Demonstration of Transformable Manufacturing Systems through the Evolvable Assembly Systems Project

Abstract

Evolvable Assembly Systems is a five year UK research council funded project into flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The principal goal of the research programme has been to define and validate the vision and support architecture, theoretical models, methods and algorithms for Evolvable Assembly Systems as a new platform for open, adaptable, context-aware and cost effective production. The project is now coming to a close; the concepts developed during the project have been implemented on a variety of demonstrators across a number of manufacturing domains including automotive and aerospace assembly. This paper will show the progression of demonstrators and applications as they increase in complexity, specifically focussing on the Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Phase 1 technology demonstrator (FA3D). The FA3D Phase 1 demonstrated automated assembly of aerospace products using precision robotic processes in conjunction with lowcost reconfigurable fixturing supported by large volume metrology. This was underpinned by novel agent-based control for transformable batch-size-of-one production. The paper will conclude by introducing Phase 2 of the Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator -currently in development -that will translate the Evolvable Assembly Systems research to a higher technology readiness level and address the challenges of scalable and transformable manufacturing systems.

An adaptive, repeatable and rapid auto-reconfiguration process in a smart manufacturing system for small box assembly

“…Whereas, laser stripes and laser seam finder were used to measure part location in the robot base coordinates with a best-fit algorithm to correct pre-programmed robot path for fuselage skins and aero-engine components [18], [19], [20]. In the FA 3 D (Future Automated Aircraft Assembly Demonstrator) project, realtime control of the robot TCP and in-process inspection with adaptive robot control (ARC) camera system and a laser radar [21], [22]. Majority of the metrology assisted processes are focused on part locating and machining.…”

A Function-Behaviour-Structure design methodology for adaptive production systems

“…The ability of the system to reconfigure according to changing requirements allows for an increase in utilisation, and a reduction in cost and change over time resulting in increased productivity. The example instantiation is in a research demonstrator designed to be a "relevant environment" [5] representative of a real industrial environment, and work is ongoing to further develop and apply the approaches described here to industrial demonstrations at higher Technology Readiness Levels [5,39].…”

Descrição de um processo de manufatura utilizando arquitetura baseada em Sistema Multiagentes

“…Assim, surgem propostas em meioà necessidade de sistemas de montagem capazes de evoluir continuamente em respostaàs mudanças nos requisitos e demanda do produto (Sanderson et al, 2019). Tais soluções buscam a fabricaçãó agil de produtos, os quais devem ter alta variabilidade dentro de pequenos lotes de produção; a chamada customização em massa.…”