Simulering av kitpreparering med olika automationsnivåer för drönartillverkning i Chalmers SII-lab

Abstract

In the manufacturing industry, the opportunities for automation have increased at the same time it is starting to be applied at a very fast pace. This has remained a great opportunity as the Fourth Industrial Revolution "Industrial Revolution 4.0" has started to take hold of the world. This development phase is considered and characterized by internet-of-things, digitalization and automation. In Stena Industry Innovation Lab “SII-lab”, research is currently being done on the planning of the collaboration between an operator and a cobot (collaborative robot) in a kit-preparation station which supplies drone components. These materials are transported to a production line where drone components are mounted. In the kit-preparation station, an operator is required to carry out the components to the production line, and in this case the operator need to work with a cobot. The purpose of the project is to be able to simulate three different scenarios for the kit preparation in the Chalmers SII lab. The work in scenario 1 will be done manual, scenario 2 automatic and scenario 3 collaborative kit-preparation. These three scenarios are stimulated to understand what, how the distribution of tasks between the robot and the human should be planned and then be able to measure the effectiveness of the three different scenarios. This should be evaluated and compared for an efficient and synchronized flow with the production line to which the materials are transported. The goal is to ensure a collaborative work between a human and a robot in an efficient way and with a high level of safety for the operator. The method that was used started with a literature survey, then the important parts of the process were modeled in CAD. Finally, the model was simulated to arrive at important results. Scenario three has shown best results compared to the other scenarios. The reason is that the human operator and the cobot work collaboratively, which can increase the variance on material type. The operator can handle materials that require intelligence, caution and high quantities when picking up, while the robot can handle materials with heavy weights that require precision and point safety. Collaboration between humans and robots is the most suitable scenario for the future industry to achieve maximum flexibility, reduced risk and increased productivity.