The machine tools industry is experiencing a historical transformation in productivity, powered by intelligently adaptive robotic solutions. For automating tasks like machine tending, specialized types of AI can add immediate and measurable value. Dedicated teams at TRUMPF and Intrinsic have been working closely for several years to bring machine tool and AI innovation together, and building a new generation of robotic solutions. 

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The best of both worlds

Together, TRUMPF and Intrinsic share a vision that software-defined and AI-enabled robotics will unlock new levels of productivity for machine users, in affordable, seamless ways that make sense. Today, fabricators in sheet metal face relentless pressure to optimize their processes for greater efficiency and adapt to evolving customer demands, all while maintaining their existing systems, quality, and output. The need for high-mix, low-volume automation has never been higher or more valuable for growth.

Combining deep industry expertise and passion for intelligent automation, both companies have reached substantial milestones together in developing AI-enabled metal cutting (TRUMPF SortMaster Vision) and bending solutions, leveraging the best from TRUMPF and Intrinsic’s platform. The ability to seamlessly integrate usable and reliable AI into existing processes - in simple ways that don’t require computer science or robotics expertise - represents a game changing milestone for the future of sheet metal fabrication.

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SortMaster Vision: streamlined sorting with AI

TRUMPF’s SortMaster is a fully automated solution for the end-to-end cutting of sheet metal parts – recently exhibited at EuroBLECH, it demonstrates a powerful integration of Intrinsic's platform and AI perception capabilities. Built with Intrinsic Flowstate, an end-to-end developer environment (from digital twin design to deployment and maintenance), the SortMaster Vision enables a first in metal sorting - the ability for robots to autonomously sort each piece of metal using cameras and deep learning algorithms, trained solely on CAD files. Customers do not need to program the robot or the system.

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"Customers can now automatically sort parts that couldn't be removed using conventional solutions. This innovative process is a game-changer, offering a fully automated solution for separating and sorting parts,” said Tom Schneider, CTO of the Machine Tool division at TRUMPF. "Intrinsic's AI platform perfectly complements our vision for the future of manufacturing, where intelligent automation empowers businesses to achieve new levels of productivity and flexibility."

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"We are thrilled to partner with TRUMPF to bring the power of AI to their world-class machine tools," said Wendy Tan White, CEO of Intrinsic. "This collaboration, and the recent demonstration of SortMaster Vision at EuroBLECH, marks a significant step towards making advanced robotics accessible and intuitive for manufacturers of all sizes.”

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The system can recognize different metal parts of different sizes, in different positions and locations - enabling each piece to be addressed one by one. This data is then used to auto-generate robot code that autonomously orchestrates the robots movement and the suction grippers to successfully pick and place the pieces. This process is fully automated and for the customer, eliminates the need for manual programming and physical handling of the parts. This type of adaptability enables new flexibility for the machine user, including the ability to deal with new parts and batch sizes more easily.

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In addition to SortMaster Vision, our teams are working to introduce the same capabilities to metal bending solutions and are deploying them with early customers in sheet metal fabrication. With Intrinsic’s motion planning capability, efficient, collision-free robot motion paths are automatically generated to pick and place metal pieces for processing. By removing the need to manually program the robots, including the related time, cost, and expertise - robots can be practical, easy-to-use assistants for all sorts of machine tools.

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TRUMPF has over a century of industry expertise in machine tools and sheet metal fabrication, with a deep commitment to technical excellence and customer support. At Intrinsic, we’re increasingly proud and excited about the work we’re doing together and the milestones we’ve achieved recently. 

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Intrinsic has a mission to democratize access to robotics for millions more businesses, manufacturers, and developers. Our partnership with TRUMPF and the development of these first two solutions are exciting proof points of the potential of AI in industry. We share a vision to make AI usable and valuable for machine tool users who want more productivity in practical ways. We’re excited for a future when exponentially more businesses can grow and scale with automation and AI.

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