Product Assembly Design Research Articles

Digital twin-based smart assembly process design and application framework for complex products and its case study

With rapid advances in new generation information technologies, digital twin (DT), and cyber-physical system, smart assembly has become a core focus for intelligent manufacturing in the fourth industrial evolution. Deep integration between information and physical worlds is a key phase to develop smart assembly process design that bridge the gap between product assembly design and manufacturing. This paper presents a digital twin reference model for smart assembly process design, and proposes an application framework for DT-based smart assembly with three layers. Product assembly station components are detailed in the physical space layer; two main modules, communication connection and data processing, are introduced in the interaction layer; and we discuss working mechanisms of assembly process planning, simulation, predication, and control management in the virtual space layer in detail. A case study shows the proposed approach application for an experimental simplified satellite assembly case using the DT-based assembly application system (DT-AAS) to verify the proposed application framework and method effectiveness.

Application of Fuzzy Theory to the Evaluation Model of Product Assembly Design and Usability Operation Complexity

In order to make people’s lives more convenient and enhance living standards, the composition of a product usually includes more than one component. However, a product is created by the joint endeavor of people from various territories and therefore one of the important considerations is making a product merge into consumers’ daily lives rather than simply fulfilling its functions. There might be conflicts with people’s existing life patterns or existing values, which should be taken into consideration during the manufacturing process. This study is an investigation of the process of assembly by considering the assembly operations and the assembly operating time. By determining the relationship between components, the assembly concept of most components was analyzed. A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation was carried out during the evaluation of the degree of complexity of user operations. Depending on the ranking of membership, the most appropriate assembly was determined and this serves as a reference for designers to select the optimal product assembly. By recording the consumer usage models, the optimal assembly and usage model of product design were also proposed. The goal of this study is to find the balance between assembly evaluation and user usage model by the process in order to allow designers to determine the new assembly concepts that meet consumer usage models. A case study of four bedside stereos was carried out by implementing the proposed approach in order to determine the evaluation principle of assembly. The purpose of this is to enhance the balance between assembly design and user operation complexity for making efficient decisions. A product design can comply with the spirit of concurrent engineering and the quality of a product design can be enhanced.

Intelligent Analysis Method of Assembly Process Based on Semantic Elements

The assembly process file is a direct expression of the product assembly design intent. In order to improve the quality and efficiency of the assembly, the 3D model of the product and resources needs to be introduced into the virtual assembly environment. However, the assembly process is verified and optimized by assembly simulation. In order to realize the intelligent analysis of assembly process files and the automation of assembly simulation, an intelligent analysis method of assembly process based on semantic elements is proposed. This article takes the assembly process documentation of complex products as the research object. An improved TF-IDF algorithm is proposed to automatically extract key semantic elements in the assembly process file. We quickly resolve previous assembly process data by building assembly key semantic corpora. An assembly semantic dependency tree algorithm based on maximum entropy is proposed to automatically reason the logical relationship of each assembly phrase in the assembly process statement. According to the above algorithm, the assembly semantic intelligent analysis system is developed. The assembly process of a certain type of ground weapon system is taken as an example to verify the system. And the intelligent analysis of the product process file is realized which lays a foundation for realizing the semantic driving of product assembly simulation.

Modeling for assembly simulations: Data description and a data-driven construction framework

Assembly simulations such as assembly process simulation and assembly tolerance simulation have become an effective means to evaluate and analyze product assembly design and assembly process planning. Being core aspect of simulation implementation, building an assembly simulation model is rather time-consuming because of its high complexity. Furthermore, modeling has a significant influence on the popularization and application of simulation technology. In this paper, data needed by assembly process and tolerance simulation are addressed to propose a data-driven approach for assembly simulation modeling. The application process and the architecture of modeling framework for assembly simulation are presented as well. An assembly sequence simulation example is given to illustrate the application of the framework. The framework provides a new idea for the realization of automatic modeling for assembly simulation.

Optimized Assembly Design for Resource Efficient Production in a Multiproduct Manufacturing System

Resource efficiency is one of the greatest challenges for sustainable manufacturing. Material flow in manufacturing systems directly influences resource efficiency, financial cost and environmental impact. A framework for material flow assessment in manufacturing systems (MFAM) was applied to a complex multi-product manufacturing case study. This supported the identification of options to alter material flow through changes to the product assembly design, to improve overall resource efficiency through eliminating resource intensive changeovers. Alternative assembly designs were examined using a combination of intelligent computation techniques: k-means clustering, genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm. This provided recommendations balancing improvement potential with extent of process modification impact.

Virtual Reality and Haptics for Product Assembly

Haptics can significantly enhance the user's sense of immersion and interactivity. An industrial application of virtual reality and haptics for product assembly is described in this paper, which provides a new and low-cost approach for product assembly design, assembly task planning and assembly operation training. A demonstration of the system with haptics device interaction was available at the session of exp.at'11.

Efficient method of assembly sequence planning based on GAAA and optimizing by assembly path feedback for complex product

In the process of complex product assembly, assembly resources (fixtures, tools, operations, and so on) must enter assembly environment with parts together to rapidly finish product assembly. Assembly planning must take assembly resources into account fully. But, designer cannot plan every assembly procedure because of the lack of assembly resources during assembly design. Then, it will cause assembly failures and redesign for assembly easily. This paper investigates an efficient method of assembly sequence planning based on genetic algorithm and ants algorithm (GAAA) and optimizing by assembly path feedback to assembly process planning including assembly resources for complex products. Firstly, a new GAAA is investigated to rapidly plan assembly sequence in order to solve the nondeterministic polynomial-bounded problem in high searching and solving efficiency. Secondly, on the basis of the assembly sequence, a B-Rep filling algorithm which can form a swept volume between the part and its kinetic orientation is developed to plan assembly path interactively. Thirdly, the performance of the assembly path according to the assembly sequence is analyzed and sent back to avoid the most of assembly collisions and interventions during product assembly design. Lastly, we develop a simulating system to simulate assembly sequence and path based on component application architecture for CATIA V5. The simulating result proved that the proposed method of assembly sequence planning based on GAAA and optimizing by assembly path feedback for complex products is efficient. Assembly optimal design including assembly resources can work well.

Collaborative virtual prototyping of product assemblies over the Internet

Product assembly design is a complex activity involving collaboration between several designers. Currently, many manufacturing firms out source the design and development of different portions of a product to different suppliers. Due to the absence of an integrated tool for collaborative product assembly design, designers currently follow an indirect approach. This makes collaboration an unorganized and inefficient activity. This paper discusses the architectural novelties and design considerations utilized to develop an integrated collaborative assembly design tool. Further, the scenarios of using such a tool are discussed in detail. This discussion highlights how the tool contributes towards making collaboration an organized and efficient activity and enables designers to rapidly design and prototype the product assembly.

An automatic assembly liaison extraction method and assembly liaison model

Assembly sequence generation requires information on both the part liaison relationships and precedence- constraints. This paper describes an algorithm developed to identify the part liaison relationships of a product assembly design, presented in the commercial package, I-DEAS. The algorithm is intended to support the automatic extraction of liaison precedence constraints and the automatic generation of liaison establishment sequences.