The Experience from the Shop Floor: GOSAN, one of EnduRAI’s Pilots
Many manufacturing quality issues happen before inspection. They start with a tired hand, a precarious torch position, or a moment of strain during a manual task. If these deviations are discovered during post-process inspection, they take longer to fix and cost more.
At two industrial locations, EnduRAI is experimenting with an alternative solution. One of them is GOSAN, a Spanish manufacturer of mechanical components. We talked to Alba Cabello, from GOSAN’s Marketing Department, on the company’s involvement in the project, what it expects, and how the technologies being piloted work. The key points are summarised in this article.
GOSAN produces mechanical parts, components and assemblies for lifting and transport machinery. The company has more than 50 years of industrial experience. It produces more than 35,000 custom-engineered parts each year and exports to over 70 countries.
It’s used in applications where precision, reliability and safety are essential. This puts its production lines in a challenging environment to test new technologies.
GOSAN is a key player in EnduRAI
GOSAN is one of EnduRAI’s two industrial pilot partners. The other is CEMRE, a Turkish shipyard. GOSAN tests and validates the technologies under real production conditions, including real shifts, real noise, and real production pressure, while making high-precision pulleys.
The pilot applies to cutting, bending, welding, repetitive assembly, and heavy handling operations. GOSAN also contributes to project studies on social and human issues in implementing these technologies on the shop floor.
GOSAN cuts, bends, and welds parts. Many of these processes are partially automated, but the operators still have to adjust and set parameters manually. As a result, their physical condition directly impacts quality.
When the errors are found, fixing them requires rework, additional inspection time, and extra expense. The pilot aims to determine whether these deviations can be predicted before the job is completed.
How the piloted technologies work
The GOSAN pilot consists of two types of information: the worker’s condition and the condition of the part being manufactured. It involves four steps:
- Sensing the worker. The operator wears a wristband sensor equipped with surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors. These sense the electrical activity of the forearm muscles and estimate fatigue, tremor, and strain.
- Inspecting the part. Real-time infrared and visual cameras verify the part’s geometry, including bead buildup and torch angle.
- Combining the signals. The two sources are synthesised into an AI model. If they point in the same direction, such as a shaking hand with an irregular torch angle, they indicate a probable deviation.
- Alerting the operator. A short vibration is sent through the wristband. The operator can then adjust before the weld is complete and before inspection.
Feedback is to be non-intrusive. Notifies the operator when correction can still be made, not after the fact.
EnduRAI aims to augment human work, not monitor or replace it. Workers are volunteers, and no project information is used for hiring, ranking for performance or disciplinary. Where possible, signals are handled on the device; workers can view and manage how their data is used.
GOSAN results will be assessed from technical, worker (fatigue, ergonomics, and trust), and operational (quality, safety, productivity) perspectives.
Watch the interview with a GOSAN partner to learn more!