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AI assistant for robust mobile additive repair using WAAM

19 Nov 2025

With the Mobile Smart Factory (MSF), Rheinmetall Landsysteme is offering a mobile solution for the repair of metal parts and components installed in technical systems. The areas of application include both the civilian and military sectors. The core of the MSF is an additive manufacturing system that enables repairs to be carried out on geometrically complex components. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) in combination with a machine tool based on pentapod kinematic is applied. The challenge consists in the fact, that operating personnel available and deployed at the installation site of the MSF rarely have the relevant specialist welding training. Service staff or soldiers are often deployed who either have no technical training at all or who have no technical training in welding.

Thus, Kiel University of Applied Sciences and Rheinmetall started last year a collaborative research project with the aim of developing an AI assistance system. It should provide the (inexperienced) operator with information on process anomalies and recommendations on how to counteract these deviations through targeted intervention in the process. It enables easier operation of the MSF by the human operator, who can override the AI assistant at any time. This minimizes the risk of repairs not meeting the permissible quality tolerances. Further it ensures that the repaired parts and components are at least sufficiently close to the qualification requirements originally defined by the manufacturer for new parts. This plays a particularly important role in terms of product liability and the risk to be maintained within a reasonable range.

First results of the development of an AI assistant, striving for a high performance level to serve the requirements of low operator skill level, will be presented. The selection of the corresponding sensor technologies needed to acquire sufficient in-process data will be included as well.

Speakers: 
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Mattes, Professor for Manufacturing Technology, Fachhochschule Kiel
Thomas Kerk, Team Leader System Support, Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH
Laurin Vettel, Researcher, Fachhochschule Kiel