Comau, one of the leaders in advanced industrial automation from Italy has unveiled a digital-enabled solution for lightweight and electric vehicle manufacturing – a new robotic roller hemming process. Comau claims that the smart hemmer could hem any complex joint allowing automakers to join dissimilar materials using a cold process that grants complete control throughout the process.

According to Comau, the smart hemmer is the perfect solution for the new generation of electric, hybrid and traditional lightweight vehicles as it addresses the dual market requirements of increased efficiency and accuracy. It features two flexible rollers in which the linear roller can automatically disengage when encountering obstacles or a curved path and avoids the costly and inflexible fixed anvil, apparent in all traditional roller hemming processes. This way it could perform curved path hemming and manage complex angles as part of a single, continuous process.  Smart Hemmer is also able to maintain a constant hemming thickness even when encountering multiple layers of dissimilar materials.

It is said to be field-tested and validated by major European automakers. Comau claims that the Industry 4.0-compliant hemming head is a standardized product that can be applied to all vehicle architectures and compliments the complete array of similar technologies developed by Comau in the cold joining environment. It is available immediately at a global level.

Giovanni Di Stefano, Head of Process Technologies at Comau explains, “Comau's newest hemming solution features a revolutionary design that renders it extremely fast and efficient for lightweight and e-vehicle manufacturing, while eliminating the costly attributes of the product as well as the associated production process. The Industry 4.0 compliant solution lets automakers to innovatively join components together with full in-process monitoring of the joint.”