Development of a novel virtual coordinate measuring machine

Existing VCMMs (virtual coordinate measuring machine) have been mainly developed to either simulate the measurement process hence enabling the off-line programming, or to perform error analysis and uncertainty evaluation. Their capability and performance could be greatly improved if there is a complete solution to cover the whole process and provide an integrated environment. The aim of this study is to develop such a VCMM that not only supports measurement process simulation, but also performs uncertainty evaluation. It makes use of virtual reality techniques to provide an accurate model of a physical CMM, together with uncertainty evaluation. An interface is also provided to communicate with CMM controller, allowing the measuring programs generated and simulated in the VCMM to be executed or tested on the physical CMM afterwards. This paper discusses the proposal of a novel VCMM design and the preliminary results

An application of physical flexibility and software reconfigurability for the automation of battery module assembly

Batteries are a strategic technology to decarbonize conventional automotive powertrains and enable energy policy turnaround from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The demand for battery packs is rising, but they remain unable to compete with conventional technologies, primarily due to higher costs. Major sources of cost remain in manufacturing and assembly. These costs can be attributed to a need for high product quality, material handling complexity, uncertain and fluctuating production volumes, and an unpredictable breadth of product variants. This research paper applies the paradigms of flexibility from a mechanical engineering perspective, and reconfigurability from a software perspective to form a holistic, integrated manufacturing solution to better realize product variants. This allows manufacturers to de-risk investment as there is increased confidence that a facility can meet new requirements with reduced effort, and also shows how part of the vision of Industry 4.0 associated with the integration and exploitation of data can be fulfilled. A functional decomposition of battery packs is used to develop a foundational understanding of how changes in customer requirements can result in physical product changes. A Product, Process, and Resource (PPR) methodology is employed to link physical product characteristics to physical and logical characteristics of resources. This mapping is leveraged to enable the design of a gripper with focused flexibility by the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb) at the Technical University of Munich, as it is acknowledged that mechanical changes are challenging to realize within industrial manufacturing facilities. Reconfigurability is realised through exploitation of data integration across the PPR domains, through the extension of the capabilities of a non-commercial virtual engineering toolset developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick. The work shows an “end-to-end” approach that practically demonstrates the application of the flexibility and reconfigurability paradigms within an industrial engineering context

An Application of Physical Flexibility and Software Reconfigurability for the Automation of Battery Module Assembly

Batteries are a strategic technology to decarbonize conventional automotive powertrains and enable energy policy turnaround from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The demand for battery packs is rising, but they remain unable to compete with conventional technologies, primarily due to higher costs. Major sources of cost remain in manufacturing and assembly. These costs can be attributed to a need for high product quality, material handling complexity, uncertain and fluctuating production volumes, and an unpredictable breadth of product variants. This research paper applies the paradigms of flexibility from a mechanical engineering perspective, and reconfigurability from a software perspective to form a holistic, integrated manufacturing solution to better realize product variants. This allows manufacturers to de-risk investment as there is increased confidence that a facility can meet new requirements with reduced effort, and also shows how part of the vision of Industry 4.0 associated with the integration and exploitation of data can be fulfilled. A functional decomposition of battery packs is used to develop a foundational understanding of how changes in customer requirements can result in physical product changes. A Product, Process, and Resource (PPR) methodology is employed to link physical product characteristics to physical and logical characteristics of resources. This mapping is leveraged to enable the design of a gripper with focused flexibility by the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb) at the Technical University of Munich, as it is acknowledged that mechanical changes are challenging to realize within industrial manufacturing facilities. Reconfigurability is realised through exploitation of data integration across the PPR domains, through the extension of the capabilities of a non-commercial virtual engineering toolset developed by the Automation Systems Group at the University of Warwick. The work shows an “end-to-end” approach that practically demonstrates the application of the flexibility and reconfigurability paradigms within an industrial engineering context

Exploring 3D Chemical Plant Using VRML

The research project focused on how virtual reality could create an immersive environment and improve in designing a chemical plant. The main problem is the difficulties in designing chemical plant since 2D plant layout cannot provide the real walking-through. The aim of this project is to develop and design 3D Chemical Plant which allows users to explore the virtual plant environment freely. The objectives of this project are to design and develop 3D Chemical Plant in the virtual environment; to enable user to walkthrough the chemical plant; and at the same time evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of 3D Chemical Plant. In completion the project, the framework used is based on the waterfall modeling theory. This study also examines the structure and existing use of VRML (International standard for 3D modelling on the internet) in constmction and architectural practice as a means of investigating its role and potential for extensible construction information visualization in chemical plant. The phases involved in the framework used for project development is the initiation phase, design specification, project development, integration and testing and lastly project implementation. Developments tools have been used in the project are VRML and 3D Max 6. As a result from the evaluation conducted, the mean of 3.5 from level of satisfaction ranking shows that mostly the evaluators are satisfied with the project and feel that the realism of 3D chemical plant and suitability of color and textures will improve the designing of chemical plant in virtual environment. As conclusion, the research project show that VR!VE are very useful and give a good impact for the chemical Engineer in designing a chemical plant

An integrated framework for developing generic modular reconfigurable platforms for micro manufacturing and its implementation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The continuing trends of miniaturisation, mass customisation, globalisation and wide use of the Internet have great impacts upon manufacturing in the 21st century. Micro manufacturing will play an increasingly important role in bridging the gap between the traditional precision manufacturing and the emerging technologies like MEMS/NEMS. The key requirements for micro manufacturing in this context are hybrid manufacturing capability, modularity, reconfigurability, adaptability and energy/resource efficiency. The existing design approaches tend to have narrow scope and are largely limited to individual manufacturing processes and applications. The above requirements demand a fundamentally new approach to the future applications of micro manufacturing so as to obtain producibility, predictability and productivity covering the full process chains and value chains. A novel generic modular reconfigurable platform (GMRP) is proposed in such a context. The proposed GMRP is able to offer hybrid manufacturing capabilities, modularity, reconfigurablity and adaptivity as both an individual machine tool and a micro manufacturing system, and provides a cost effective solution to high value micro manufacturing in an agile, responsive and mass customisation manner. An integrated framework has been developed to assist the design of GMRPs due to their complexity. The framework incorporates theoretical GMRP model, design support system and extension interfaces. The GMRP model covers various relevant micro manufacturing processes and machine tool elements. The design support system includes a user-friendly interface, a design engine for design process and design evaluation, together with scalable design knowledge base and database. The functionalities of the framework can also be extended through the design support system interface, the GMRP interface and the application interface, i.e. linking to external hardware and/or software modules. The design support system provides a number of tools for the analysis and evaluation of the design solutions. The kinematic simulation of machine tools can be performed using the Virtual Reality toolbox in Matlab. A module has also been developed for the multiscale modelling, simulation and results analysis in Matlab. A number of different cutting parameters can be studied and the machining performance can be subsequently evaluated using this module. The mathematical models for a non-traditional micro manufacturing process, micro EDM, have been developed with the simulation performed using FEA. Various design theories and methodologies have been studied, and the axiomatic design theory has been selected because of its great power and simplicity. It has been applied in the conceptual design of GMRP and its design support system. The implementation of the design support system is carried out using Matlab, Java and XML technologies. The proposed GMRP and framework have been evaluated through case studies and experimental results

Investigation and development of an advanced virtual coordinate measuring machine

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityDimensional measurement plays a critical role in product development and quality control. With the continuously increasing demand for tighter tolerances and more complex workpiece shapes in the industry, dimensional metrology often becomes the bottleneck of taking the quality and performance of manufacturing to the next level. As one kind of the most useful and powerful measuring instruments, coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are widely employed in manufacturing industries. Since the accuracy and efficiency of a CMM have a vital impact on the product quality, productivity and manufacturing cost, the evaluation and improvement of CMM performance have always been important research topics since the invention of CMM. A novel Advanced Virtual Coordinate Measuring Machine (AVCMM) is proposed against such a background. The proposed AVCMM is a software package that provides an integrated virtual environment, in which user can plan inspection strategy for a given task, carry out virtual measurement, and evaluate the uncertainty associated with the measurement result, all without the need of using a physical machine. The obtained estimate of uncertainty can serve as a rapid feedback for user to optimize the inspection plan in the AVCMM before actual measurement, or as an evaluation of the result of a performed measurement. Without involving a physical CMM in the inspection planning or evaluation of uncertainty, the AVCMM can greatly reduce the time and cost needed for such processes. Furthermore, as the package offers vivid 3D visual representation of the virtual environment and supports operations similar to a physical CMM, it does not only allow the user to easily plan and optimise the inspection strategy, but also provide a cost-effective, risk-free solution for training CMM operators. A modular, multitier architecture has been adopted to develop the AVCMM system, which incorporates a number of functional components covering CMM and workpiece modelling, error simulation, inspection simulation, feature calculation, uncertainty evaluation and 3D representation. A new engine for detecting collision/contact has been developed and utilized, which is suitable for the virtual environment of simulated CMM inspections. A novel approach has been established to calculate errors required for the error simulation, where the data are obtained from FEA simulations in addition to conventional experimental method. Monte Carlo method has been adopted for uncertainty evaluation and has been implemented with multiple options available to meet different requirements. A prototype of the proposed AVCMM system has been developed in this research. Its validity, usability and performance have been verified and evaluated through a set of experiments. The principles for utilising the AVCMM in practical use have also been established and demonstrated. The results have indicated that the proposed AVCMM system has great potentials to improve the functionalities and overall performance of CMMs.ORSAS and the School of Engineering and Design of Brunel University

IC.IDO as a tool for displaying machining processes. The logic interface between Computer-Aided-Manufacturing and Virtual Reality

Abstract This scientific communication investigates the logic interface of a CAM solver, i.e., MasterCAM, into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. This integration helps in displaying machining operations in virtual reality. Currently, to partially visualize the results of a simulation in an immersive environment, an import/export procedure must be done manually. Here, a software plugin integrated into IC.IDO (by ESI Group) has been realized and fully described. This application allows the complete integration of CAM solver into the VR environment. In particular, the VERICUT solver has been integrated into VR. This kind of integration has never been done yet

IC.IDO as a tool for displaying machining processes. The logic interface between computer-aided-manufacturing and virtual reality

This scientific communication investigates the logic interface of a CAM solver, i.e., MasterCAM, into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. This integration helps in displaying machining operations in virtual reality. Currently, to partially visualize the results of a simulation in an immersive environment, an import/export procedure must be done manually. Here, a software plugin integrated into IC.IDO (by ESI Group) has been realized and fully described. This application allows the complete integration of CAM solver into the VR environment. In particular, the VERICUT solver has been integrated into VR. This kind of integration has never been done yet