Intelligent Manufacturing: China’s first smart unmanned entry system is now operating at Bayi Steel

Another industry first has been achieved by CISDI Information Tech Co.

The company has successfully created a smart entry system at Baowu Bayi Steel’s pickling line and tandem cold mill project in China’s Xinjiang region.

It performs automatic recognition for critical operational settings by applying machine vision tech and collaborating with LiDAR point cloud tech, rolling process and automation control. 

Outstanding results are already being achieved - the entry’s coil loading and threading time has been reduced by at least 20 seconds and the line’s annual production capacity has increased by 2,000 tonnes. Manual worker requirements at the warehouse and line have substantially decreased. 

Across the site, machine vision tech is carrying out the automatic recognition of coil codes, automatic quality inspection and judgement, and automatic detection of centering height, seized coil core and strip head angle.

As a result, the current artificial intelligence-based sensing module has hit an overall recognition accuracy of over 99 per cent. The deviation of centering height detection has been controlled to less than 5mm and the minimum inspection length in coil’s edge crack and loss is 3mm. 

These results provide the exacting guidance and feedback required for smart entry operation; the entry system automatically regulates onsite equipment, forming a closed-loop systematic control.

Because the strip head is automatically measured and tracked throughout the entry section, workers are not required to manually operate and control head and tail end cropping or manage looper riding caused by clogging. 

In addition, these functions make cropping more accurate and reduce material losses - the line’s yield rate has been increased by 0.25 per cent. 

The smart entry system innovatively introduces artificial intelligence-based sensing tech into cold rolling, bridging new tech and automation control and the mechanism model. The results are enhanced accuracy, efficiency and safety. 

CISDI Information Tech Co foresees strong market prospects for the smart entry system in galvanising, colour coating, levelling and recoiling lines and applications which will transform cold rolling entry and exit and looper areas to smart, unmanned operation. 

China’s first PL-TCM smart entry system at Baowu Bayi Steel