Development of a Flexible and Agile Multi-robot Manufacturing System

Hoshino, Satoshi; Seki, Hiroya; Naka, Yuji

doi:10.3182/20080706-5-kr-1001.02669

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is required to apply flexible solutions without large investments which can be rather quickly implemented. To achieve this goal, AGVs can be used to deliver components to the assembly system (compare [67]). This type of assembly system is usually located close to the car production line and delivers seats just in sequence to the car assembly location (compare [68]).…”

Section: Seat-assembly Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Aware Model-Predictive Control of a Cooperative AGV-Based Production System

Mrugalska

Stetter

2019

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the paper, a new scheduling strategy for assembly systems consisting of cooperating Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) based on their remaining operational time is developed. The operational time is associated with state of charge and state of health of the AGV battery. While the latter is defined as a possible number of repetitions of a set of given tasks, both are impossible to measure on-line directly with conventional sensors. Therefore, a novel state-of-charge estimator is proposed, which uses battery current and voltage sensor readings. In contrast to the approaches presented in the literature, a comprehensive analysis of its convergence is provided. Subsequently, a state-of-health predictor is developed. With the above measures, a new control strategy for cooperative AGVs is proposed. It is achieved by the allocation of alternative tasks among two cooperating robots referring to the state of the accomplished tasks from the previous stage of the assembly process. The proposed method allows a predictive control of assembly processes with several constraints, e.g., productivity of each assembly station, speed of the communication, or operation capability of the robots involved in the assembling process. The final part of the paper shows an experimental study exhibiting the performance of the proposed approach.

show abstract

Section: Seat-assembly Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health-Aware Model-Predictive Control of a Cooperative AGV-Based Production System

Mrugalska

Stetter

2019

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A multi-AGV system was proposed by Hoshino et al (2008) to process and transport parts in an assembly task. Its purpose was for workload balancing and logistics control for assembly tasks.…”

Section: Agv-agv Assembly Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a survey of multi-robot assembly applications and methods and describe trends and general insights into the multi-robot assembly problem for industrial applications. We focus on fixtureless assembly strategies featuring two or more robotic systems. Such robotic systems include industrial robot arms, dexterous robotic hands, and autonomous mobile platforms, such as automated guided vehicles. In this survey, we identify the types of assemblies that are enabled by utilizing multiple robots, the algorithms that synchronize the motions of the robots to complete the assembly operations, and the metrics used to assess the quality and performance of the assemblies.

show abstract

“…This idea is the basis for the subsumption architecture [40] and the paradigm for behavior-based robotics [41]. Moreover, for such an environment, we have shown the effectiveness of reactive robot behavior [42]. Therefore, we focus on this robot's reactivity for workload balancing and propose an operational technique by applying the reactive controller.…”

Section: F Reactive Cooperation Among the Mprsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multirobot Coordination for Flexible Batch Manufacturing Systems Experiencing Bottlenecks

Hoshino

Seki

Naka

et al. 2010

IEEE Trans. Automat. Sci. Eng.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, we focus on a batch manufacturing system with multiple industrial robots. In this system, material-handling robots (MHRs) and material-processing robots (MPRs) are operating. Since various operations are conducted at certain places, one of them might include a localized bottleneck. A localized bottleneck is a constraint that dominates the maximum amount of production in a system, that is, the productivity. In addition, the bottleneck induces congestion; as a result, the productivity declines. For these issues, there are two primary challenges: bottleneck prevention and restraint. To solve them, suitable operational techniques with respect to the MHRs and MPRs are needed in order for them to operate appropriately while relating to each other. In this paper, a constructive approach toward multi-robot coordination problems is taken. In this approach, we propose applicable operational techniques for the robots. Through simulation experiments, we examine the effectiveness of the proposed techniques and their combinations and, finally, show an integrated operational technique. Each of the operational techniques solves a localized bottleneck and the congestion, and the integrated technique successfully improves the productivity and results in the most efficient system.Note to Practitioners-The primary motivation for this study was the pursuit of answers to the problems associated with production operations for a pipeless batch plant system in chemical process industries. These solutions will also apply to other manufacturing systems for high-mix low-volume production with a number of machines or robots. In many previous studies, scientists addressed the optimization problem of production scheduling; in this study, however, we focus on a simulation study and aim to develop an applicable integration technology for the coordination of operating robots in the interest of the automation of a highly flexible production activity. In practical batch manufacturing systems, as an entire operational strategy, it is necessary to equalize the flow of products, i.e., bottlenecks, throughout the system. Furthermore, once a localized bottleneck appears, its harmful effect on the system has to be restrained. Therefore, we suggest efficient operational techniques to tackle these challenging issues. Through various simulation experiments, we show that some good combinatorial techniques enable to improve productivity. The results of this paper are feasible and sufficient for flexible batch manufacturing systems, but the application is limited to a system in which the safety of production operations and processes is guaranteed. In future research, we will address design problems regarding safety and reliability in a plant system.

show abstract

Development of a Flexible and Agile Multi-robot Manufacturing System

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Health-Aware Model-Predictive Control of a Cooperative AGV-Based Production System

Health-Aware Model-Predictive Control of a Cooperative AGV-Based Production System

Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics

Multirobot Coordination for Flexible Batch Manufacturing Systems Experiencing Bottlenecks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About