Development cost and time efficient solutions for SMEs for process automation and innovative emerging manufacturing technologies
This Strategic Development Area (SDA) (2) is connected with manufacturing environment, consisting of production equipments, technologies and processes. From these depends the productivity of manufacture and quality of products.
Nowadays manufacturing is characterized with shortening of time for fulfilling orders, shorter time of life cycle of products, wide nomenclature of products and high demands to the quality. To achieve abovementioned the corresponding equipment and technologies are obligatory. Following from needs of industry under this SDA (2) the next research areas are objects of the study:
- Welding technology (process automation based on SME robots);
- Advanced manufacturing technologies (powder metallurgy, technologies sheet-metal fabrication, rapid prototyping).
The European Robot Initiative for Strengthening the Competitiveness of SMEs in Manufacturing shows that today`s industrial robots lack of:
- Alternative rapid instructions methods to robot pendants
- Intuitive instruction schemes for robot control
- High process forces “when needed”
- Intuitive instruction (instruction time vs process time)
- Plug `n Play retooling
- Safe worker-robot cooperation
- Mobility for placing and clamping to machines
- Robust object localization
- Multi-purpose gripper
In the area of welding technology (process automation based on SME robots) following subthemes will be investigated;
- welding applications – selection methodology for welding parameters considering automated welding in robot cell
- technological applications – selection methodology of technological parameters for welding process for different product groups considering automated production
- programming applications – programming methodology selection considering different welding parameters, product complexity and program code reuse. Possible IT solutions can be made.
- selection applications – methodology for robot cell technical and economic parameters selection. Configuration software for selection.
Advanced manufacturing technologies the following subtopics will be investigated and results implemented into production:
- The successful implementation of the flexible production framework in partner companies
- The completed flexible testing platform for structural components.
SDA 2 sub-projects:
Project 2.2 – Complex automation of assembly processes of different products