Different types of machine learning technologies and one engineer’s determination to go outside of his technical comfort zone helped save Sandvik division Dormer Pramet from going out of business during the pandemic.
At Dormer Pramet, it was not possible to set up a new press at the company’s production plant in Šumperk in the north of the Czech Republic due to restrictions related to COVID-19. The breakthrough was made by engineer Ondřej Šebesta, who learned to control hologram technology and started the machine himself using high-tech glasses and remote assistance.
Ondřej Šebesta used different types of machine learning technologies to master the multi-axis press.
It was the spring of 2021 and the Czech Republic had just recorded the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the world. The country was ordered into a strict lockdown and a nationwide ban on all non-essential travel was imposed.
Dormer Pramet plant in Šumper has just received a comprehensive new multi-axis press. But for it to work, the operators needed personal training from the German dealer. COVID-19 travel restrictions put those plans on hold.
However, thirty-six-year-old Ondřej Šebesta, who had just started at the Šumper plant, took on the problem of machine learning.
Hologram technology
“The press was a big and important investment for us,” says Šebesta. “Every day it was idle cost us lost production.” Šebesta, who works in the R&D department, explained how he approached the IT department to try to find a way to do the training remotely. The IT team proposed using an entirely new hologram technology known as HoloLens 2 (HL2).
HL2 essentially projects holograms that react like real objects when the user “touches” them. Using hand tracking technology, the user can grab, move, and zoom in and out of virtual elements. These holograms can be tagged to real-world objects, bridging the real with the digital to create a true augmented reality experience. The HL2 feed can also be viewed remotely, allowing others to interact with the user’s virtual reality display, such as tagging objects, pins, and other instructions.
Reset using a drone
Sebesta had never encountered HL2 before, but spent many late nights reading up on the technology. He also spent his free time testing the lenses—so much so, in fact, that he began to experience some of the side effects of mixing real and virtual for too long: headaches, nausea, and dizziness. He overcame this by flying his own first-person drone during breaks to “reset” his eyes.
However, before actually handling the press, Šebesta completed several HL2 initiation sessions with the contractor and set up a remote PC that allowed the contractor to connect to the machine and take over if needed.
Using remote hologram technology is about as close as you can get to real personal training. This is something we will continue to invest in going forward.
Then came the calibration day. This is where Šebest’s HL2 training proved doubly invaluable; a tool was delivered inside the machine that would have caused significant damage if not detected. Equipped with goggles and connected to the supplier, Šebesta was able to remove it and after completing the remaining maintenance tasks, he was finally able to start the machine.
At Dormer Pramet, the pride is palpable.
“If it weren’t for Ondřej Šebesta, the launch of the machine could have been delayed by weeks or even months,” said Jared Mason, representative of Dormer Pramet’s global communications department in the United States. “It shows how a crisis can push people to break virtually all pre-set limits to creation and innovation.
“Using remote hologram technology is about as close as you can get to real personal training,” adds Mason. “It’s something we will continue to invest in going forward.”
