Adaptive Assembly Feature Based Function Block Control of Robotic Assembly

Moore, Philip, Adamson, Göran, Holm, Magnus and Wang, Lihui (2012) Adaptive Assembly Feature Based Function Block Control of Robotic Assembly. In: Proceedings of the 13th Mechatronics Forum. Advances in Mechatronics . unknown, unknown, pp. 8-13. ISBN 978-3-99033-042-5

Abstract / Summary

Many manufacturing systems are exposed to a variety of unforeseen changes, negatively restricting their performances. External variations depending on market demand (e.g. changes in design, quantity and product mix) and internal variations in production capability and flexibility (e.g. equipment breakdowns, missing/worn/broken tools, delays and express orders) all contribute to an environment of uncertainty. In these dynamically changing environments, adaptability is a key feature for manufacturing systems to be able to perform at a maximum level, while keeping unscheduled downtime to a minimum. Targeting manufacturing equipment adaptability, this paper reports an assembly feature (AF) based approach for robotic assembly, using IEC 61499 compliant Function Blocks (FBs). Through the use of a network of event-driven FBs, an adaptive controller system for an industrial gantry robot’s assembly operations has been designed, implemented and tested. Basic assembly operations have been mapped as AFs into Assembly Feature Function Blocks (AF-FBs). Through their combination in FB networks, they can be aggregated to perform higher level assembly tasks. The AF-FBs dynamic execution and behavior can be adaptively controlled through embedded eventdriven algorithms, enabling the ability of adaptive decisions to handle unforeseen changes in the runtime environment.

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