Delvano is well known for producing customer-specific machines. They produces custom machines based on customer requirements.  Environmentally conscious handling of spraying chemicals is a major concern of Delvano and this creates increasingly complex challenges.
That’s why they needed a partner like Vintecc whose approach fits in what Delvano wanted.

The foundation for a strategic collaboration was laid during a conversation at the Indumation trade fair after seeing the presentation of the use case at Deman.

Complexity as a challenge

The biggest challenge is controlling the spray height and the stability of the spray boom over a length more than 50m, especially because of the edge factors such as an unstable surface and resonance.

Identification of the Spraying boom

First and foremost, we had to map the behavior of the spray boom by means of data acquisition using our data framework Capture.

Capture is a highly customisable, scalable and flexible datalogging framework existing out of 3 major components:

1. Data collection – Data is collected in a secured way on premise and in the cloud, of choice – by supporting the most common industrial protocols (such as Beckhoff ADS, Siemens S7, OPC UA, MODBUS, CAN, etc.).
2. Data exploration – Our highly customisable dashboards show all individual data to the smallest detail. Our reporter plugin will automatically summarize KPIs and report them on a regular basis.
3. Data insights – Get real value out of your data and adjust your data where needed. We use
   machine learning techniques to extract valuable insights to make machines smarter.

Based on the measured data, we were able to create a control structure in short term which improved performance.

Digital Twin Simulations

For the next step, using the simulator was crucial.

By adding a physics engine we were able to reproduce the results in the field. Replaying what-if scenarios and adding environmental factors made it possible to predict and to anticipate more easily to the behavior of the spray boom.

Digital twins are very useful in an initial development phase where trade-offs need to be made on a mechanical, electronic or software level. Virtualize your design and add actuators and sensors to your CAD models and simulate them in a real-world environment. For highly variable processes, hybrid and/or data-driven models can be used.

The Result

The speed of processing is crucial. If this is not happening fast enough, there is a danger that you will get a worse effect than before and even collide with damage as a result.

With the development of the control system, a better performance has been achieved and the use of simulation gave us insights to come to newer concepts.

In the meantime, several machines have successfully driven around the field last season.

Vintecc’s strengths lie in its experience in complex matters and in finding result-oriented solutions. They also helped us to develop software in a model-based way that can also be used for other designs.