Uses and applications of artificial intelligence in manufacturing

The purpose of the THESIS is to provide engineers and personnels with a overview of the concepts that underline Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems. Artificial Intelligence is concerned with the developments of theories and techniques required to provide a computational engine with the abilities to perceive, think and act, in an intelligent manner in a complex environment. Expert system is branch of Artificial Intelligence where the methods of reasoning emulate those of human experts. Artificial Intelligence derives it\u27s power from its ability to represent complex forms of knowledge, some of it common sense, heuristic and symbolic, and the ability to apply the knowledge in searching for solutions. The Thesis will review : The components of an intelligent system, The basics of knowledge representation, Search based problem solving methods, Expert system technologies, Uses and applications of AI in various manufacturing areas like Design, Process Planning, Production Management, Energy Management, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing Simulation, Robotics, Machine Vision etc. Prime objectives of the Thesis are to understand the basic concepts underlying Artificial Intelligence and be able to identify where the technology may be applied in the field of Manufacturing Engineering

A Systems Approach for Selection Between Manual and Automated Work Zones Within Assembly Lines

Manufacturing firms are continuously looking forward to improve and optimize their processes to meet the requirements of mass production and product customization. In order to meet these demands, the operations on the assembly line need to be allocated with the right level of automation, such that neither the human nor the machine is underutilized With such an emphasis being put on assembly operations within manufacturing enterprises, there is a need for a systematic procedure that helps in identifying appropriate levels of automation (LoA) within different resolutions, such as at the workstation, and the band scales. Based on a literature review, it was seen that the research done within the area of LoA is not abundant, and the few methodologies that discuss about this aspect have their own benefits and limitations. The main aim of this thesis research is to develop a systematic methodology/approach that can help determine the appropriate at a systems level, by looking at various factors such as production volume, production flow, the no. of variants and other factors. To arrive at this, a set of requirements are defined that can be used to judge the most suitable method from the existing literature. The most suitable method would be a method that satisfies all the requirements and helps in determining the appropriate LoA at workstation and band scales. Two methods: 1) B&D method and 2) Dynamo method partially satisfy most of the requirements and are combined together in order to form a new integrated method that can help in determining the appropriate levels of automation to be applied at workstation and band scales. Both the methods are validated based on 4 individual case studies performed at 2 different manufacturing firms. Based on the results obtained both the methods are useful at the workstation level but fail to determine the appropriate LoA at the band level. The integrated method is then applied to the operations at one of the manufacturing firms, to suggest possible improvements within the levels of automation currently being implemented at the firm

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) SORICH

The last two decades have witnessed the increasing role of the computer in the process planning function. This has been further enhanced by the advent of the knowledge based expert system, and its impact on Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). CAPP has emerged as a strategic link between design and manufacture. This thesis discusses the various methods used in the process planning function. Group Technology (GT) plays a pivotal role in establishing CAPP. The utilization of Artificial Intelligence techniques in CAPP is listed. This study also presents an Interactive Software adaptive to product/part configuration variables

Make Scents: Senior Project Report

The purpose of this project was to create a smart air freshener. A complete user-friendly system that is programmable and simple to use for customers of all ages. Many constraints were met in order to achieve the final product and the necessary requirements. This Senior Project helps maintain a clean scented room of any size with its programmable functions to set spray times per the user’s request. Final system incorporates a user operated remote controller that catches the signal using an infrared sensor. The ease and simplicity of this air freshener makes it stand out in the competing market of personal air fresheners

Mallipohjainen järjestelmäintegraatio tuotannonohjausjärjestelmille

Application integration becomes more complex as software becomes more advanced. This thesis investigates the applicability of model-driven application integration methods to the software integration of manufacturing execution systems (MES). The goal was to create a code generator that uses models to generate a working program that transfers data from a MES to another information system. The focus of the implementation was on generality. First, past research of MES was reviewed, the means to integrate it with other information systems were investigated, and the international standard ISA-95 and B2MML as well as model-driven engineering (MDE) were revised. Next, requirements were defined for the system. The requirements were divided into user and developer requirements. A suitable design for a code generator was introduced and, after that, implemented and experimented. The experiment was conducted by reading production data from the database of MES-like Delfoi Planner and then transforming that data to B2MML-styled XML-schema. The experiment verified that the code generator functioned as intended. However, compared to a manually created program, the generated code was longer and less efficient. It should also be considered that adopting MDE methods takes time. Therefore, for MDE to be better than traditional programming, the code generator has to be used multiple times in order to achieve the benefits and the systems cannot be too time-critical either. Based on the findings, it can be said, that model-driven application integration methods can be used to integrate MESs, but there are restrictions.Järjestelmäintegraatio vaikeutuu ohjelmien monimutkaistuessa. Tässä työssä tutkitaan mallipohjaisten järjestelmäintegraatiometodien soveltuvuutta tuotannonohjausjärjestelmille (MES). Tavoitteena oli muodostaa koodigeneraattori, joka käyttää malleja luodakseen toimivan ohjelman, joka siirtää tietoa MES-järjestelmästä johonkin toiseen tietojärjestelmään. Toteutuksessa keskityttiin yleistettävyyteen. Aluksi työssä käytiin läpi aikaisempaa tutkimusta MES-järjestelmistä ja mahdollisuuksista integroida niitä toisiin informaatiojärjestelmiin. Lisäksi otettiiin selvää kansainvälisestä ISA-95 standardista ja B2MML:sta sekä mallipohjaisesta tekniikasta (MDE). Tämän jälkeen järjestelmälle määriteltiin vaatimukset, jotka jaettiin käyttäjän ja kehittäjän vaatimuksiin. Koodigeneraattorista tehtiin ehdot täyttävä suunnitelma, joka toteutettiin ja jolla suoritettiin kokeita. Koe toteutettiin lukemalla tuotantodataa MES:n kaltaisen Delfoi Plannerin tietokannasta, jonka jälkeen data muutettiin B2MML tyyliä noudattavaan XML-schema muotoon. Kokeet osoittivat, että koodigeneraattori toimi kuten toivottiin. Kuitenkin havaittiin, että verrattuna manuaalisesti toteutettuun ohjelmaan, luotu ohjelma ei ollut yhtä tehokas ja lisäksi se oli pidempi. Huomattiin myös, että MDE-metodien käyttöönotto vie paljon aikaa. Jotta MDE olisi perinteistä ohjelmointia parempi vaihtoehto, sitä pitäisi käyttää useita kertoja ja sillä luotu järjestelmä ei saisi olla liian aikariippuvainen. Havaintojen perusteella voidaan sanoa, että mallipohjaisia järjestelmäintegraatiometodeja voidaan käyttää MES-järjestelmien integrointiin, mutta sille on rajoituksia

2019 Projects Day Booklet

https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/projects-day/1034/thumbnail.jp

Automation considerations for a manufacturing system

This thesis examines the present manufacturing system of Apollo Valve Company, a solenoid control valves manufacturing. After analyzing the present system, the automation considerations and proposed new system were recommended. Chapter 1 presenti the background material of automation and manufacturing system. The development of the automated factory is also included. The plant layout, organization, and departments functions of the present system are briefly described in the Chapter 2. Analysis of the present manufacturing system by the production volume, by plant layout, and by the manufacturing operations, is discussed in Chapter 3. Proposed automation considerations and improvements, such as group technology (GT), computer-aided process planning (CAPP), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), automatic assembly and testing, packing, and flexible manufacturing system (FMS), are presented in the Chapter 4. The last chapter, the conclusions are discussed and the new manufacturing system is recommended

Automated feature recognition system for supporting engineering activities downstream of conceptual design.

Transfer of information between CAD models and downstream manufacturing process planning software typically involves redundant user interaction. Many existing tools are process-centric and unsuited for selection of a "best process" in the context of existing concurrent engineering design tools. A computer based Feature-Recognition (FR) process is developed to extract critical manufacturing features from engineering product CAD models. FR technology is used for automating the extraction of data from CAD product models and uses wire-frame geometry extracted from an IGES neutral file format. Existing hint-based feature recognition techniques have been extended to encompass a broader range of manufacturing domains than typical in the literature, by utilizing a combination of algorithms, each successful at a limited range of features. Use of wire-frame models simplifies product geometry and has the potential to support rapid manufacturing shape evaluation at the conceptual design stage. Native CAD files are converted to IGES neutral files to provide geometry data marshalling to remove variations in user modelling practice, and to provide a consistent starting point for FR operations. Wire-frame models are investigated to reduce computer resources compared to surface and solid models, and provide a means to recover intellectual property in terms of manufacturing design intent from legacy and contemporary product models. Geometric ambiguity in regard to what is ?solid? and what is not has plagued wire-frame FR development in the past. A new application of crossing number theory (CNT) has been developed to solve the wire-frame ambiguity problem for a range of test parts. The CNT approach works satisfactorily for products where all faces of the product can be recovered and is tested using a variety of mechanical engineering parts. Platform independent tools like Extensible Mark-up Language are used to capture data from the FR application and provide a means to separate FR and decision support applications. Separate applications are composed of reusable software modules that may be combined as required. Combining rule-based and case-based reasoning provides decision support to the manufacturing application as a means of rejecting unsuitable processes on functional and economic grounds while retaining verifiable decision pathways to satisfy industry regulators

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2014

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems Engineering and Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics