New institute at UWM projects future of manufacturing in Wisconsin

Inside a research and teaching institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, you’ll get a glimpse of what executives and engineers are saying about the future of manufacturing in Wisconsin and across the country.

There is the assembly line on which robots go to work at the push of a button and manufacture products, in this case bottles or cubes filled with liquids of different colors.

The factory line uses artificial intelligence to monitor product quality by color and weight. It knows the status of equipment and supplies, when a particular ingredient is running low, and when there is enough downtime for maintenance. Over time, after the order is processed, it can even learn to predict future demand for its products.

Computers in the next room have “digital twins,” virtual versions of the same assembly line that enable students and researchers to test new code or troubleshoot problems without having to work on the physical machine itself. The virtual versions simulate the reaction of the assembly line to changes, so that 30 students can work on the machine at the same time without the university actually having to own 30 of them.

Around the corner are stations where industry experts from across the United States – including Washington-based Microsoft, California-based cybersecurity company Fortinet, and Pewaukee-based Heartland Business Systems – have provided cutting-edge technology and employee experts.

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Students can use Microsoft Surface Hubs to learn about artificial intelligence, earn cybersecurity training certificates that employers value, and work with massive amounts of data stored in the cloud. And they can collaborate with researchers like Habib Rahman, an associate professor in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedicine, by controlling their digital twins from anywhere in the world.

The Connected Systems Institute is practically a fully-functioning mini-factory of the future, where robots take orders and manufacture products on demand, while people research and fix technology problems as they arise.

Kaushal Chari, dean of the Lubar School of Business, said the university’s long-term hope is to see more student interest in computer science, engineering and business-related fields based on the experiences the institute offers.

“This is clearly a jewel in the crown of the UWM,” said Chari. “We hope that because of the center, many more students will be interested in enrolling at the UWM.”

The institute’s staff speak of the need to prepare for “Industry 4.0”, a future in which intelligent technologies, automation and artificial intelligence will change the manufacturing landscape. The institute has technology that cannot be found anywhere else in the world and is backed by investments of $ 8.3 million from industry partners and collaborators.

Preparing businesses and workers for the jobs of the future is a task no company, university, or government agency could do on its own, said Joe Zaccaria, director of the global academic group at Rockwell Automation. Rockwell helped UWM found the institute in 2019 with a $ 1.7 million investment.

“To produce four or five people to do these things is relatively easy,” he said. “To produce it on a scale that actually meets the needs of the state is an entirely different goal. That is the basis. “

Education and industry solutions

Even an incomplete list of employees at the Connected Systems Institute shows the widespread interest that automation arouses in production. UWM partners include We Energies, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., Microsoft, Dell, Cisco and Eaton.

Experts said companies are interested in moving towards more sophisticated technologies, but there is a need for more applied research to build things like UWM’s mini-factory line to be used in a business setting.

Some larger companies have excelled as early adopters of intelligent technology, but “three-quarters of manufacturers really do very little,” said Jennifer Abele, senior executive director of strategic partnerships at UWM.

At the UWM, researchers ask questions about how companies can become more efficient. How do you use and secure the huge amounts of data these machines collect? If something goes wrong instead of sending a mechanic to fix or operate a robot, could someone fix the problem through their digital twin?

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Typically, factories test a product from a large batch to ensure quality by taking a sample to a laboratory or performing a time-consuming inspection. UWM’s Smart Factory line can be taught to review each product individually to ensure that each product is up to date.

Researchers are also trying to harness the power of artificial intelligence so that the production line can figure out what is wrong with the product and whether it can still be saved. In most factories, the defective product ended up in the garbage.

“(It’s) less waste, more efficient, lower energy costs,” said Zaccaria. “You don’t throw away raw materials, that was part of the consideration. Because this is a challenge for the industry. You need to determine with the help of advanced technologies: ‘This can be mixed in or modified to meet a different specification’. ”

Education from K-12 to the workplace

Industry leaders say applied research is only half the equation. The other half is education: there are simply not enough people who are versatile and know how to use intelligent machines.

“Of course, the technical skills are a huge part. Our engineers go in and solve difficult problems for people, ”explains Matt Eide, technical architect at Heartland Business Systems, why his company invested in the UWM Institute. “But the other big component is just learning people and organizational skills and how to work on complex problems that aren’t just technology.”

Once the work of the institute is in full swing, it will reach students of all ages to prepare them for this smart technology future: industry experts can come to UWM to earn qualification badges; College students in business, engineering, and computer science and beyond study and research in a space that reflects how real businesses work. The institute will even train K-12 teachers on how to bring AI and programming lessons into their classrooms.

Much of the support for the K-12 education comes from Microsoft, which provided carts of educational materials, including kits to build Raspberry Pi, credit card-sized microcomputers. The educational cars were made specifically for UWM, said Balamurugan Balakreshnan, a cloud solutions architect for Microsoft who works with the UWM institute. Students can learn practically and at their own pace.

“For them it is complete freedom,” said Balakreshnan.

Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or DAShastri@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.

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