>> The mid-range Laguna 2, and the new exclusive Vel Satis model introduced at the start of 2002, are manufactured in Le Havre. A high level of automation and a variety of measures for quality assurance characterise the path from shell to final assembly.

Safety for “flying” tank plants

Thus Renault uses a mobile tanking plant for filling the brake fluid reservoir. It is installed on an electric overhead conveyor and moves along in tandem with the vehicle on the transport belt during filling. When the process is over, the tank plant drives back along the belt at a speed of 30 m/min to the next vehicle to be filled. PLS units installed in both directions of motion ensure that the mobile plant is safe for the personnel employed at these work stations. Monitoring is controlled by the LSI interface module, which is not only responsible for direction- and speed-dependent switching of the protective fields, but also saves all parameter data, minimising downtimes if a sensor needs replacement.

With an eye to access ...

... to the right part for assembly – there is a second laser scanner, the LMS Laser Measurement System. It ensures that the right components are mounted on each model despite the range of vehicles and the corresponding variety of similar, but not identical, assembly parts. For this purpose, the device monitors the front of the small parts shelves, in whose compartments the various assembly components are stored. Every single compartment is identified in the control system with an x-and y-co-ordinate and its particular content saved in the memory. When a vehicle enters the assembly work station, the employees are shown the compartments from which the parts to be attached must be taken. The LMS monitors this access by comparing the actual access co-ordinates of the worker with that stored for the particular part, thus rapidly and reliably detecting if the wrong part is removed.

Creative solutions at Renault, the “Créateur d’Automobiles”– realised by SICK, the “Créateur d’Automation”.