MT Magazine January/February 2025

FEATURE STORY

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025

27

for Okuma. “When ORNL called, Okuma was happy to provide the space to assemble the platform at our Charlotte headquarters, donate an MU4000V machining center, integrate the pallet tower, and provide technical assistance,” says Glenn. “We were proud to be able to support an out-of-the-box idea that inspired tens of thousands of visitors to the ETC. Just as it took time for people to wrap their minds around the benefits of 5-axis technology, the tipping point for automation is here, and it is coming for additive manufacturing.” For more insight into the convergent manufacturing platform, view a conversation between Feldhausen and Woods at IMTS.com/Flexibility, and watch the IMTS+ Main Stage conversation “Convergent Manufacturing for U.S. Competitiveness” with Brian Post, Craig Blue, and other ORNL members at IMTS.com/convergent-manufacturing.

ORNL’s Post loves cooking analogies, and he looks at the platform as a masterclass in baking. “If you think about trying to bake a cake, anybody who has the recipe, all the ingredients, and the right set of tools can make a pretty decent cake,” says Post. “Our job at ORNL is to help small and medium-sized enterprises become better bakers.” Dr. Craig Blue, ORNL chief manufacturing officer, believes that manufacturers will adopt subsets of the processes demonstrated at IMTS because convergent manufacturing makes them more competitive. “Agile companies – those that can move from product A today to product B tomorrow – are the future of manufacturing,” he says. “Small lot sizes, specialization, and flexibility create new business opportunities for manufacturers that want to become part of the supply chain for our critical defense and industrial base components.” Paradigm Shift “While some of the benefits are more nuanced, what really resonated with visitors and exhibitors alike is the fact that we built the platform around a flexible pallet tower,” says Feldhausen. He notes that Fastems brought people over to the ETC so they could show how the pallet tower enabled unattended operation, provided simultaneous production of multiple high-mix components, enabled high-speed transfer of hot work, and preserved registration.

Apollo and ORNL Converge

AMT’s Emerging Technology Center also featured Apollo, a humanoid robot from Apptronik, that drew big crowds. Dave Lin, director of product marketing at Apptronik, describes what makes Apollo exceptional: “We are using AI to teach the robot how to perform tasks autonomously by leveraging a technique called imitation learning.” So, could Apollo learn to make the injection molded challenge coins that were part of the ORNL exhibit? “One night after the show, the ORNL and the Apptronik teams wanted to see how our technologies could converge,” says Feldhausen. “As with our platform, robots don’t replace jobs; they make them easier. Apollo conquered all the basic moves, but we ran into some fine motion control issues holding the coin with his hand. Still, it was pretty special that we wanted to explore this solution after working a show for 10 hours.” Stay Tuned A future MT Magazine story will explore Apollo’s appearance in the ETC. For more information on how humanoid robots could be the next major platform at IMTS, watch Apptronik co-founder and CEO Jeff Cardenas’ IMTS+ Main Stage presentation, “Beyond the Assembly Lines: The Future of AI-Powered Humanoid Robots in Factories” at IMTS.com/beyond-assembly-lines.

“ORNL’s hybrid solution literally has automation at its center and demonstrates essential tools for improving efficiency and repeatability without adding personnel,” says Brandon Glenn, director of sales at Okuma America Corp., a longtime collaborator with ORNL and IMTS. “I had to come to grips with the idea that the automation may well be the central piece of the manufacturing equation going forward, which is hard to say for a machine tool company with a 125-year history.” Glenn notes that collaborations with ORNL put the company in a stronger position to help customers advance their business. Okuma invested in additive manufacturing some years ago to create the MU-8000V Laser EX hybrid system, and the Okuma Factory Automation Division launched a comprehensive lineup of automation systems at IMTS 2024. As a major provider of the processes the convergent manufacturing platform would demonstrate, supporting the ETC project was a logical move

If you have any questions about this information, please contact Bonnie at bgurney@IMTS.com.