FEEDER ROBOTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SYSTEM .
5.3.2 . " CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING : THE CAM SOLUTION " ( REF . 477 : A/84 )
THE PROJECT WILL BE FOCUSED ON PRODUCTION ACTIVITY CONTROL ( PAC ) , THE ROLE OF WHICH IS TO CLOSE THE LOOP BETWEEN PRODUCTION PLANNING AND EXECUTION . THE RESULTS WILL BE ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO SMALL BATCH MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENTS . THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO DESIGN , DEVELOP AND TEST THE SOFTWARE MODULES REQUIRED TO CLOSE THE CONTROL LOOP , REDUCING HUMAN INTERVENTION AND REACTION TIME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE , AND RELYING ON DATA AUTOMATICALLY CAPTURED FROM THE PLANT .
R AND D AREA 5.4 : FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
DESCRIPTION
FOR INDUSTRIES SPECIALIZING IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A WIDE VARIETY OF PARTS IN LOW AND MEDIUM VOLUMES , THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY FLEXIBLE , HIGH PRODUCTIVITY SYSTEMS IS AN IMPORTANT GOAL . THE MAJOR TASK OF THE SUPPLIERS OF CIM EQUIPMENT IS TO ENHANCE THE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED FOR FLEXIBLE AUTOMATION .
MACHINING CENTRES FOR AUTOMATIC MACHINING OF METAL PARTS , SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATIC LOADING AND UNLOADING OF WORKPIECES , AND CONVEYOR SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFERRING WORKPIECES FROM ONE MACHINING PROCESS TO ANOTHER , ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE FROM MANY SOURCES . A PROBLEM WHICH STILL HAS TO BE ATTACKED IS THE INTEGRATION OF MACHINING CENTRES INTO OVERALL CIM SYSTEMS , WITH PROPER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HUMAN FACTORS .
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IS REQUIRED IN THE AREA OF AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS , AND TO ENHANCE THE CAPABILITY OF ROBOTS BEYOND THE SIMPLE OPERATIONS AT PRESENT CARRIED OUT . MAJOR BENEFITS WOULD BE OBTAINED IF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION WITH THE DESIGN PROCESS COULD BE ACHIEVED . IT IS ALSO NECESSARY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DEVELOPMENTS IN ADVANCED INFORMATION PROCESSING ( AIP ) , AND SIMULATION SYSTEMS .
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IS ALSO NEEDED TO REACH TWO OF THE PRINCIPAL , AND OFTEN CONFLICTING , GOALS OF ALL FUTURE AUTOMATED PLANTS , NAMELY MAINTENANCE OF CONSISTENTLY HIGH PRODUCT QUALITY AND MAXIMUM PLANT AVAILABILITY .
R AND D TOPICS
TEXT CONTINUED UNDER DOC.NUM : 385D0141.5
THE R AND D TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED IN THIS AREA ARE :
5.4.1 . FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS :
- DEFINITION AND GENERAL STRUCTURE OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS ;
- COMMUNICATION AND DATA TRANSFER ,
- INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN INTERACTION .
5.4.2 . AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY :
- AUTOMATED ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS ,
- ROBOT SYSTEMS .
5.4.3 . PLANT AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OPTIMIZATION :
- BASIC PLANT DIAGNOSIS TECHNOLOGY ,
- DIAGNOSIS FORMULATION ,
- ACTION PLANNING ,
- AUTOMATED QUALITY CONTROL AND INSPECTION .
5.4.4 . ADVANCED CONTROL SYSTEMS AND CONCEPTS
- SPECIFICATION OF COMPUTING REQUIREMENT
- INCORPORATION OF ADVANCED INFORMATION PROCESSING ( AIP ) .
5.4.1 . FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS ( TYPE A )
DESCRIPTION
- A GENERAL STRUCTURE FOR FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS INCLUDING MATERIALS HANDLING HAS TO BE DEFINED . THE MAJOR SUBSYSTEMS HAVE TO BE IDENTIFIED , DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED ,
- DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNICATIONS