The aim of the ZIM-funded project “ErgoFli” is to develop an intelligent, semi-automatic tiling aid. Its intuitive user interface, automated handling of tiles and tile adhesive, and intelligent control system are expected to reduce non-ergonomic postures by up to 66%. The ErgoFli can be moved with a motorised drive and uses linear laying kinematics to lay tiles without direct wall contact using the buttering-floating method. Tiles in two formats, 30x60 cm or 60x60 cm, can be laid in a cross bond. The robot is equipped with a tile and tile adhesive reservoir so that it can be used for at least 30 minutes without refilling and can lay 12 m2 per hour while maintaining the required standard flatness tolerances.
Using a digital twin, an early prototype has already been tested in various scenarios. While the prototype is being designed in standard CAD software, the actual model is being integrated into the Gazebo simulation environment in parallel. This enables continuous integration and testing of control system software packages in application-related scenarios. For example, real test data can be transferred to the digital twin via a closed-loop simulation. The three laser profile sensors of the tile gripper are attached to a prototype gripper and mounted on a UR10 robot arm. The measured values from the sensors can then be transferred to the digital twin in the simulation, despite the different kinematics. In this way, the position control of the gripper can be integrated into the overall system at an early stage by measuring the joint widths.
Contacts:
Jan Wiartalla
Marius Gürtler
