SERVICES
I'M AN ORIGINAL CATCHPHRASE
Discover our facilities and activities
We provide room for experimenting with smart advanced manufacturing on real size robots.
We offer an environment in which technology suppliers can host their innovative hardware and software and participants (manufacturers) can make use of the materials and workplaces. Our TU Delft researchers and experts can be consulted anytime and will guide you in the development process.
We strongly believe that innovation is driven by dedicated work of individuals or teams, which all have their own way in learning and pursuing goals. At SAM|XL we want to maximize the freedom of innovation by providing an open infrastructure, so that data is accessible and available when and wherever, you will not find ‘black-boxes’ at SAM|XL. Speeding up innovation through collaboration is our passion, we are committed to protecting the core IP of our partners.
We help you map your path to automation
Define your project
What is your technical challenge and where can SAM|XL assist? It often is difficult to define a roadmap to automation. Our engineers know where the technical challenges lie, and we have experience with solving them.
Identifying funding opportunities
As TU Delft fieldlab we have access to funding dedicated to research and technology innovation.
Executing projects together
By means of our on-site infrastructure and software libraries we develop and validate automated manufacturing systems.
Teaching you the necessary skill
Our experts help you with developing the required skills needed to speed up your innovation. Working on-site at SAM|XL means that your team becomes familiar with automation manufacturing systems.
spaces
Our facilities
SAM|XL is located across the road of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, right on the TU Delft campus.
Our Facility comprises 2000 m2 factory space that is divided in an ‘open’ area for technology showcases and a ‘closed’ area for conducting projects that are of a more confidential nature. To offer our Participants a home away from home, we offer ad hoc flex-desks as well as onsite offices and industrial floor space that can be rented for longer periods. SAM|XL brings you at the centre of the vibrant Delft start-up community and the talented student body of Delft University of Technology, The Hague University of Applied Sciences and InHolland.
Our robots
Although at first sight our robots may seem like any other industrial robot in research and manufacturing centres, a closer look reveals that our entire collection of robots is not only top of the range, but also capable of communicating with the outside world. Our robots cover a wide range of payloads and ranges and all have the ability to output real-time data for monitoring purposes. Equipped with models and sensors capable of real-time, high-speed, path and task planning.
Our robotic infrastructure ideally suitable for developing, demonstrating and validating Artificial Intelligence for the manufacturing industry. Both the robot's own programming software as well as the ROS industrial middleware platform can be used to put our intelligent manufacturing systems into motion.
FANUC R-2000iC
165kg
2.5m
floor-mounted
76m2 cell
ABB IRB-1200
5kg
0.9m
bench-mounted
KUKA KR-210
210kg
2.7m
track-mounted
100m2 cell
ABB IRB-4600
40kg
2.5m
pedestal-mounted
40 m2 cell
Vansichen Gantry
450kg
12.5x10m
Ridgeback platform
Ridgeback mobile robot platform with 2x Sick LIDAR
Doosan M1013
10kg
1.3m
table-mounted
Doosan M1509
15kg
0.9m
table-mounted
Universal Robots UR10e
10kg
1.3m
table-mounted
Our capabilities
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Robotic Filament Winding
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Automated Fibre Placement
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Pick & Place of sheet materials
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Ultrasonic Welding
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AR/VR assisted assembly
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Laser Line Scanning
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Phase Array Ultrasonic
MANUFACTURING
ASSEMBLY
INSPECTION
METROLOGY
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3D cameras
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Laser tracker
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Indoor GPS
TESTING
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Mechanical testing
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Chemical analysis
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Microscopy
SOFTWARE
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RoboDK professional
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SolidWorks
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InspectionWare
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LabVIEW
events
Discover projects
A selection of recent manufacturing and academic projects
Full-size thermoplastic composite fuselage assembly
One of the key objectives of the European aircraft industry is to increase the production rate of single aisle aircraft to 100 units per month. Together with partners GKN-Fokker, TU Delft, TNO, KVE, Airborne and the NLR, SAM|XL will develop an intelligent manufacturing system for one-shot assembly of the lower half of a 8m long fuselage section. Thermoplastic composite skins, frames, stringers and frame clips will be assembled involving a wide range of automated welding and NDT processes. Following the installation of cabin and control systems, this module will be transported to Germany where it will be joined to the top half of the fuselage. SAM|XL is proud to host the European Flagship programmes STUNNING and PENELOPE.
Drilling of composite control surfaces with mobile cobots
The final assembly stage of an aircraft control surface resembles a buzzing beehive in which expert drones execute an endless stream of carefully coordinated assembly and inspection tasks. To automate this “organised chaos”, SAM|XL and GKN-Fokker are currently deploying a flexible manufacturing team that consist of cobots and mobile robotic platforms to automate the drilling process for the 11m long composite outboard flap of the Airbus A350. In the background, the team is working on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that enables multiple cobots as well as human operators to execute their manufacturing dance. This CADC project demonstrates the usefulness of small robots in the production of large structures.
Automated Inspection
Verification of the inner quality of a product (to check for defects) is a critical step in the aircraft manufacturing process. Automation of these ‘safety insurance’ inspection processes is not trivial. In order to achieve this, TU Delft, TNO and SAM|XL are combining their expertise of robotics, sensors, data processing and aircraft structures to develop automated inspection processes. The team currently focuses on a robotic ultrasonic NDT process, which produces 3D scans that are automatically overlaid over a CAD model, which enables the robot to automatically execute a second pass scan of suspect areas, and which incorporates algorithms to rapidly determine whether a components passes the quality requirements, needs repair or should be scrapped.
Automated path planning
SAM|XL’s in-house software engineering team is working on several technologies that reduce the amount of programming that is required when automating manufacturing, assembly and inspection processes. Based on the input of 2D and 3D cameras, the robots are made aware of the location of moulds, materials, components (and in future human or robotic co-workers). Based on the spatial awareness of the production environment, the industrial robots are enabled to automatically plan and execute paths without the need for off-line programming, which is both time-consuming and non-productive. This technology is available to all partners to speed up their research and manufacturing activities.
Masterclasses and training
An important part of being part of the SAM|XL community is learning the right skills needed to improve your automation process. At the SAM|XL premises, training and masterclasses are facilitated by our RoboAcadamy. Please look at their website for upcoming training events.
NDT & Robotics for composite materials
Interested in Non Destructive Testing (NDT) of materials? One of many applications of robotics is Non Destructive Testing (NDT). In collaboration with RoboAcademy, our Technology Partner Tiat Europe is hosting a starter course that will allow participants to get a basic understanding of the most common NDT methods.
This three day course (Jan 25 - Jan 27) will include a variety of practical and theoretical assignments, allowing participants to get some hands-on expierence on Phased Array and Thermography equipment.
If you are part of the SAM|XL community, a discount on participation price is provided!
