They are the winners of the vlogging contest of the EDU robotics event on 21 February in Leeuwarden and redeem their prize just before the summer holidays, a factory visit to Philips. Or actually, a visit to Innovatiecluster Drachten at Philips. Because in addition to a tour of the robots that make razors, the children visit the 3D metal printer in the ICD shared facility center.
robots
,’Wow! Millions of razors a year! That's a lot!’ one of the children slams. ’’It has to be,’’ explains tour guide Henk, ’’because on Father's Day, all the stores should be full of plenty of razors.’’ As he leads the children past the robots, Henk explains that everything non-standard is done by humans and the rest by robots. At some of the robots, the children pause to look. ''Years ago this place was full of tables where ladies assembled the parts for shaving heads, now robots do that.'' Farther along, the children see a red lamp light up above a robot line. Asked what happens if there is a malfunction, Henk replies, ''Fortunately, all the robots have a number. That comes in handy if there are problems. That way the operators know exactly which of the hundreds of robots is the right one.''
Sponge
Especially for the children, an employee in another factory hall explains how the name is printed on the razor with a special sponge. One of the children is already standing further back and shouts: ’’Why has this been thrown out?’’ He points to a bin of plastic parts. Henk explains. ,,Look at the pins, there is one missing. Exactly! The machine saw that and so it throws this part away. If this happens too often, the operator has to get in to find out what's wrong.’
3D printer
Whereas in the factory they are not allowed to touch anything, at the 3D metal printer the children can touch all the products and see them from all sides. An employee explains how the printer slowly builds a product with fine metal dust under high temperature. ,,With this printer we can make things we couldn't make before. This light and extremely strong structure, for example.’’ The operator shows a model of a holder made from a single piece of solid metal. The children have to hold the model with two hands because of its weight. ’’Look, this one is much lighter and also much stronger,‘’ the operator continues. He hands the children another model that consists of a kind of "bone structure. With one hand, the children effortlessly grasp this model. They are amazed at the big difference in weight.
No, some of the children did not expect this. And their master is also staring his eyes out. ’’I thought there would be conveyor belts with robots putting something on them, but this is totally different.’’ One of the children is sure: ’’I'm going to work here!’’ ''Yes,'' Henk says to the master, ''we have to pamper them, then maybe later they'll all want to work at Philips.''