General facts
Bachelor of Science
Technical University of Darmstadt
Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
8+ Years of programming
SCL/Structured Text, Ladder/FUP Logic, Visual Basic Script, C++
Fluent in three languages
English, German, Russian
My projects so far
The list below only contains my major work on brand new machinery. The shorter projects on existing facilities like new function integration, retrofit and cycle time improvement are not included.
Chain bag manufacturing facility, biotech sector
2024, B&R Automation Studio 4.12
An outlier in my otherwise automotive centered carrier. This facility manufactures special bags for biomaterial by welding two foils together with a nozzle, requiring 10 production steps and a cycle time of 2,5 s. The first challenge here was the clients requirement of a B&R PLC, which meant learning a new development environment and hardware ecosystem. The second challenge was the usage of hardware, like frequency inverters from Bosch and Festo which are not officially supported by B&R. Without any usable software blueprint, I had to create my own. While most of the code was new, I also methodically ported some already tested core blocks in Structured Text from TIA, like Telegramm 111 and Bosch IndraDrive. Then by creating a translation layer between these blocks and the rest of B&R framework every axis could be seamlessly controlled and visualised in the same way no matter the manufacturer.
This project taught me how to develop a full software stack on my own and also made me appreciate the advantages of more modern automation systems like TIA Portal.
DMC laser marker for PTO-Shafts, BMW Plant 4.1 Landshut
2023, TIA Portal V17, TMO V3
In Landshut BMW manufactures the PTO-Shafts for the current models and also spare parts for its decades old cars. This means there is a lot of variety of pipes that are required to assemble these shafts. This machine is a robot cell in the early stage of production, receiving freshly made pipes from the washing facility to mark them with 14+ DMCs that are then read in the assembly line. The machine retools itself for each pipe type automatically, by having an editable expandable database of pipe patterns. The robot then stacks the marked pipes in the box afterwards.
Due to the technology shift from ink to laser, the readability of some codes was lacking. To find the root cause of these bad DMCs, we had to optimise the lighting to grade them within our machine automatically. The solution in the end was creating different marking jobs depending on the pipe surface condition, which just became an extra parameter within the database.
Front/rear axle assembly for G73, BMW Plant 2.1 Dingolfing
2023, TIA Portal V17, TMO V3
The G73 is an armoured rare version of the 7 Series. Its axles are assembled separately due to the stricter requirements to the vehicle. The process is performed manually with a set of tools and an array of PLC controlled screwdrivers. The task was to create a system that guides the worker through each assembly step, insuring the correct sequence of actions and the assembly of correct parts which are all documented in IPM. There were around a 100 steps for the front and 150 for the rear axle. This motivated me to create a scalable dynamic visualisation system that was capable of presenting the entire worker place sequence within a single page. Furthermore each of this steps was updated by an IPSC telegram that is unique to each axle, containing new part numbers, screw programs and even its corresponding nut index. To fulfil the strict government requirements, each structural screw action was interlocked with an ultra sonic 3d positioning system by Sarissa. This insured that the position of the screwdriver was at the correct screw point. This was a good exercise in efficient data management.
VIN code embosser, MAN truck plant in Munich
2022, TIA Portal V15
This machine replaced the 25 year old one. It embosses the VIN code onto the truck frame at the very beginning of the assembly line. The embosser hardware was provided by Borries, the camera system to read back the resulting VIN Code was Cognex with AI OCR capability. The PLC had to interact with the MAN production SQL Databases over VBScripts running on the WinCC Advanced HMI Client. The database is queried to update the sequence of 20 short truck codes entering production, then they are used to get the full dataset containing the full VIN code, truck type and so on. This list is then used by the worker operating the crane to handle the truck frames in correct sequence to begin final assembly. The VIN code to be embossed is just a pointer on that list. Furthermore after completion the PLC had to update the production flag within the corresponding dataset in the SQL Database to trigger next processes within the factory.
There were a lot of lessons learnt within this project, like working with VBScript, SQL Databases, integrating IPM on the telegram level without a standard and using AI to read back characters.
Series of cable plug pressing machines
2021-2022, TIA Portal V14
My first project in special machinery was a series of facilities used to assemble cables carrying power to the inverter in the electric cars. These machines press in the cables inside the plug housing using torque limited servo drives. The process could require up to 15kN of force, which was monitored with an external sensor for quality control. Furthermore the positioning progress within the plug housing is monitored by a Wenglor camera which is placed directly above. The camera uses a rule based approach to recognise each cable by searching for specific geometry, meanwhile projecting them within the coordinate system based on the geometry of the plug housing. This allows for 0.1 mm level of measurement precision to control the process and reject not ok parts. The entire process data is then sent to the factory control system over OPC UA interface.
The main challenge of these machines was to adapt the camera to the ever-changing surface variance of the plug housings. As either a dark spot or a bright reflection could make the measuring results invalid. Even though we managed to achieve a 95% success rate, one should invest in a 3D measuring system for more reliable results.
Band 50b Final Assembly BMW Plant 1.1 Munich
2020-2021, TIA Portal V14, TMO V3
My biggest project so far: Skid Intralogistics, part of the main assembly line. The vehicles are taken on after the “Wedding” and are moved on skids, performing various assembly steps on the way to the heavy load monorail. Due to my experience and resilience I was put in charge of the entire PLC controls architecture, virtual and on-site commissioning of the new assembly line. To achieve the target cycle time the vehicles had to be transported in shuttle mode (all at once). However, if one of the assembly steps took longer than the rest, the conveyors would decouple from each other to keep the rest of the line moving. Due to space constrains in the plant 1.1, the skids were shorter than the car itself, so an unforeseen fault could mean an expensive collision. Since the problem couldn’t be solved mechanically, I developed a prototype software solution, using the data from all the drive encoders and an asymmetric boolean sensor array. This overriding collision control system monitors the skid movement in the shuttle track and calculates the distance between them in real time in every operation mode and movement direction.
Although this assembly line was built and commissioned under major time pressure, the parent plant of BMW started production on schedule in September 2020 and there were no unforeseen faults or collisions.
Container Intralogistics AUDI Ingolstadt N60.3 BIW A3/Q2
2018-2019, Phoenix Contact PC Worx, VASS Standard
The new Body in White hall within the Audi parent required logistics infrastructure to provide a steady flow of containers loaded with smaller car parts like doors, tailgates, bonnets, fenders from their production lines and forklift entry points to the body shell final assembly lines. It was a system of interconnected conveyor lines transporting containers over 6 floors and over 3,3 km in length if added up all together. Our software/commissioning team was just 2 engineers strong. Together with my colleague we developed a SW library to standardize container type, target and buffer management across all our lines. It was challenging to work with the archaic PC Worx development environment and VASS Standard for the first time, nevertheless I took over 5 out of 8 PLCs and the entire system was ready for production 6 weeks ahead of schedule.
Band 19 Final Assembly BMW-Plant 1.1 Munich
2017-2018, TIA Portal V14, TMO V3
As the new paint shop was constructed it needed to be connected to the rest of the plant, hence the new first final assembly line had to be built in the summer of 2017. It was my first time in the role of one of the lead engineers in our team of two. The biggest challenges of this project were time pressure and the fact that it was the first major assembly line implemented on then brand new TMO V3 PLC standard. As early adopters we had to fight our way through many obscure software bugs. The lack of function blocks for some special hardware, made us developed our own. My function blocks for TCP/IP communication with the DOT Matrix reader from P&F and Assa Abloy’s high speed worker gate made it into the official TMO library later. The assembly line successfully entered production on schedule.
Electric Monorail Conveyors BMW-Plant 2.4 Dingolfing
2017, TIA Portal V13, TKB 8.1 Standard
My first practical experience with TIA Portal was during a series of weekend modifications on the existing monorail lines in the Body-In-White hall for the BMW 5 and 7 series. The body shells at different completion stages were transported between different assembly and manual rework lines. Our team integrated new monorail tracks, various track switches and DOT Matrix readers expanding the existing system and synching them with the higher-level plant wide control system (BEST).
Cockpit Intralogistics BMW-Plant 1.1 Munich
2016-2017, S7 Classic, PL2 Standard
The cockpit conveyors transported assembled cockpits to the final vehicle assembly line for 15 years and were overdue for an update. On Christmas our electrical team replaced all the conveyor drives and RFID readers. The obsolete PNOZ switching tech was also ripped out in favor of a modern F-CPU with safety peripherals. My task was to reprogram the old software to the newer PL2 standard accommodating the new hardware and support our commissioning efforts on-site. This project helped me to collect valuable experiences in SEW drive tech and MOBY RFID readers from Siemens.
Doors Production for BMW G32/F48 Magna Plant in Elsendorf
2016, S7 Classic, PL7 Standard
Despite me being a member of the Intralogistics Department, my first project was supporting our Body-In-White team in commissioning a series of door production facilities. The variety of technologies like robotic welding, gluing, riveting and laser welding used in producing a simple car door was profoundly impressive to me back then. Our team consisted of 5 engineers, I was there to support commissioning, creating HMIs using Zenon according to the PL7 standard and maintaining production for the first pre-production part batches. It was an exciting project and an invaluable experience for the future.