A control theoretical modelling for velocity tuning of the conveyor belt in a dynamic mixed-model assembly line

Abstract

This paper proposes a control theoretical modelling to study dynamic behaviour of a mixed-model assembly line. First, an open-loop model is developed for the system, then examined via different conveyor’s velocity values. It is realised that the performance of the system is very sensitive to the velocity; therefore, a closed-loop (CL) model is developed taking feedback from the system. By the use of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and SIMULINK, some interesting results are obtained applying CL model: regardless of the sequence of the products in the line, the total work-overload and idleness always equals to zero. Moreover, less working area within the workstation is required. Based on the statistical analysis, it is found that no significant increase in makespan is imposed by CL model. It is also shown that PID controller is robust not only to the disturbances of the velocity, also to the uncertainties in the assembly operation times. These results are supported by many numerical experiments dealing with different test problems, line configurations and sequences. Finally, using a discrete event simulation model, the proposed approach is applied into a seru production mode. Simulation results show that the feedback PID controller can deal with real-world assembly line problems, successfully.