen, Germany, in conjunction with the Swabian machine tool manufacturer Emag, offers an absolute innovation in the field of turning. In what is called a roll-feed process, the tool's blade is rolled over a contour when the blade engages, enabling feed rates of f = 0.4 to 0.5 mm/revolution to be achieved in hard machining of 100 Cr6 (60 HRC+-2). In addition, these tools can be deployed for longer, since wear and tear on the blade is distributed over its entire cutting edge. For this process, two different cutting inserts are offered for roughing and smoothing.

For more information, visit the EMO Hannover website.