Interface enables machines to speak a common language

Coordination is much easier if all people working on a project speak the same language. Ditto for machines working on a project.

That’s the idea behind an effort led by the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW). With 17 partners, the association has developed umati, which is an acronym for universal machine tool interface. Based on OPC Unified Architecture—the common standard for industrial machine-to-machine communication—umati easily, securely and seamlessly integrates machine tools and related equipment into users’ information technology systems, according to the VDW’s Götz Görisch, project manager for umati.

The architecture of umati is based on OPC Unified Architecture, the common standard for industrial machine-to-machine communication. Image courtesy of German Machine Tool Builders’ Association

The objective of the umati project is to facilitate the transmission of machine- and production-related data both within companies and to the cloud. Today, Görisch said, many shops can’t make the most effective use of this information because they are not connected to IT systems. At these shops, he noted, “the machine tool is a closed system, so this information is not available on the shop floor.”

On the other hand, “if a universal machine tool interface is broadly available, connecting machine tools to IT systems will be much easier,” Görisch said, adding that the average job shop may be able to complete the task in a matter of hours. As the word “universal” implies, the goal is to make umati a standard not just in Germany but for machine tool users all over the world.

Since the umati project launched in September 2017, a number of well-known machine tool builders and control manufacturers have signed on as partners, along with the University of Stuttgart. By simplifying the task of connecting machine tools to IT systems in the production environment, the partners hope umati will one day lead to more widespread transmission of various types of production data, including the operating condition of machines, the status of cutting tools and workpieces, and information about energy and material consumption during machining operations.