The MiC 4.0 working group brings together manufacturers and operators to jointly developed an identical interpretation of data content so that construction machinery can "communicate" with a uniform understanding in the future, regardless of the manufacturer. "The aim is to push ahead with digitization - at full speed," says MiC 4.0 Managing Director Dr. Darius Soßdorf.
On September 21, the VDMA hosted BuB Technology Day during which it was documented the MiC 4.0 working group has developed into a competence center. The interim results of the working group are milestones on the long road to autonomous mobile machines:
- The machine status data are defined manufacturer-spanning.
- The process data were broken down into individual construction methods (special deep drilling equipment).
- The first attachment plugfest will take place in the coming weeks. A computer will document in a data transmission protocol whether the data will be transmitted and received in the same way by a carrier device and an attachment - regardless of the combination.
MiC 4.0—international working group in cooperation with the VDMA and HDB; companies, universities, and research institutions can become members—is open to all who wish to participate in this process. Complicated regulations and requirements at national, EU and international level, standardization, machinery directives, machine safety, cybersecurity and environmental legislation require companies as well as associations to cooperate more intensively.
This was also emphasized by Ralf Lüddemann, head of the technology department at Leonhard Weiss GmbH & Co KG and Dirk Siewert from HDB, Hauptverband der Bauindustrie e.V. They focused on the operator's viewpoint and thus occasionally put their finger in the wound. Construction machinery would have to meet the requirements with which the building contractors are confronted. These include legal regulations, occupational safety, health, and environmental protection. The operators are forced to act economically and legally sound in the construction market. The machines and equipment are tools to achieve these goals. An intensive cooperation between OEMs and construction companies, as it is currently taking place in the MiC 4.0 working group, is essential.
René Kampmeier, technical expert in the VDMA Construction Equipment and Plant Engineering Association, updated the 152 conference participants during the technology day on the status of DIN, CEN and ISO standardization. Thomas Kraus from the VDMA Technical, Environmental and Sustainability Association gave an overview of the changes requested by the member states in the new version of the Machinery Directive, including the recording of new technologies and cybersecurity, the digital operating manual and the digital type plate, Annex IV, incomplete machinery (PCM) and significant changes.
The next BuB Construction Day is scheduled for September 2022.
