Robotix-Academy Conference for Industrial Robotics (RACIR) 2017

Book published by Shaker Verlag - 1st ed (2017)

Towards Intelligent Robot Assistants for the non-destructive Disassembly of End of Life Products

in Plapper, Peter; Hichri, Bassem (Eds.) Robotix-Academy Conference (2017, May 06)

The effective collaboration between humans and robots in complex and task rich environments like End of Life product disassembly depends on the ability of the robot to anticipate the workflow as well as ... [more ▼]

The effective collaboration between humans and robots in complex and task rich environments like End of Life product disassembly depends on the ability of the robot to anticipate the workflow as well as the assistance the human co-worker wants. Our approach towards such an intelligent system is the development of an informed software agent that controls the robot assistance behavior. We inform the agent with procedural and declarative knowledge about the disassembly domain through models of the product structure and actor/object models. The product structure is then transformed to a directed graph and used to build, share and define a goal-orientated coarse workflow. Depending on the tasks and wanted assistance, the system can generate adaptable and detailed workflows through searching in the situation space on the basis of predefined and task dependent actions. The created detailed workflow consists of a sequence of actions that are used to call, parameterize and execute robot programs for the fulfillment of the assistance. The aim of this research is to equip robot systems with higher cognitive skills to allow them to be autonomous in the performance of their assistance to improve the ergonomics of disassembly workstations. [less ▲]

Influence of Material Moisture during Laser Joining of Polyamide 6.6 to Aluminum

in Atiner's Conference Paper Series (2017), IND 2017 - 2270

An intelligent agent-controlled and robot-based disassembly assistant

in Conference Proceedings on the 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics ( ICAIR 2017) (2017)

One key for successful and fluent human-robot-collaboration in disassembly processes is equipping the robot system with higher autonomy and intelligence. In this paper, we present an informed software ... [more ▼]

One key for successful and fluent human-robot-collaboration in disassembly processes is equipping the robot system with higher autonomy and intelligence. In this paper, we present an informed software agent that controls the robot behavior to form an intelligent robot assistant for disassembly purposes. While the disassembly process first depends on the product structure, we inform the agent using a generic approach through product models. The product model is then transformed to a directed graph and used to build, share and define a coarse disassembly plan. To refine the workflow, we formulate “the problem of loosening a connection and the distribution of the work” as a search problem. The created detailed plan consists of a sequence of actions that are used to call, parametrize and execute robot programs for the fulfillment of the assistance. The aim of this research is to equip robot systems with knowledge and skills to allow them to be autonomous in the performance of their assistance to finally improve the ergonomics of disassembly workstations. [less ▲]

Standardized Value Stream Management Method to Visualize, Analyze and Optimize Cross-Enterprise Value Stream Data

in International Journal of Standardization Research (2017), 15(2), 25-36

This article describes how on the way towards a reliable and efficient collaboration in global supply chain networks, organizations are seeking for suitable methods and tools to enhance product and ... [more ▼]

This article describes how on the way towards a reliable and efficient collaboration in global supply chain networks, organizations are seeking for suitable methods and tools to enhance product and information flows. Based on the evolving Lean Manufacturing methodology in combination with the increased exploitation of ICT, new and diverse Value Stream Management (VSM) approaches are currently used. Thus, a common VSM standard is sought to analyze and visualize valuable data and to synchronize capacities and flows. In this article, the authors present a review of existing VSM approaches, patents and software solutions. Furthermore, a classification comprising four categories that serve as a basis for the ongoing VSM standard development within ISO/TC 154 and a case study of an administrative value stream are shown. [less ▲]

Trajectory Tracking for Robotic Freeform Grinding

in Cahier Scientifique - Revue Technique Luxembourgeoise (2016), 1(2016), 6-7

Unergonomic working conditions, a decline in available labour force and uncompetitively high salaries make automation an attractive solution for a variety of manufacturing processes. To achieve successful ... [more ▼]

Unergonomic working conditions, a decline in available labour force and uncompetitively high salaries make automation an attractive solution for a variety of manufacturing processes. To achieve successful automation of even complex, contact-based manufacturing processes, inspiration is more and more found in nature. In this work, a biomimetic approach is chosen to address the grinding process of freeform geometries by industrial robots. [less ▲]

Value Stream Management zur Synchronisation im Unternehmensverbund

Scientific Conference (2016, October)

Das Thema „Wertstrom Management“ wird in Luxemburg bereits in der Bachelor Ausbildung vermittelt und für die Master vertieft. In der Forschung erweist dieses Werkzeug großes Potential zur Synchronisation ... [more ▼]

Das Thema „Wertstrom Management“ wird in Luxemburg bereits in der Bachelor Ausbildung vermittelt und für die Master vertieft. In der Forschung erweist dieses Werkzeug großes Potential zur Synchronisation und Optimierung der Wertschöpfung im Unternehmensverbund, das wir hier vorstellen möchten: Mit der Methode VSM lässt sich Verschwendung erkennen und Wertschöpfungspotentiale heben. Die Verschwendung wird damit nicht nur in den produktiven Unternehmensbereichen, sondern auch in indirekten Bereichen und ebenso in Verwaltungsfunktionen und administrativen Abteilungen visualisiert. Man erkennt Möglichkeiten, die Verschwendung abzubauen und die Wertschöpfung zu erhöhen. Bei der praktischen Anwendung dieses leistungsfähigen Werkzeugs erwiesen sich die Schnittstellen zwischen den Unternehmen als immerwährende Quellen von Verschwendung und Ineffizienzen. Hier sind die unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen der Methode VSM hinderlich für eine durchgängige Anwendung dieser Methode. Aus dieser Erkenntnis heraus schlagen wir eine Vereinheitlichung der „Best Practices“ als Industrie Standard bzw. als internationale Norm vor. Im Rahmen der aktuell laufender Forschungsprojekte an der Universität Luxemburg werden Methoden entwickelt, um das Wertstrom Management international zu standardisieren und allgemein zu vereinheitlichen. [less ▲]

Adaptive SMC For Trajectory Tracking In FreeForm Grinding

in 2016 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, Poitiers, 18th-21st July 2016 (2016, July)

This work is a first step to the automation of freeform surface grinding. A control strategy for a robotic manipulator following a path which includes switching between different surfaces, constant depths ... [more ▼]

This work is a first step to the automation of freeform surface grinding. A control strategy for a robotic manipulator following a path which includes switching between different surfaces, constant depths of cut and system-inherent as well as environmental uncertainties is presented. The sliding mode control scheme with adaptive parameter update law is verified through simulation. [less ▲]

Value Stream Management Training

Learning material (2016)

The VSM workshop deals with concepts in the area of Value Stream Management, comprising the analysis, design and optimization of internal material and information flows. The VSM workshop was held by Prof ... [more ▼]

The VSM workshop deals with concepts in the area of Value Stream Management, comprising the analysis, design and optimization of internal material and information flows. The VSM workshop was held by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Plapper and M.Sc. Christof Oberhausen, who contribute a profound knowledge in Value Stream Management based on their ongoing research in this field. The one-day VSM workshop is targeted at an audience of 8-12 participants with a background in Lean Engineering or Operational Excellence. [less ▲]

Force-Guided Robotic Assembly Process: Control and Contact-State Recognition

Doctoral thesis (2016)

This thesis addresses developing novel Contact-State (CS) modeling, control strategy, and environment position localization (position searching) for force-guided robotic assembly processes of rigid and ... [more ▼]

This thesis addresses developing novel Contact-State (CS) modeling, control strategy, and environment position localization (position searching) for force-guided robotic assembly processes of rigid and flexible objects. For the CS modeling, the wrench (Cartesian force and torque) signals of the manipulated object are captured for different phases of the considered assembly processes and using the Expectation Maximization-based Gaussian Mixtures Model (EM-GMM), a recognizer is developed for each CS of the assembly. The suggested EM-GMM CS modeling scheme is shown to have excellent Classification Success Rate (CSR) with reduced computational efforts. For the control part, it is shown throughout the thesis that a force-guided robotic assembly process is a hybrid nonlinear system with arbitrary switching signal resulted from the constraints arbitrary switching during the assembly. Furthermore, the robot dynamics is frequently unknown, which is the case in many industrial robots, that would make the force-guided robotic assembly process to be an unknown hybrid nonlinear system with arbitrary switching. In order to overcome such a control challenge, a Decentralized Robust Adaptive Fuzzy Control (DRAFC) strategy is derived that guarantees stable performance under constraints arbitrary switching and unknown dynamics. For the environment position localization, the EM-GMM CS modeling scheme is integrated with a spiral search path and the precise hole position is identified for cases of position uncertainty. Experiments are conducted on a KUKA Lightweight Robot (LWR) doing different force-guided assembly tasks for rigid and flexible objects. Excellent performance is reported for the proposed EM-GMM CS recognition scheme, the DRAFC strategy, and the suggested position searching algorithm. The suggested EM-GMM CS recognition, DRAFC strategy, and position localization schemes are compared with the availably corresponding schemes and the superiority of the suggested schemes is shown. The reasons behind the superiority of the EM-GMM CS recognition scheme are the accommodation of the captured signals non-stationary behavior, employing optimized number of GMM components in the modeling process, and employing the EM algorithm that iteratively increases the log-likelihood. The causes behind the superiority of the DRAFC strategy are addressing the unknown nonlinear dynamics of the robot, accommodating the constraints arbitrary switching, and the robustness against possible dynamics parameters drift. The reasons behind the surpassing of the suggested position localization strategy are the robustness against the surface roughness and reduced computational efforts. The proposed EM-GMM CS modeling scheme, DRAFC strategy, and position searching scheme are applied to the entire peg-in-hole assembly processes of rigid and flexible objects. Excellent Localization Success Rate (LSR) was resulted when using the suggested schemes. Furthermore, the proposed CS modeling scheme, control strategy, and localization approach are applied to a couple of applications in automotive industry; the first one is the camshaft caps assembly of a cylinder head and the other is the air-intake manifold assembly of a powertrain. Efficient force-guided robotic assembly processes are obtained for both considered applications. [less ▲]