Micro and Desktop Factory Roadmap

Terms desktop and microfactory both refer to production equipment that is miniaturized down to the level where it can placed on desktop and manually moved without any lifting aids. In this context, micro does not necessarily refer to the size of parts produced or their features, or the actual size or resolution of the equipment. Instead, micro refers to a general objective of downscaling production equipment to the same scale with the products they are manufacturing. Academic research literature speculates with several advantages and benefits of using miniaturized production equipment. These range from reduced use of energy and other resources (such as raw material) to better operator ergonomics and from greater equipment flexibility and reconfigurability to ubiquitous manufacturing (manufacturing on-the-spot, i.e. manufacturing the end product where it is used). Academic research has also generated several pieces of equipment and application demonstrations, and many of those are described in this document. Despite of nearly two decades of academic research, wider industrial breakthrough has not yet taken place and, in fact, many of the speculated advantages have not been proven or are not (yet) practical. However, there are successful industrial examples including miniaturized machining units; robotic, assembly and process cells; as well as other pieces of desktop scale equipment. These are also presented in this document. Looking at and analysing the current state of micro and desktop production related academic and commercial research and development, there are notable gaps that should be addressed. Many of these are general to several fields, such as understanding the actual needs of industry, whereas some are specific to miniaturised production field. One such example is the size of the equipment: research equipment is often “too small” to be commercially viable alternative. However, it is important to seek the limits of miniaturisation and even though research results might not be directly adaptable to industrial use, companies get ideas and solution models from research. The field of desktop production is new and the future development directions are not clear. In general, there seems to be two main development directions for micro and desktop factory equipment: 1) Small size equipment assisting human operators at the corner of desk 2) Small size equipment forming fully automatic production lines (including line components, modules, and cells) These, and other aspects including visions of potential application areas and business models for system providers, are discussed in detail in this roadmap. To meet the visions presented, some actions are needed. Therefore, this document gives guidelines for various industrial user groups (end users of miniaturized production equipment, system providers/integrators and component providers) as well as academia for forming their strategies in order to exploit the benefits of miniaturized production. To summarise, the basic guidelines for different actors are: • Everyone: Push the desktop ideology and awareness of the technology and its possibilities. Market and be present at events where potential new fields get together. Tell what is available and what is needed. • Equipment end users: Specify and determine what is needed. Be brave to try out new ways of doing things. Think what is really needed – do not over specify. • System providers / integrators: Organize own operations and product portfolios so that supplying equipment fulfilling the end user specifications can be done profitably. • Component providers: Design and supply components which are cost-efficient and easy to integrate to and to take into use in desktop scale equipment. • Academia: Look further into future, support industrial sector in their shorter term development work and act as a facilitator for cooperation between different actors

Development of a modular reconfigurable machine for reconfigurable manufacturing systems.

M. Sc. Eng. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2010.The Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMSs) paradigm has been formulated to encapsulate methodologies that enable manufacturing systems to effectively cope with changes in markets and products. RMSs are systems which are envisioned to be capable of a rapid change in manufacturing layouts, process configurations, machines and control components to provide a quick response to changes in the master production schedule. This research was initiated due to the necessity for new forms of production machinery to be design for RMSs, which can aid manufacturers in the adjustment of system capacity and functionality at lower costs. This thesis presents the development of Modular Reconfigurable Machines (MRMs), as a novel machining solution within the scope of RMSs. MRMs are characterized by modular mechanical structures that enable the flexibility of the machine to be adjusted in response to changes in products. The concept of adjustable flexibility implies that the flexibility of the machines may be balanced to exactly match the requirements of the system when changes in production plans occur. Product changes are managed by a variation of machining processes and Degrees of Freedom (DOF) on a platform. The modular nature of these machines permits this to be done easily and cost effectively. MRMs therefore possess an advantage over traditional machining systems, where an adjustment of system functionality would require the procurement of new machinery. Manufacturers will also have the option to purchase machines with flexibility that may be increased as needed, instead of investing in highly flexible and expensive CNC systems, with features that are often excessive and unused. Main points of this research included the development of mechanical modules for assembly into complete machines. The number and types modules used in an assembly could be changed to provide the kinematic and process optimization of the mechanical hardware according to production requirements. In conjunction to the mechanical development, a suitable Mechatronic control system will be presented. The focus of control development was the facilitation of seamless system integration between modular mechanical hardware and the controller at both hardware and software levels. The control system is modular and distributed and characterised by a “plug-in” approach to control scalability. This is complimented by a software architecture that has been developed with a focus on hardware abstraction for the management of a reconfigurable mechanical and electronic architecture. A static and dynamic analysis of the MRM system is performed for a selected mechanical configuration. The performance of the mechanical and control system is also evaluated for static and dynamic positioning accuracy for different modes of motion control. The implications for MRMs are then analysed, which include system functionality and capacity scaling, manufacturing expansion flexibility and system life spans. The research was concluded with an analysis of the challenges and problems that must be addressed before MRMs become industrially acceptable machines

Robotic Automation of Turning Machines in Fenceless Production: A Planning Toolset for Economic-based Selection Optimization between Collaborative and Classical Industrial Robots

Ursprünglich wurden Industrieroboter hauptsächlich hinter Schutzzäunen betrieben, um den Sicherheitsanforderungen gerecht zu werden. Mit der Flexibilisierung der Produktion wurden diese scharfen Trennbereiche zunehmend aufgeweicht und externe Sicherheitstechnik, wie Abstandssensoren, genutzt, um Industrieroboter schutzzaunlos zu betreiben. Ausgehend vom Gedanken dieser Koexistenz bzw. Kooperation wurde die Sicherheitssensorik in den Roboter integriert, um eine wirkliche Kollaboration zu ermöglichen. Diese sogenannten kollaborierenden Roboter, oder Cobots, eröffnen neue Applikationsfelder und füllen somit die bestehenden Automatisierungslücken. Doch welche Automatisierungsvariante ist aus wirtschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten die geeignetste? Bisherige Forschung untersucht zum Großteil isoliert eine der beiden Technologien, ohne dabei einen Systemvergleich hinsichtlich technologischer Spezifika und Wirtschaftlichkeit anzustellen. Daher widmet sich diese Dissertation einer Methodik zum wirtschaftlichen Vergleich von kollaborierenden Robotern und Industrierobotern in schutzzaunlosen Maschinenbeladungssystemen. Besonderer Fokus liegt dabei auf dem Herausarbeiten der technischen Faktoren, die die Wirtschaftlichkeit maßgeblich beeinflussen, um ein Systemverständnis der wirtschaftlichen Struktur beider Robotertechnologievarianten zu erhalten. Zur Untersuchung werden die Inhalte eines solchen Planungsvorhabens beschrieben, kategorisiert, systematisiert und modularisiert. Auf wirtschaftlicher Seite wird ein geeignetes Optimierungsmodell vorgestellt, während auf technischer Seite vor allem die Machbarkeit hinsichtlich Greifbarkeit, Layoutplanung, Robotergeschwindigkeiten und Zykluszeitbestimmung untersucht wird. Mit deduktiven, simulativen, empirischen und statistischen Methoden wird das Systemverhalten für die einzelnen Planungsinhalte analysiert, um die Gesamtwirtschaftlichkeit mit einem Minimum an Investment,- Produktions,- und Zykluszeitinformationen a priori vorhersagen zu können. Es wird gezeigt, dass durch einen Reverse Engineering Ansatz die notwendigen Planungsdaten, im Sinne von Layoutkomposition, Robotergeschwindigkeiten und Taktzeiten, mithilfe von Frontloading zu Planungsbeginn zur Verfügung gestellt werden können. Dabei dient der Kapitalwert als wirtschaftliche Bewertungsgrundlage, dessen Abhängigkeit vom Mensch-Roboter-Interaktionsgrad in einem Vorteilhaftigkeitsdiagramm für die einzelnen Technologiealternativen dargestellt werden kann. Wirtschaftlich fundierte Entscheidungen können somit auf quantitiativer Basis getroffen werden.:1. Introduction 25 1.1 Research Domain 25 1.2 Research Niche 26 1.3 Research Structure 28 2. State of the Art and Research 31 2.1 Turning Machines and Machine Tending 31 2.1.1 Tooling Machine Market Trends and Machine Tending Systems 31 2.1.2 Workpiece System 34 2.1.3 Machine System 36 2.1.4 Logistics System 39 2.1.5 Handling System 41 2.2 Robotics 43 2.2.1 Robot Installation Development and Application Fields 43 2.2.2 Fenceless Industrial and Collaborative Robots 48 2.2.3 Robot Grippers 55 2.3 Planning and Evaluation Methods 56 2.3.1 Planning of General and Manual Workstations 56 2.3.2 Cell Planning for Fully Automated and Hybrid Robot Systems 59 2.3.3 Robot Safety Planning 61 2.3.4 Economic Evaluation Methods 70 2.4 Synthesis - State of the Art and Research 71 3. Solution Approach 77 3.1 Need for Research and General Solution Approach 77 3.2 Use Case Delineation and Planning Focus 80 3.3 Economic Module – Solution Approach 86 3.4 Gripper Feasibility Module – Solution Approach 89 3.5 Rough Layout Discretization Model – Solution Approach 94 3.6 Cycle Time Estimation Module – Solution Approach 97 3.7 Collaborative Speed Estimation Module – Solution Approach 103 3.7.1 General Approach 103 3.7.2 Case 1: Quasi-static Contact with Hand 107 3.7.3 Case 2: Transient Contact with Hand 109 3.7.4 Case 3: Transient Contact with Shoulder 111 3.8 Synthesis – Solution Approach 114 4. Module Development 117 4.1 Economic Module – Module Development 117 4.1.1 General Approach 117 4.1.2 Calculation Scheme for Manual Operation 117 4.1.3 Calculation Scheme for Collaborative Robots 118 4.1.4 Calculation Scheme for Industrial Robots 120 4.2 Gripper Feasibility Module – Module Development 121 4.3 Rough Layout Discretization Module – Module Development 122 4.3.1 General Approach 122 4.3.2 Two-Dimensional Layout Pattern 123 4.3.3 Three-Dimensional Layout Pattern 125 4.4 Cycle Time Estimation Module – Module Development 126 4.4.1 General Approach 126 4.4.2 Reachability Study 127 4.4.3 Simulation Results 128 4.5 Collaborative Speed Estimation Module – Module Development 135 4.5.1 General Approach 135 4.5.2 Case 1: Quasi-static Contact with Hand 135 4.5.3 Case 2: Transient Contact with Hand 143 4.5.4 Case 3: Transient Contact with Shoulder 145 4.6 Synthesis – Module Development 149 5. Practical Verification 155 5.1 Use Case Overview 155 5.2 Gripper Feasibility 155 5.3 Layout Discretization 156 5.4 Collaborative Speed Estimation 157 5.5 Cycle Time Estimation 158 5.6 Economic Evaluation 160 5.7 Synthesis – Practical Verification 161 6. Results and Conclusions 165 6.1 Scientific Findings and Results 165 6.2 Critical Appraisal and Outlook 173Initially, industrial robots were mainly operated behind safety fences to account for the safety requirements. With production flexibilization, these sharp separation areas have been increasingly softened by utilizing external safety devices, such as distance sensors, to operate industrial robots fenceless. Based on this idea of coexistence or cooperation, safety technology has been integrated into the robot to enable true collaboration. These collaborative robots, or cobots, open up new application fields and fill the existing automation gap. But which automation variant is most suitable from an economic perspective? Present research dealt primarily isolated with one technology without comparing these systems regarding technological and economic specifics. Therefore, this doctoral thesis pursues a methodology to economically compare collaborative and industrial robots in fenceless machine tending systems. A particular focus lies on distilling the technical factors that mainly influence the profitability to receive a system understanding of the economic structure of both robot technology variants. For examination, the contents of such a planning scheme are described, categorized, systematized, and modularized. A suitable optimization model is presented on the economic side, while the feasibility regarding gripping, layout planning, robot velocities, and cycle time determination is assessed on the technical side. With deductive, simulative, empirical, and statistical methods, the system behavior of the single planning entities is analyzed to predict the overall profitability a priori with a minimum of investment,- production,- and cycle time information. It is demonstrated that the necessary planning data, in terms of layout composition, robot velocities, and cycle times, can be frontloaded to the project’s beginning with a reverse engineering approach. The net present value serves as the target figure, whose dependency on the human-robot interaction grade can be illustrated in an advantageousness diagram for the individual technical alternatives. Consequently, sound economic decisions can be made on a quantitative basis.:1. Introduction 25 1.1 Research Domain 25 1.2 Research Niche 26 1.3 Research Structure 28 2. State of the Art and Research 31 2.1 Turning Machines and Machine Tending 31 2.1.1 Tooling Machine Market Trends and Machine Tending Systems 31 2.1.2 Workpiece System 34 2.1.3 Machine System 36 2.1.4 Logistics System 39 2.1.5 Handling System 41 2.2 Robotics 43 2.2.1 Robot Installation Development and Application Fields 43 2.2.2 Fenceless Industrial and Collaborative Robots 48 2.2.3 Robot Grippers 55 2.3 Planning and Evaluation Methods 56 2.3.1 Planning of General and Manual Workstations 56 2.3.2 Cell Planning for Fully Automated and Hybrid Robot Systems 59 2.3.3 Robot Safety Planning 61 2.3.4 Economic Evaluation Methods 70 2.4 Synthesis - State of the Art and Research 71 3. Solution Approach 77 3.1 Need for Research and General Solution Approach 77 3.2 Use Case Delineation and Planning Focus 80 3.3 Economic Module – Solution Approach 86 3.4 Gripper Feasibility Module – Solution Approach 89 3.5 Rough Layout Discretization Model – Solution Approach 94 3.6 Cycle Time Estimation Module – Solution Approach 97 3.7 Collaborative Speed Estimation Module – Solution Approach 103 3.7.1 General Approach 103 3.7.2 Case 1: Quasi-static Contact with Hand 107 3.7.3 Case 2: Transient Contact with Hand 109 3.7.4 Case 3: Transient Contact with Shoulder 111 3.8 Synthesis – Solution Approach 114 4. Module Development 117 4.1 Economic Module – Module Development 117 4.1.1 General Approach 117 4.1.2 Calculation Scheme for Manual Operation 117 4.1.3 Calculation Scheme for Collaborative Robots 118 4.1.4 Calculation Scheme for Industrial Robots 120 4.2 Gripper Feasibility Module – Module Development 121 4.3 Rough Layout Discretization Module – Module Development 122 4.3.1 General Approach 122 4.3.2 Two-Dimensional Layout Pattern 123 4.3.3 Three-Dimensional Layout Pattern 125 4.4 Cycle Time Estimation Module – Module Development 126 4.4.1 General Approach 126 4.4.2 Reachability Study 127 4.4.3 Simulation Results 128 4.5 Collaborative Speed Estimation Module – Module Development 135 4.5.1 General Approach 135 4.5.2 Case 1: Quasi-static Contact with Hand 135 4.5.3 Case 2: Transient Contact with Hand 143 4.5.4 Case 3: Transient Contact with Shoulder 145 4.6 Synthesis – Module Development 149 5. Practical Verification 155 5.1 Use Case Overview 155 5.2 Gripper Feasibility 155 5.3 Layout Discretization 156 5.4 Collaborative Speed Estimation 157 5.5 Cycle Time Estimation 158 5.6 Economic Evaluation 160 5.7 Synthesis – Practical Verification 161 6. Results and Conclusions 165 6.1 Scientific Findings and Results 165 6.2 Critical Appraisal and Outlook 17

Mechatronic Systems

Mechatronics, the synergistic blend of mechanics, electronics, and computer science, has evolved over the past twenty five years, leading to a novel stage of engineering design. By integrating the best design practices with the most advanced technologies, mechatronics aims at realizing high-quality products, guaranteeing at the same time a substantial reduction of time and costs of manufacturing. Mechatronic systems are manifold and range from machine components, motion generators, and power producing machines to more complex devices, such as robotic systems and transportation vehicles. With its twenty chapters, which collect contributions from many researchers worldwide, this book provides an excellent survey of recent work in the field of mechatronics with applications in various fields, like robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, unmanned vehicles, manufacturing, and education. We would like to thank all the authors who have invested a great deal of time to write such interesting chapters, which we are sure will be valuable to the readers. Chapters 1 to 6 deal with applications of mechatronics for the development of robotic systems. Medical and assistive technologies and human-machine interaction systems are the topic of chapters 7 to 13.Chapters 14 and 15 concern mechatronic systems for autonomous vehicles. Chapters 16-19 deal with mechatronics in manufacturing contexts. Chapter 20 concludes the book, describing a method for the installation of mechatronics education in schools

Towards a Framework for Smart Manufacturing adoption in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Smart Manufacturing (SM) paradigm adoption can scale production with demand without compromising on the time for order fulfillment. A smart manufacturing system (SMS) is vertically and horizontally connected, and thus it can minimize the chances of miscommunication. Employees in an SME are aware of the operational requirements and their responsibilities. The machine schedules are prepared based on the tasks a machine must perform. Predictive maintenance reduces the downtime of machines. Design software optimizes the product design. Production feasibility is checked with the help of simulation. The concepts of product life cycle management are considered for waste reduction. Employee safety, and ergonomics, identifying new business opportunities and markets, focus on employee education and skill enhancement are some of the other advantages of SM paradigm adoption. This dissertation develops an SM paradigm adoption framework for manufacturing SMEs by employing the instrumental research approach. The first step in the framework identified the technical aspects of SM, and this step was followed by identifying the research gaps in the suggested methods (in literature) and managerial aspects for adopting SM paradigm. The technical and the managerial aspects were integrated into a toolkit for manufacturing SMEs. This toolkit contains seven modular toolboxes that can be installed in five levels, depending on an SME’s readiness towards SM. The framework proposed in this dissertation focuses on how an SME’s readiness can be assessed and based on its present readiness what tools and practices the SMEs need to have to realize their tailored vision of SM. The framework was validated with the help of two SMEs cases that have recently adopted SM practices

Development of the UMAC-based control system with application to 5-axis ultraprecision micromilling machines

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Increasing demands from end users in the fields of optics, defence, automotive, medical, aerospace, etc. for high precision 3D miniaturized components and microstructures from a range of materials have driven the development in micro and nano machining and changed the manufacturing realm. Conventional manufacturing processes such as chemical etching and LIGA are found unfavourable or limited due to production time required and have led mechanical micro machining to grow further. Mechanical micro machining is an ideal method to produce high accuracy micro components and micro milling is the most flexible enabling process and is thus able to generate a wider variety of complex micro components and microstructures. Ultraprecision micromilling machine tools are required so as to meet the accuracy, surface finish and geometrical complexity of components and parts. Typical manufacturing requirements are high dimensional accuracy being better than 1 micron, flatness and roundness better than 50 nm and surface finish ranging between 10 and 50 nm. Manufacture of high precision components and parts require very intricate material removal procedure. There are five key components that include machine tools, cutting tools, material properties, operation variables and environmental conditions, which constitute in manufacturing high quality components and parts. End users assess the performance of a machine tool based on the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of machined parts including the machining time. In this thesis, the emphasis is on the design and development of a control system for a 5-axis bench-type ultraprecision micromilling machine- Ultra-Mill. On the one hand, the developed control system is able to offer high motion and positioning accuracy, dynamic stiffness and thermal stability for motion control, which are essential for achieving the machining accuracy and surface finish desired. On the other hand, the control system is able to undertake in-process inspection and condition monitoring of the machine tool and process. The control of multi-axis precision machines with high-speed and high-accuracy motions and positioning are desirable to manufacture components with high accuracy and complex features to increase productivity and maintain machine stability, etc. The development of the control system has focused on fast, accurate and robust positioning requirements at the machine system design stage. Apart from the mechanical design, the performance of the entire precision systems is greatly dependent on diverse electrical and electronics subsystems, controllers, drive instruments, feedback devices, inspection and monitoring system and software. There are some variables that dynamically alter the system behaviour and sensitivity to disturbance that are not ignorable in the micro and nano machining realm. In this research, a structured framework has been developed and integrated to aid the design and development of the control system. The framework includes critically reviewing the state of the art of ultraprecision machining tools, understanding the control system technologies involved, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of various control system methods for ultraprecision machines, understanding what is required by end-users and formulating what actually makes a machine tool be an ultraprecision machine particularly from the control system perspective. In the design and development stage, the possession of mechatronic know-how is essential as the design and development of the Ultra-Mill is a multidisciplinary field. Simulation and modelling tool such as Matlab/Simulink is used to model the most suitable control system design. The developed control system was validated through machining trials to observe the achievable accuracy, experiments and testing of subsystems individually (slide system, tooling system, monitoring system, etc.). This thesis has successfully demonstrated the design and development of the control system for a 5-axis ultraprecision machine tool- Ultra-Mill, with high performance characteristics, fast, accurate, precise, etc. for motion and positioning, high dynamic stiffness, robustness and thermal stability, whereby was provided and maintained by the control system

Intelligent Systems

This book is dedicated to intelligent systems of broad-spectrum application, such as personal and social biosafety or use of intelligent sensory micro-nanosystems such as "e-nose", "e-tongue" and "e-eye". In addition to that, effective acquiring information, knowledge management and improved knowledge transfer in any media, as well as modeling its information content using meta-and hyper heuristics and semantic reasoning all benefit from the systems covered in this book. Intelligent systems can also be applied in education and generating the intelligent distributed eLearning architecture, as well as in a large number of technical fields, such as industrial design, manufacturing and utilization, e.g., in precision agriculture, cartography, electric power distribution systems, intelligent building management systems, drilling operations etc. Furthermore, decision making using fuzzy logic models, computational recognition of comprehension uncertainty and the joint synthesis of goals and means of intelligent behavior biosystems, as well as diagnostic and human support in the healthcare environment have also been made easier

Model-Based Engineering of Collaborative Embedded Systems

This Open Access book presents the results of the "Collaborative Embedded Systems" (CrESt) project, aimed at adapting and complementing the methodology underlying modeling techniques developed to cope with the challenges of the dynamic structures of collaborative embedded systems (CESs) based on the SPES development methodology. In order to manage the high complexity of the individual systems and the dynamically formed interaction structures at runtime, advanced and powerful development methods are required that extend the current state of the art in the development of embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. The methodological contributions of the project support the effective and efficient development of CESs in dynamic and uncertain contexts, with special emphasis on the reliability and variability of individual systems and the creation of networks of such systems at runtime. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the case studies are therefore selected from areas that are highly relevant for Germany’s economy (automotive, industrial production, power generation, and robotics). It also supports the digitalization of complex and transformable industrial plants in the context of the German government's "Industry 4.0" initiative, and the project results provide a solid foundation for implementing the German government's high-tech strategy "Innovations for Germany" in the coming years