Intelligent systems in manufacturing: current developments and future prospects

Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are demanding increasing changes in manufacturing environments. Enterprises are required to constantly redesign their products and continuously reconfigure their manufacturing systems. Traditional approaches to manufacturing systems do not fully satisfy this new situation. Many authors have proposed that artificial intelligence will bring the flexibility and efficiency needed by manufacturing systems. This paper is a review of artificial intelligence techniques used in manufacturing systems. The paper first defines the components of a simplified intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), the different Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to be considered and then shows how these AI techniques are used for the components of IMS

Micro-manufacturing : research, technology outcomes and development issues

Besides continuing effort in developing MEMS-based manufacturing techniques, latest effort in Micro-manufacturing is also in Non-MEMS-based manufacturing. Research and technological development (RTD) in this field is encouraged by the increased demand on micro-components as well as promised development in the scaling down of the traditional macro-manufacturing processes for micro-length-scale manufacturing. This paper highlights some EU funded research activities in micro/nano-manufacturing, and gives examples of the latest development in micro-manufacturing methods/techniques, process chains, hybrid-processes, manufacturing equipment and supporting technologies/device, etc., which is followed by a summary of the achievements of the EU MASMICRO project. Finally, concluding remarks are given, which raise several issues concerning further development in micro-manufacturing

Prediction of sedimentation and bank erosion due to the construction of Kahang Dam

River impoundments continue to cause changes to the hydrological regimes of its host river. Thus, assessment and development of tools for better understanding of the sediment dynamics and riverbank erosion downstream the dam will be of great benefit to researchers and policymakers. The present research employs the use of field techniques and estimation models to improve the (i) prediction of suspended sediment concentration, (ii) monitoring riverbank erosion, and (iii) development of Riverbank Erosion Index (RbEI) for downstream Kahang Dam. This research used the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and ANN with Autoregressive (AR) (NNETAR) in predicting suspended sediment concentration using sediment concentration, discharge and water level as inputs. Similarly, erosion pins were installed on four transects to monitor the riverbank for thirteen months. The results obtained for sediment concentration prediction clearly show that the R2 for NNETAR (0.885) have better value compared to ANN (0.695) even though the relationship between discharge and sediment concentration was weak, it outperforms the ANN. While based on the sediment rating curve (SRC) results, the same pattern was exhibited where the R2 for NNETAR show a greater value than ANN and SRC with R2 values of 0.695 and 0.451, respectively. Based on the observed results of quantified riverbank erosion, the most active transect eroded 1.747 mm/yr- while 0.657 mm/yr- is the least eroded. furthermore, the result reveals the maximum and minimum sediment contribution to the fluvial system from riverbank eroded to be 0.00743 tonnes/yr and 0.00148 tonnes/yr respectively. Lastly, by using discharge and percentage soil composition (sand and clay), a RbEI was developed by the adopted Equation 4.7 to estimate the status of riverbank erosion of River Kahang. Moreover, five classifications of erosion status were proposed, which can be used to describe the status and severity of the riverbank erosion. In conclusion, the estimates by the RbEI is expected to serve as basis for analysing and adopting river stabilisation and restoration design, which will be of importance to dam operators in making informed decisions regarding early warnings on the riverbank stability. Also, reliable sediment concentration estimation will assist in the development of catchment sediment budget which will give an insight into the effect of situating a dam on a river in terms of sediment supply and riverbank erosio

Incorporating the knowledge management cycle in e-business

In e-business, knowledge can be extracted from the recorded information by intelligent data analysis and then utilised in the business transaction. E-knowledge is a foundation for e-business. E-business can be supported by an intelligent information system that provides intelligent business process support and advanced support of the e-knowledge management cycle. Knowledge is stored as knowledge models that can be updated in the e-knowledge management cycle. As illustrated in examples, the e-knowledge cycle aids in the business decision taking, production management, and costs management

A comparison of processing techniques for producing prototype injection moulding inserts.

This project involves the investigation of processing techniques for producing low-cost moulding inserts used in the particulate injection moulding (PIM) process. Prototype moulds were made from both additive and subtractive processes as well as a combination of the two. The general motivation for this was to reduce the entry cost of users when considering PIM. PIM cavity inserts were first made by conventional machining from a polymer block using the pocket NC desktop mill. PIM cavity inserts were also made by fused filament deposition modelling using the Tiertime UP plus 3D printer. The injection moulding trials manifested in surface finish and part removal defects. The feedstock was a titanium metal blend which is brittle in comparison to commodity polymers. That in combination with the mesoscale features, small cross-sections and complex geometries were considered the main problems. For both processing methods, fixes were identified and made to test the theory. These consisted of a blended approach that saw a combination of both the additive and subtractive processes being used. The parts produced from the three processing methods are investigated and their respective merits and issues are discussed

Reducing risk in pre-production investigations through undergraduate engineering projects.

This poster is the culmination of final year Bachelor of Engineering Technology (B.Eng.Tech) student projects in 2017 and 2018. The B.Eng.Tech is a level seven qualification that aligns with the Sydney accord for a three-year engineering degree and hence is internationally benchmarked. The enabling mechanism of these projects is the industry connectivity that creates real-world projects and highlights the benefits of the investigation of process at the technologist level. The methodologies we use are basic and transparent, with enough depth of technical knowledge to ensure the industry partners gain from the collaboration process. The process we use minimizes the disconnect between the student and the industry supervisor while maintaining the academic freedom of the student and the commercial sensitivities of the supervisor. The general motivation for this approach is the reduction of the entry cost of the industry to enable consideration of new technologies and thereby reducing risk to core business and shareholder profits. The poster presents several images and interpretive dialogue to explain the positive and negative aspects of the student process

Industry 4.0 and New Paradigms in the Field of Metal Forming

Over the last few year, the metalworking sector has been undergoing rapid and radical transformations driven by global competition and the revision of the production focus that is being moved from mass customization to mass individualization. A results of this is introduction of new manufacturing strategies such as Industry 4.0, a concept that combines cyber-physical systems and promote communication and connectivity. Therefore, this concept changes not only the face of the manufacturing systems but also causes transformation of existing business models and the society as a whole. This paper deals with the recent trends and paradigms in the field of metal forming, resulting from the concept of Industry 4.0 and the modern market challenges. The maim attention is paid on the flexibility of manufacturing systems and recent developments in design of smart forming tools

Application of artificial intelligence techniques to the smart control of sheet metal forming processes

The present research work aims at evaluating the economical feasibility and the technological viability of implementing intelligent control systems in complex industrial manufacturing processes; in this case forming processes. Forming processes are manufacturing processes that use force and pressure in order to modify the shape of a material part until getting the final product. The wide range of non-linear factors (material properties, tool geometry, machine parameters and lubrication variables) that determine the final quality of the parts manufactured by these processes makes them to be inherently quite unstable. Thus, the control made by human operators is still essential nowadays. On the other hand, although human operators have demonstrated to be a very successful strategy when controlling this type of processes, the actual market evolution towards the fabrication of more complex parts, made of lower formability materials at higher production rates is decreasing their capacity of reaction when solving the daily problems. Therefore, the development of new automatic and global control systems based, not on traditional control techniques and mathematical models but on the control strategy that has been successfully used for many years, the control through the experience and knowledge, is now even more necessary. In the present research work, two intelligent control systems based on AI techniques have been developed and evaluated. The main purpose of these intelligent control systems is to identify the process failures at forming processes and to propose the right solutions that should lead to their solution, all this in a quick and reliable way. Following this strategy, the solution of the process failures is considerably simplified because, after any process failure of defective part detection, human operators find a report where an explanation of the incidence, as well as its causes and the way to solve it, are displayed. This has the inherent advantage of decreasing the length of the downtimes at the manufacturing facilities and thus increasing the number of parts produced. Together with the previously described core of the global control systems, two monitoring systems have been developed and implemented in a forming facility too. The purpose of these monitoring systems is to work as the senses of the intelligent control systems. The first one, an artificial vision system, is aimed at evaluating the quality of the produced parts by carrying out a 100% quality control at the end of the forming process. This will assure the right quality of all the products shipped to the customer. The second one, a sensors based process monitoring system, is aimed at detecting any process failure at the forming facility by means of force and acoustic emissions measurements. This will reduce the internal defective and will assure the security of the forming facility. Both systems are in charge of detecting any process failure and defective part and of reporting about them to the intelligent control system. Since the aim of the research work was to evaluate the feasibility of implementing global intelligent control systems in the industry, all the developments and results achieved through the present research work have been carried out in an industrial environment. The research work is principally divided into three main parts; 1) the development and implementation of the sensors based process monitoring system, 2) the development and implementation of the AV monitoring system and 3) the development of the intelligent control systems. At the end, a summary of all the results and conclusions achieved through the development of the previous mentioned systems is given too.Ikerkuntza lan honen helburua sistema adimendunak fabrikazio prozesu konplexuak kontrolatzeko erabiltzearen bideragarritasuna aztertzea da, bai ekonomikoki eta teknologikoki. Kasu honetan, konformazio prozesuetan inplementatutako sistema adimenduak ikertu dira. Konformazio prozesuak, amaierako produktua lortzeko, hasierako materialari esfortzu edo presioen bidez forma geometrikoa aldatzean datzate. Konformaturiko piezen amaierako kalitatea finkatzen duten aldagai ez-linealen ugaritasun zabalak (materialen propietateak, lanabesen geometriak, makinen parametroak eta/edo lubrifikazioa) prozesu hauek ezegonkorrak izatea ondorioztatzen du. Hori dela medio, gaur egun ere, prozesu hauen kontrola giza-langile bidez egiten da. Langileak prozesu hauek modu eraginkorrean kontrolatzeko gai direla erakutsi du esperientziak. Dena den, deformagarritasun txikiagoko materialez eginiko pieza konplexuagoak kadentzia altuagoetan fabrikatzeko gaur egungo joerak, langileek ezustekoen aurrean erantzuteko duten gaitasuna gutxitu du. Ondorioz, prozesua gainbegiratu eta kontrolatzen duten sistema automatiko eta adimendu berrien garapena beharrezkoa bihurtu da. Sistema hauek ez daude kontrol teknika tradizional edo eredu matematikoetan oinarrituak. Sistema hauen kontrola ezagutza eta esperientzian oinarriturik dago, zeinak azken urteetan emaitza onak eman dituen. Ikerkuntza lan honetan adimen artifizial tekniketan oinarrituriko bi kontrol sistema adimendun garatu eta baloratu dira. Sistema hauen helburu nagusia konformazio prozesuetan emaniko akatsak identifikatu eta automatikoki ebazpenproposamenak aurkeztea da, modu azkar eta sendoan. Estrategia hau jarraituz, prozesuko akatsen ebazpena errazten da, pieza akastunak atzematean edo makinaren geldialdi baten aurrean, sistemak langilea eman beharreko pausuak azaltzen dizkion txosten batez hornituko baitu. Makinaren geldialdiaren murriztea eta ondorioz, produktibitatea igotzea da honen abantaila nagusia, akatsen identifikazioa berehalakoa baita. Kontrol sistema garatzeaz gain, puntzonaketa instalakuntza batean bi monitorizazio sistema martxan jarri dira. Bi monitorizazio sistema hauen helburua prozesuaren informazioa jaso eta kontrol sistemari bidaltzea da. Lehenengoa ikuspen artifizialeko sistema bat da, zeinaren helburua ekoiztutako piezen %100aren kalitatea aztertzea den. Honenbestez, bezeroei bidalitako piezen kalitate egokia bermatzen da. Bigarrena sentsoreetan oinarrituriko prozesuen monitorizazio sistema bat da. Bere helburua prozesuan emaniko edozein akats antzematea da. Honek akastun piezen kantitatea gutxitzen du eta instalakuntzak prozesuen ezegonkortasunetatik babesten ditu. Ondorioz, bi sistemen helburua prozesuan izandako arazo edo pieza akastunak antzematea eta kontrol sistemari hauen berri ematea da. Lan honen helburua aurrez aipaturiko sistemen gaitasuna industri ingurunean ebaluatzea denez, aurkezturiko garapen eta emaitzak enpresa batean burutu dira. Hiru atal nagusi bereiz daitezke lan honetan: 1) sentsoreetan oinarrituriko monitorizazio sistema baten garapen eta inplementazioa; 2) ikuskapen artifizialeko sistemaren garapen eta inplementazioa; eta 3) adimendun kontrolean oinarrituriko sistemen garapena.El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo evaluar en qué condiciones es económicamente viable y tecnológicamente factible la implementación de sistemas inteligentes de control en procesos de fabricación complejos; en este caso procesos de conformado. Los procesos de conformado son procesos de fabricación basados en la aplicación de esfuerzos o presiones sobre componentes con el objetivo de modificar su forma geométrica hasta conseguir un producto final. El gran abanico de variables no lineales (propiedades de materiales, geometría de herramientas, parámetros de máquinas y/o lubricación) que determinan la calidad final de las piezas conformadas hacen que estos procesos sean inherentemente inestables. Por ello, aun hoy en día, el control de estos procesos se realiza mediante operarios humanos. Por otro lado, aunque la experiencia ha demostrado que los operarios son capaces de controlar estos procesos de manera eficiente, la actual tendencia hacia la fabricación de piezas más complejas, fabricadas en materiales menos deformables y todo ello a cadencias de fabricación mayores, ha hecho que la capacidad de los operarios para reaccionar ante imprevistos se haya visto mermada. Por lo tanto, el desarrollo de nuevos sistemas automáticos e inteligentes de supervisión y control basados, no en técnicas tradicionales de control o en modelos matemáticos, sino en la estrategia de control que ha dado buenos resultados a lo largo de los años, el control basado en la experiencia y el conocimiento, es cada vez más necesario. En el presente trabajo de investigación, se han desarrollado y evaluado dos sistemas inteligentes de control basados en técnicas de inteligencia artificial. El principal objetivo de estos sistemas es ser capaces de identificar los fallos de proceso en procesos de conformado así como de plantear, automáticamente, las instrucciones para su resolución, todo ello de una manera rápida y robusta. Siguiendo esta estrategia, la resolución de los fallos de proceso se simplifica ya que, tras una parada de máquina o la detección de piezas defectuosas, el sistema proporciona al operario un informe donde se detallan las acciones a llevar a cabo. Esto tiene como ventaja una reducción en los tiempos de parada de máquina (y por lo tanto aumento en la cantidad de piezas producidas) ya que la identificación de los fallos es inmediata. Junto con el núcleo del sistema global de control, se han desarrollado e implementando en una instalación de corte progresivo dos sistemas de monitorización. El objetivo de estos dos sistemas de monitorización es recoger información sobre el proceso y enviársela al sistema de control. El primero, un sistema de visión artificial, tiene como objetivo analizar la calidad del 100% de las piezas fabricadas. Esto asegura la correcta calidad de todas las piezas enviadas a los clientes. El segundo, un sistema de monitorización de procesos basado en sensores, tiene como objetivo la detección de cualquier fallo de proceso. Esto reduce el defectivo interno y protege a las instalaciones frente a anomalías de proceso. Por lo tanto, ambos sistemas tienen como misión la detección de cualquier anomalía de proceso o pieza defectiva así como informar al sistema de control sobre las mismas. Puesto que el objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar la capacidad de los sistemas anteriormente citados en el entorno industrial, todos los desarrollos y resultados obtenidos a lo largo del mismo se han llevado a cabo en una empresa. El trabajo se puede dividir en tres partes: 1) el desarrollo e implementación del sistema de monitorización basado en sensores, 2) el desarrollo e implementación del sistema de visión artificial y 3) el desarrollo de los sistemas de control inteligentes

A Methodological Approach to Knowledge-Based Engineering Systems for Manufacturing

A survey of implementations of the knowledge-based engineering approach in different technological sectors is presented. The main objectives and techniques of examined applications are pointed out to illustrate the trends and peculiarities for a number of manufacturing field. Existing methods for the development of these engineering systems are then examined in order to identify critical aspects when applied to manufacturing. A new methodological approach is proposed to overcome some specific limitations that emerged from the above-mentioned survey. The aim is to provide an innovative method for the implementation of knowledge-based engineering applications in the field of industrial production. As a starting point, the field of application of the system is defined using a spatial representation. The conceptual design phase is carried out with the aid of a matrix structure containing the most relevant elements of the system and their relations. In particular, objectives, descriptors, inputs and actions are defined and qualified using categorical attributes. The proposed method is then applied to three case studies with different locations in the applicability space. All the relevant elements of the detailed implementation of these systems are described. The relations with assumptions made during the design are highlighted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The adoption of case studies with notably different applications also reveals the versatility in the application of the method