Abstract
Today’s production companies are challenged with: the assembly of different product variants with lot size of one on a single assembly line and the increase of product variants. The implementation of reconfigurable assembly systems with a modular design is a solution, which allows a flexible adaptation to different product variants. However, handling different assembly modules via specific communication protocols is limited by the current centralized control concepts. Therefore, this paper presents a concept for an agent-based control architecture. This concept uses coherent information starting from the planning process of the assembly system until the system is put into operation allowing a decentralized control. The decentralized agents in each station act as mediators between the modules and the assembly memory database enabling the product autonomous control throughout the assembly system. Moreover, the agent manages the data transfer for the modules with different specific syntaxes via respective communication protocols since a standardized communication protocol does not exist in industry. The concept is verified in a test assembly line for the production of small electronic components.
Highlights
Nowadays production companies are facing a growing number of product variants, which need to be assembled while batch sizes and product life cycles are continuously decreasing [1]
Due to the growing complexity in handling communication protocols between different modules, this paper presents and implements the concept of an agent-based control system for a cyber-physical assembly system into a demonstrator assembly line
The reconfigurable assembly systems (RAS) is developed by assembly planners who are analyzing the structure of the product, the assembly operations and the required assembly modules [9]
Summary
Nowadays production companies are facing a growing number of product variants, which need to be assembled while batch sizes and product life cycles are continuously decreasing [1]. Multi-variant lines enable the assembly of several product variants on the same assembly line These cyber-physical systems consist of several modules known as intelligent embedded systems, which sense their environment by sensors and interact with the environment via actuators [2]. The modules of these systems can be reconfigured depending on the products that need to be assembled. This flexibility results in an increasing complexity in the planning process, especially in developing the control of the system. The approach allows triggering different modules based on the product requirements, which are received from the database based on the identified product
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