JP7441920B1 - Machine tool worker support device and worker support method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an operator support device for a machine tool that allows an operator to improve each operation according to his or her skill level. A worker support device includes a personal identification section 111, a detection section 113, a storage section 114, and an advice control section 115. The personal identification unit 111 identifies the worker 40 working on the machine tool. The detection unit 113 detects the type of work being performed by the machine tool. The storage unit 114 stores experience value information indicating the experience value of the worker 40 for the work detected by the detection unit 113 in the experience value database 122 in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40. The advice control unit 115 acquires the experience value information of the work detected by the detection unit 113, which is associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40, from the experience value database 122, and determines the work based on the acquired experience value information. Outputs information giving advice regarding. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an operator support device and an operator support method for a machine tool.

Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing device that evaluates the skill level of a worker in a machine tool.

Patent No. 6775701

The information processing device described in Patent Document 1 identifies a worker who is working on a machine tool, and evaluates the skill level of the worker's work based on information on the work content performed by the identified worker on the machine tool. Output the evaluation score shown. However, the information processing device of Patent Document 1 only presents the worker with the evaluation score for each machine tool, and does not allow the worker to understand how to improve the work according to his or her own evaluation score for each task. I can't. There is a desire for an operator support device that allows a machine tool operator to improve each task according to his or her skill level.

One aspect of the present invention includes a personal identification unit that identifies a worker working on a machine tool, a control unit that controls the operation of the machine tool by executing a machining program, and a control unit that controls the operation of the machine tool by executing a machining program. a detection unit that detects the type of work being performed based on the machining program executed by the control unit ; and experience value information indicating the experience value of the worker for the work detected by the detection unit. , an accumulation unit that stores the work in an experience value database in association with the personal identification information of the worker; and when the detection unit detects the type of work, the work is correlated with the personal identification information of the worker. The present invention is an operator support device for a machine tool, comprising: an advice control unit that acquires experience value information from the experience value database and outputs information indicating advice regarding the work based on the acquired experience value information.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a worker working on a machine tool can be identified, and experience value information indicating the worker's experience value for the work can be accumulated in a database for each type of work. When the work being performed by the machine tool is detected, advice regarding the work can be presented to the worker based on the worker's experience value information regarding the work.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a worker can improve each task according to his or her skill level.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a machine tool including a worker support device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the stored contents of an experience value database provided in the storage device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the storage contents of the advice database provided in the storage device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the display section shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a machine tool including an operator support device according to an embodiment.

The worker support device according to one embodiment includes at least a personal identification section, a detection section, a storage section, and an advice control section.

The personal identification unit identifies a worker working on the machine tool. The detection unit detects the type of work being performed by the machine tool. The storage unit stores experience value information indicating the worker's experience value for the work detected by the detection unit in the experience value database in association with the worker's personal identification information. When the detection unit detects the type of work, the advisory control unit acquires the work experience value information associated with the personal identification information of the worker from the experience value database, and determines the work based on the acquired experience value information. Outputs information giving advice regarding. Note that the worker support device according to one embodiment may further include a display unit that displays advice regarding work.

Hereinafter, a worker support device and a worker support method according to one embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Identical or equivalent parts or constituent elements are designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a machine tool including a worker support device according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the machine tool includes an information processing device 10, a processing machine main body 20, and a display section 30.

In this embodiment, the machine tool is a bending machine (press brake) that can bend a workpiece. Note that the machine tool may be a laser processing machine, a cutting machine such as a lathe, or a grinding machine, and the machine tool is not particularly limited as long as it involves work by an operator. do not have.

The processing machine main body 20 is connected to and controlled by the information processing device 10 . In this embodiment, the processing machine main body 20 is capable of bending a workpiece held (supported) by an operator 40. Since the general configuration of the processing machine body 20, which is a bending machine, is well known, detailed explanation will be omitted. The processing machine main body 20 sandwiches and bends a workpiece between an upper die (punch) and a lower die (die). The processing machine main body 20 is configured to be able to perform bending processes such as V-bending, hemming bending, and cut-and-raise bending on a workpiece, for example.

The processing machine main body 20 includes an operation section 21 . The operation unit 21 is configured with, for example, a touch panel, and receives various operations on the processing machine main body 20 from the operator 40. The operation unit 21 receives, for example, login information and processing information such as the settings of the processing machine main body 20, the material of the workpiece, the type of processing, and processing conditions from the operator 40. The operation unit 21 transmits the received various information to the information processing device 10.

The information processing device 10 includes a control device 11, a storage device 12, and a memory (not shown), and these components are electrically connected via a bus (not shown) or the like.

The storage device 12 stores various information and databases necessary for controlling the processing machine main body 20 and supporting the operator. The storage device 12 is a storage medium such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage device 12 includes a processing program 121, an experience value database 122, and an advice database 123. Details of each of the processing program 121, the experience value database 122, and the advice database 123 will be described later.

The machining program 121 is a program (machining data) that defines the operation of the machining machine main body 20 for each process. The machining program 121 includes information such as the order of processes in machining, the type of bending in the bending process, and the state of the mold in the setup process.

The experience value database 122 stores information indicating the work content performed by the processing machine main body 20 and experience value information indicating the experience value of the worker 40 for each task in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the stored contents of the experience value database 122. In the example of FIG. 2, the experience value information is information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed each task. In FIG. 2, the experience value database 122 stores information indicating the work content and the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed each task in association with the worker ID, which is the personal identification information of the worker 40.

The advice database 123 stores information indicating advice regarding each work performed by the processing machine main body 20 and a threshold value for determining whether to output advice regarding each work, in association with information indicating the content of each work. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the advice database 123. In the example of FIG. 3, the threshold is the cumulative number of times advice regarding each task is output. In FIG. 3, the advice database 123 stores information indicating advice regarding each task and a threshold value for the cumulative number of times advice regarding each task is output in association with information indicating the content of each task.

The control device 11 is constituted by, for example, at least one integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), at least one ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and at least one FPGA (Field Programmable Ga). te Array), or a combination thereof, etc. can be configured.

The control device 11 reads various programs stored in the storage device 12 or the like into memory, and executes various instructions included in the programs. The memory is a storage medium such as RAM (Random Access Memory).

The control device 11 includes, as a functional configuration example, a personal identification section 111, a processing machine control section 112, a work detection section (detection section) 113, an experience value accumulation section (accumulation section) 114, and an advice control section 115.

Personal identification section 111 receives login information transmitted from operation section 21 . The personal identification section 111 identifies the worker 40 working on the processing machine main body 20 using the login information received from the operation section 21 . The personal identification section 111 transmits the personal identification information of the identified worker 40 to the experience value accumulation section 114 and the advice control section 115. The personal identification information is, for example, a worker ID or a worker name. Note that the personal identification unit 111 may identify the worker 40 from an image of the worker 40 taken by a camera installed to take a picture of the working area of the processing machine main body 20. In this case, an arbitrary image processing program is adopted as an image processing algorithm for identifying the worker 40. The method of identifying the worker 40 is not particularly limited.

The processing machine control section 112 receives processing information transmitted from the operation section 21. The processing machine control unit 112 controls the operation of the processing machine main body 20 by reading a processing program 121 corresponding to the processing information received from the operation unit 21 of the processing machine main body 20 from the storage device 12 and executing the processing program 121. do. When the machining program 121 ends, the machining machine control unit 112 discards the machining program 121 from the memory.

The work detection section 113 detects the type of work that the processing machine main body 20 is performing based on the processing program 121 that the processing machine control section 112 is executing. For example, when the work detection unit 113 detects the bending work process and the stroke of the processing machine main body 20 from the information of the processing program 121, the work detection unit 113 identifies the type of bending from the information of the processing program 121 and selects "V-bending". , "hemming bending", "cutting and raising bending", etc. are detected. For example, when the work detection unit 113 detects the setup work process from the information of the machining program 121 and detects that the back gauge has moved to the mold installation position, the work detection unit 113 detects the process of the setup work from the information of the machining program 121. Identify the condition and detect that the mold to be attached is the backing.

The experience value accumulation unit 114 stores the experience value information of the worker 40 for the work detected by the work detection unit 113 in the experience value database 122 in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40. The experience value accumulation unit 114 stores, for example, the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113, that is, when the personal identification unit 111 detects the worker 40, the work detection unit 113 The cumulative number of times the worker has detected the work is stored in the experience value database 122 in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40.

The advice control unit 115 acquires experience value information of the work detected by the work detection unit 113, which is associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40, from the experience value database 122, and based on the acquired experience value information, Information indicating advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 is output. More specifically, the advice control unit 115 acquires from the advice database 123 information indicating a threshold value for determining whether to output advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113. The advice control unit 115 determines whether to output information indicating work-related advice based on the acquired experience value information and the threshold value.

For example, the advice control unit 115 acquires, from the experience value database 122, information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113, which is associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40. . In this case, the advice control unit 115 acquires from the advice database 123 information indicating a threshold value for the cumulative number of times advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 is output. The advice control unit 115 determines to output information indicating advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 when the acquired cumulative number of times is smaller than the acquired threshold. On the other hand, if the acquired cumulative number of times is equal to or greater than the acquired threshold, the advice control unit 115 determines not to output information indicating advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. Assume that information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the task "50" is acquired from the experience value database 122. In this case, the advice control unit 115 receives information indicating a threshold value "100" for the cumulative number of times to output the advice "Dimension correction for cut-up and bending (± is the same)" regarding the work of "cut-up and bend" from the advice database 123. get. At this time, since the cumulative number of times "50" acquired from the experience value database 122 is smaller than the threshold "100" acquired from the advice database 123, the advice control unit 115 issues the advice "Dimension correction of cut-up and bending (± is the same)". ” is output.

If there is a plurality of pieces of work-related advice detected by the work detection unit 113, the advice control unit 115 performs similar processing for each piece of work-related advice. For example, in the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the advice control unit 115 , it is determined not to output the information indicating the advice ``Be careful of the bending speed when cutting and raising bends''. There may be one or more pieces of advice regarding each task, and the threshold for whether or not to output advice regarding each task may be set to the same value or may be set to a different value for each piece of advice. Good too.

When the advice control unit 115 determines to output the information indicating advice regarding the work, it outputs the information indicating the advice regarding the work to the display unit 30 . Note that the information indicating advice regarding work may include information on a pictogram corresponding to advice regarding work.

The display unit 30 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or other display device. The display unit 30 displays advice regarding work output from the advice control unit 115. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen 31 displayed by the display unit 30. As shown in FIG. 4, the display unit 30 may display pictograms corresponding to work-related advice side by side in an upper range 311 of the display screen 31.

Note that the display screen 31 may be configured with a touch panel, and an operation for selecting a pictogram displayed on the display screen 31 may be accepted by touch operation. When the advice control unit 115 receives information indicating that the pictogram displayed by the display unit 30 has been selected, the advice control unit 115 may output information indicating detailed advice regarding the work.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen 31 displayed by the display unit 30. As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 30 may display pictograms corresponding to work-related advice side by side in an upper range 311 of the display screen 31. The display unit 30 may display information indicating detailed advice regarding the work in a central range 312 of the display screen 31 when a pictogram displayed by the display unit 30 is selected. The pictograms may be displayed in different colors depending on the type of advice. The method and arrangement for displaying work-related advice on the display unit 30 are not particularly limited.

Hereinafter, an example of the operation of a machine tool including the worker support device according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S1 of FIG. 6, the operation unit 21 of the processing machine main body 20 receives login information from the operator 40. The operation unit 21 transmits the received login information to the information processing device 10. The personal identification unit 111 of the information processing device 10 receives the login information transmitted from the operation unit 21.

The process proceeds to step S2, where the personal identification section 111 identifies the worker 40 working on the processing machine main body 20 using the login information received from the operation section 21. The personal identification section 111 transmits the personal identification information of the identified worker 40 to the experience value accumulation section 114 and the advice control section 115.

The process proceeds to step S3, where the operation unit 21 of the processing machine main body 20 receives processing information from the operator 40. The operation unit 21 transmits the received processing information to the information processing device 10. The processing machine control unit 112 of the information processing device 10 receives processing information transmitted from the operation unit 21.

The process proceeds to step S4, where the processing machine control unit 112 reads the processing program 121 corresponding to the processing information received from the operation unit 21 from the storage device 12 into the memory. The process proceeds to step S5, where the processing machine control unit 112 controls the operation of the processing machine main body 20 by executing the processing program.

The process proceeds to step S6, where the work detection unit 113 detects the type of work being performed by the processing machine main body 20 based on the processing program 121 being executed by the processing machine control unit 112.

The process proceeds to step S7, where the experience value accumulation unit 114 stores the experience value information of the worker 40 for the work detected by the work detection unit 113 in the experience value database 122 in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40. do. After that, the process proceeds to step S13.

Further, in parallel with the process in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8, where the advice control unit 115 uses the work experience value information detected by the work detection unit 113, which is associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40, to It is acquired from the experience value database 122. The advice control unit 115 acquires, for example, information associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40 indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113.

The process proceeds to step S9, and the advice control unit 115 acquires information indicating a threshold value for whether or not to output advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 from the advice database 123. For example, the advice control unit 115 acquires, from the advice database 123, information indicating a threshold value for the cumulative number of times advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 is output.

The process proceeds to step S10, and the advice control unit 115 determines whether to output information indicating work-related advice based on the experience value information acquired in step S8 and the threshold value acquired in step S9. For example, if the cumulative number of times acquired in step S8 is smaller than the threshold value acquired in step S9, the advice control unit 115 determines to output information indicating advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113 to the display unit 30. do. If it is determined not to output advice regarding the work (NO in step S11), the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if it is determined that advice regarding the work is to be output (YES in step S11), the process proceeds to step S12, the advice control unit 115 outputs information indicating advice regarding the work to the display unit 30, and the process continues in step S12. Proceed to S13.

In step S13, the processing machine control unit 112 determines whether the processing program 121 has ended. If the machining program 121 has ended (YES in step S13), the process proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if the machining program 121 has not ended (NO in step S13), the process returns to step S6.

In step S14, the processing machine control unit 112 discards the processing program 121 from the memory. The process proceeds to step S15, where the operation unit 21 of the processing machine main body 20 receives a logout operation from the operator 40. The operation unit 21 transmits information about the logout operation to the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 receives the logout operation information from the operation unit 21, and ends the process of FIG. 6.

(effect)
As explained above, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The worker support device according to one embodiment identifies the worker 40 working on the machine tool, and stores experience value information indicating the experience value of the worker 40 for the work for each type of work in the experience value database 122. Can be accumulated. When the work being performed by the machine tool is detected, the experience value information of the worker 40 for the detected work is acquired from the experience value database 122, and advice regarding the work is given to the worker 40 based on the experience value information. can be presented. The worker 40 can check advice according to his/her experience level for each task. This allows the worker 40 to improve each task according to his or her skill level for the task.

Further, the worker support device according to the embodiment determines whether to output information indicating advice regarding the work based on experience value information of the worker 40 regarding the work and a threshold value for determining whether to output advice regarding the work. Advice to be presented to the worker 40 can be determined in accordance with the experience level of the worker 40. Thereby, the worker 40 can confirm necessary advice according to his or her own experience level. Further, it is possible to reduce the display of unnecessary advice to the worker 40 for tasks for which the worker 40 has a high level of skill.

The experience value information may include information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113, and the threshold value may be a threshold value for the cumulative number of times that advice regarding the work is output. In this case, the worker support device can determine whether to output advice regarding the work based on the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed the work. Thereby, the worker support device only needs to accumulate the cumulative number of times that the worker 40 has performed each task, and the amount of data can be reduced compared to accumulating all the work history information of the worker 40.

The worker support device according to one embodiment further includes a display unit 30 that displays advice regarding the work, and the display unit 30 may display a pictogram corresponding to the advice regarding the work. By displaying the advice regarding the work as a pictogram, it is possible to visually indicate to the worker 40 that there is advice regarding the work.

The display unit 30 displays a pictogram corresponding to advice regarding the work, and the advice control unit 115 displays detailed advice regarding the work when receiving information indicating that the pictogram displayed by the display unit 30 has been selected. The information shown may also be output. The worker 40 can select and confirm detailed advice regarding the work, and can further improve the work.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the embodiment described above, an example has been described in which information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker 40 has performed each task is used as the experience value information. However, the experience value information may be information indicating the cumulative time that the worker 40 has performed each task, and the progress of each task from the time the worker 40 performed the work last time to the time the worker 40 performed the work this time. The information may be information indicating time, information indicating the cumulative number of times the display unit 30 has displayed advice regarding work, or a combination of a plurality of pieces of information. The experience value information is not particularly limited as long as it is information indicating the experience value of the worker 40 for each task.

For example, the experience value information includes the cumulative number of times the worker 40 performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113, the cumulative time the worker 40 performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113, and the cumulative number of times the worker 40 performed the work detected by the work detection unit 113. The information may include information indicating the elapsed time from the last time the worker 40 performed the detected work to the time when the worker 40 performed the detected work this time, and the cumulative number of times the display unit 30 displayed advice regarding the work detected by the work detection unit 113. good. In this case, the experience value accumulation unit 114 further accumulates the cumulative number of times, cumulative time, elapsed time, and cumulative display number in the experience value database 122 in association with the personal identification information of the worker 40.

In this case, the advice control unit 115 also controls the cumulative number of times, cumulative time, elapsed time of work detected by the work detection unit 113, and the cumulative number of times advice related to work is displayed, which are associated with the personal identification information of the worker 40. Based on this, the skill level of the worker 40 for the work detected by the work detection unit 113 may be calculated. The skill level may be calculated such that the longer the cumulative time is, the higher the skill level is, the shorter the elapsed time is, the higher the skill level is, and the higher the number of times the display is displayed, the higher the skill level is, and the calculation method is not particularly limited. In this case, the threshold is a proficiency threshold for outputting advice regarding each task, and the advice control unit 115 determines to output information indicating advice regarding the task when the proficiency is smaller than the threshold.

By calculating the proficiency level of the worker 40 for the work from a plurality of pieces of experience value information and determining whether to output information indicating advice regarding the work based on the proficiency level, the experience of the worker 40 can be calculated more appropriately. Advice can be provided depending on the value.

Further, for example, the processing program 121, the experience value database 122, and the advice database 123 of the storage device 12 may be stored on one or more servers connected to the information processing device 10 via a wireless or wired network. The machining program 121 may be created by the operator 40 operating the operating unit 21 . In this case, the newly created machining program 121 is written into the memory of the information processing device 10, and the machining machine control unit 112 controls the operation of the machining machine main body 20 by executing the written machining program. When the execution of the machining program 121 is completed, the machining machine control unit 112 discards the written machining program 121 from the memory. Furthermore, the newly created processing program 121 may be stored in the storage device 12, or may be stored on a server connected to the information processing device 10 via a wireless or wired network.

The display unit 30 may be included in the processing machine main body 20 or may be included in the information processing device 10. The display unit 30 may be placed at a position where the operator 40 can check it while working on the machine tool.

The advice regarding the work may be displayed on the display unit 30 using images other than pictograms, videos, text, etc. Furthermore, advice regarding work may be outputted by voice using a microphone speaker.

The advice control unit 115 may change the content of the advice to be output based on the experience value information.

40 Worker 111 Personal identification section 113 Work detection section (detection section)
114 Experience value accumulation section (accumulation section)
115 Advice control unit 122 Experience value database

Claims (9)

a personal identification unit that identifies a worker working on the machine tool;
a control unit that controls the operation of the machine tool by executing a machining program;
a detection unit that detects the type of work being performed by the machine tool based on the machining program executed by the control unit ;
an accumulation unit that stores experience value information indicating the experience value of the worker for the work detected by the detection unit in an experience value database in association with personal identification information of the worker;
The experience value information of the work detected by the detection unit, which is associated with the personal identification information of the worker, is acquired from the experience value database, and the advice regarding the work is provided based on the acquired experience value information. an advisory control unit that outputs information indicating the
An operator support device for machine tools equipped with The worker support device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays advice regarding the work. The advisory control unit includes:
obtaining information indicating a threshold value for whether or not to output advice regarding the work detected by the detection unit from an advice database;
The worker support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein it is determined whether to output information indicating advice regarding the work based on the experience value information and the threshold value. The experience value information includes information indicating the cumulative number of times the worker has performed the work detected by the detection unit,
The worker support device according to claim 3, wherein the threshold is a threshold for the cumulative number of times the advice regarding the work is output. The advisory control unit includes:
The worker support device according to claim 4, which outputs information indicating advice regarding the work when the cumulative number of times is smaller than the threshold value. The experience value information includes the cumulative number of times the worker performed the work detected by the detection unit, the cumulative time the worker performed the work detected by the detection unit, and the cumulative number of times the worker performed the work detected by the detection unit. including information indicating the elapsed time from when the worker last performed the work to the time when he performed the work this time, and the cumulative number of times the display unit displayed advice regarding the work detected by the detection unit;
The advisory control unit includes:
The work detected by the detection unit based on the cumulative number of times, the cumulative time, the elapsed time, and the cumulative display number of the work detected by the detection unit, which are associated with personal identification information of the worker. Calculate the skill level of the worker for
4. The worker support device according to claim 3, which is dependent on claim 2, and determines to output information indicating advice regarding the work when the skill level is smaller than the threshold value. The worker support device according to claim 2, wherein the information indicating the advice regarding the work includes information on a pictogram corresponding to the advice regarding the work. The display unit displays a pictogram corresponding to the advice regarding the work,
The advisory control unit includes:
The worker support device according to claim 7, wherein when receiving information indicating that the pictogram displayed by the display unit has been selected, the worker support device outputs information indicating detailed advice regarding the work. Identify workers working on machine tools,
controlling the operation of the machine tool by executing a machining program;
detecting the type of work being performed by the machine tool based on the machining program being executed ;
accumulating experience value information indicating the worker's experience value for the detected work in an experience value database in association with personal identification information of the worker;
obtaining experience value information of the detected work that is associated with personal identification information of the worker from the experience value database;
A machine tool worker support method for outputting advice regarding the work and presenting it to the worker based on the acquired experience value information.

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