Cloud Technology Is Driving Laser Technology Toward Intelligence

According to recent research findings published by RWTH Aachen University in Germany, a system developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology that uses cloud technology to control laser processing has entered a stable operational phase.
Under the broader trend of the "Industrial Internet of Production" (IoP), 200 scientists from RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology established a data center in 2019 to control and monitor industrial processes. The concept of this data center is based on a project aimed at controlling laser systems, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology and utilizing the open-source software Kubernetes.
Fortunately, the system has operated smoothly over the past two years, allowing institute staff to automatically install new laser software remotely within minutes.
It is understood that since controlling machines and lasers requires the participation of multiple sensors, the control components and software for reading sensor data are correspondingly diverse, and such systems are often used in parallel in industrial production. However, how can installation and centralized control be effectively achieved?
The Solution: Starting from Scratch
Moritz Kroger, a research assistant at the Laser Technology Society of Aachen University of Technology and co-chair of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, is facing precisely these two challenges. He stated, "While we can effectively control individual devices using current programmable logic controllers, we cannot control dozens or even hundreds of devices."
To address this challenge, researchers have reprogrammed the machine control system. However, since they have access to mature open-source software, which offers better compatibility with distributed systems and more development options, the reprogramming process is relatively straightforward in terms of difficulty and workload.
Additionally, during operation, researchers must incorporate scanner control data, sensor data from various sources, and analytical data into their considerations to enable control and optimization.
According to the researchers, the open-source software Kubernetes used in the system enables automatic installation, scaling, and maintenance of applications on distributed computer systems. It was originally designed by Google and is supported by leading cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Red Hat OpenShift, Amazon EKS, Google Kubernetes Engine, and Oracle OCI.
Distributed computing for future automated manufacturing
The trend toward the "Industrial Internet" demands the digitalization of technology, increased and simplified cross-domain collaboration in the context of cyber-physical systems and Industry 4.0, and the real-time and secure bundling of all relevant data from many different sources.
In fact, the system is already in use at the data centers of RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology and is undergoing further development. The software for automatic distribution and application analysis in ultra-short pulse (USP) laser systems exhibits high stability. Moritz Krüger states, "We can set up software and hardware connections for new lasers within five minutes, including integration into cloud-based environments. However, further research is needed for the automatic data evaluation functionality."
"Researchers plan to aggregate data from multiple systems and process it for users in an image-based format. In the future, the operation of laser systems is expected to be optimized through machine learning using data from the field of artificial intelligence," Moritz added.
In the era of Internet+, the combination of cloud technology and lasers represents a promising new direction for development.