Mobile manufacturing of large structures

Abstract

Assembly of large structures requires large fixtures, often referred to as monuments. Their cost and massive size limit flexibility and scalability of the manufacturing process. Numerous small mobile robots can replace these large structures and, therefore, replicate the efficiency of the assembly line with far more flexibility. An assembly line made up of mobile manipulators can easily and rapidly be reconfigured to support scalability and a varied product mix, while allowing for near optimal resource assignment. The challenge to using small robots in place of monuments is making their joint behavior precise enough to accomplish the task and efficient enough to execute subtasks in a reasonable period of time. In this paper, we describe a set of techniques that we combine to achieve the necessary precision and overall efficiency to build a large structure. We describe and demonstrate these techniques in the context of a testbed we implemented for assembling a wing ladder.

Efficient Navigation and Motion Control for Autonomous Forklifts in Smart Warehouses: LSPB Trajectory Planning and MPC Implementation

“…We used modified LSPB as the path−planning method and MPC as the motion control strategy. In this section, we present the path-planning and motion control results of three scenarios: (1) Demonstrate key parameters in a rectangular−shaped path, (2) LSPB−PID and MLSPB−MPC comparison in a rectangular-shaped path, and (3) LSPB−PID and MLSPB−MPC comparison in a warehouse-like environment. The characteristic of the proposed algorithm is that it can plan a trajectory that reflects the speed and acceleration of the forklift suitable for the transportation work environment and work object.…”

“…Recently, production and manufacturing sites are becoming increasingly intelligent, starting with the 4th Industrial Revolution. These industrial sites are called smart factories and are gradually being developed based on various components such as 5G communications, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cyber physics systems, and intelligent robots [1,2]. Among various robotic systems, mobile robots play an important role to satisfy the demand of saving time, reducing cost, and the risk of harm that may affect humans.…”

Towards a Tool-based Methodology for Developing Software for Dynamic Robot Teams

“…Knepper et al (2013) describe the manufacturing of furniture using a team of mobile robots using an object oriented extension of PDDL, but limited to a fixed set of possible robot cooperations required for the task and not covering geometric motion planning. In contrast, an approach for the manufacturing of large structures by Bourne et al (2015) connects planning and scheduling of robot teams, using a dynamic scheduler based on assembly graphs generated during planning, and focusing on reaching the required precision through a team of mobile robots. However, these approaches do not cover the capabilities of dynamic robot teams.…”

A Systems Engineering Approach for the Design of an Omnidirectional Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV) Testing Prototype

“…is emergence of Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, flexible systems, and logistics has also motivated the development of new technologies such as mobile robots [9]. ese robots can perform different movements and tasks within industrial environments, allowing greater flexibility and scalability in different processes [10,11].…”