PurposeThe use of thin sheets with 3D geometries is growing in quantity, due to current progress towards life‐cycle design and sustainable production, and growing in geometrical complexity, due to aesthetic and quality concerns. The growth in manufacturing equipment flexibility has not kept pace with these trends. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new reconfigurable fixture to shorten this gap.Design/methodology/approachThe design implements a novel concept of fixturing. Without interrupting the machining process, a swarm of adaptable mobile agents periodically reposition and reconfigure to support the thin‐sheet workpiece near the tool‐point. The technology has been developed by adopting a multi‐disciplinary, life‐cycle approach. Modularity and eco‐sustainability paradigms have informed the design.FindingsThe performance of the physical prototype in an industrial scenario is highly satisfactory. Experiments demonstrate the ability of the system to reconfigure while maintaining machining accuracy in scenarios typical for aircraft part production.Research limitations/implicationsCoordination between the machine‐tool numerical control and the fixture control is not complete and its improvement will make the manufacturing process more robust and autonomous.Practical implicationsThe system allows reduction of shop‐floor fixturing inventory. Compared to other reconfigurable fixtures, SwarmItFIX is smarter, more flexible, lighter, and offers shorter reconfiguration times, easier set‐up, and better adaptability to a wider range of workpiece shapes.Originality/valueThis is a breakthrough idea, answering the challenges of hyper‐flexible manufacturing and the proliferation of thin‐sheet use. It is of significant value to mass‐customized industry and of special significance for small‐series production.
Driven by the trend of life-cycle design and sustainable production, an innovative project called self-reconfigurable intelligent swarm fixtures (SwarmItFIX) funded by the European Commission is being developed. The project investigates the application of robotic multi agent fixtures for the support of automotive and airplane body panels during their manufacturing and assembly processes. This paper addresses the exploration and development of the adaptable heads, which are the end-effector of the intelligent fixture. The head is able to adapt to the shape of the workpiece and freeze its shape after adaptation to provide stable support. Two kinds of head designs are discussed. The first design uses the pseudo-phase-change properties of a volume of bulk grains (metal sand) which can be clustered using a hydrostatic pressure to conform to a given workpiece shape. The second design investigated uses phase-change magneto-rheological (MR) fluid in a network of channels to allow and block the motion of a crown of miniature pistons. The initial experiments are carried out and their results show the effectiveness of the design.
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