Internal Transport: A Key Problem in Flexible Assembly Cells

摘要

In a (multirobot) assembly cell transport of parts, products and fixtures is of major importance. Due to the fact that the time to assemble a part in a product is in the order of a few seconds, the time for bringing that part in the assembly area should be of the same order. In flexible assembly cells transport has a substantial influence on assembly efficiency. At Delft University of Technology a multidisciplinary research project named DIAC (Delft Intelligent Assembly Cell) is carried out. The aim of the project is the development, implementation and integration of technology that makes up a flexible assembly cell. As part of the project a prototype flexible assembly cell has been built. DIAC is configured around two assembly robots with overlapping workspace. A handling system takes care of the internal transport using reconfigurable pallets for product specific parts, subassemblies, assembled products and fixtures. As both the number of pallets and the buffer space within the cell is limited the efficiency of the assembly system depends on the assembly strategy and the capacity of the handling system. The paper discusses the production strategy specially related to flexibility and semirandom production capability.