Improving Ergonomics and Quality As surance in Actuator Production: An Enhanced Component Supply Approach for Pick & Place Robots
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Production engineering (MPPEN), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Alvestrand, Marcus
Trogen, Edward
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Over the past few decades, there has been a substantial increase in the automation
of manual jobs. Automation gives the possibility of increasing productivity and
reducing labor costs. Despite these benefits, some industries struggle to automate
their processes. One of the big obstacles for automated systems is the orientation
of small, irregularly shaped components. The purpose of this thesis is to specify
an improved solution for supplying a pick & place robot with incoming components
during the assembly process. To study this, automated palletizing solutions were
developed and tested using a UR3e robot along with a Robotiq wrist camera. Some
manual processes were also developed for components that had trouble being iden tified by the camera during testing.
The tests showed that it is in fact very hard to automate processes where small
and irregularly shaped components are involved. Implementing automated solutions
can create lengthy setup and cycle times, compared to manual work, and increase
costs. It was also shown that the camera used is not strong enough for identifying
the small and complex requirements of the components. In the case of Cochlear, a
completely new vision system is needed in order to automate the material feeding
of components to the assembly.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Material Handling, Automation, Small Components