Krone has opened a new validation center, the so-called Future Lab, at its Lingen site. Bernard Krone, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Krone Group, welcomed, among others, the neighbors in the Lingen industrial park, representatives of trade companies involved in the construction of the validation center, as well as District Administrator Marc-André Burgdorf, Lingen's Lord Mayor Dieter Krone and the approximately 30 employees of the Future Lab. "After months of waiting due to coronavirus, we are delighted to finally be able to welcome you to the Krone Future Lab in person. What you see here is absolute state-of-the-art validation technology, with which we will now put Krone machines and commercial vehicles, as well as individual components from suppliers, through their paces before we install them in Krone products. Precise proof of service life and functionality are essential for further optimization of our product quality and therefore an important contribution to customer satisfaction. In addition, we also have excellent opportunities to test topics such as autonomous driving on this site."

Three test benches

The Future Lab has three large test benches, two servo-hydraulic and one performance test bench. These test facilities are supplemented by a large number of component and assembly test benches. In addition to the mechanical tests, the testing of machine electronics and software plays an extensive role both on the test site and in fully automated test environments in the Future Lab. When designing the site, the focus was on sustainability. For example, the heating energy for the 4,000 square meter validation center is generated entirely from the waste heat from the test benches and a photovoltaic system designed entirely for self-consumption helps to cover part of the electricity requirements.

Simulate service life load

After the official blessing by Pastor Martina Korporal and Chaplain Kristian Pohlmann, the invited guests had the opportunity to tour the halls of the Future Lab with the various test stands. The visitors were particularly impressed by the newly installed test stand for road simulations. With the so-called X-Poster, Krone can, for example, simulate the service life of a trailer of one million kilometers in customer use in a few weeks on the test stand in fast motion. The X-Poster and a variable test field are supplied with power via a hydraulic unit.

The performance test bench for gearbox tests has also only recently been put into operation. This is where durability tests are carried out on large gearboxes, which are used, for example, in the Krone Big X forage harvester, the Big Pack large square baler or the Premos pellet press. An approximately 1.1 kilometer long test track, including gradients of 18 and 50 percent, rounds off the testing options. For example, homologation tests, system tests for software releases and road tests are carried out on the test track. The Krone Future Lab was built in just under a year on a total area of around 13 hectares. The Krone Group's investment in the Future Lab amounts to around 20 million euros.

The article appeared in materialfluss 11-12/21.