Introduction of the Robot Assisted Assembly System

2017. 1.7
The Robot Assisted Assembly Station (RAAS) to be built in NIMAK is a
machine assembly production unit with machine as the main production tools. The
assembly objects are grabbed by the robot arm, move to the assembly station with the
optimum position and orientation, and assembled by the workers. Each RAAS may
take certain assembly work of a welding gun. Several RAASs will be built to
compose a welding gun assembly system (line) performing all the assembly work.
According to the characteristics of the robot arm, the assembly line is arranged
in a fan shape and composed of several assembly stations. The assembly processes of
different sub-assemblies are completed in these stations in order to facilitate logistics
preparation, as shown in the following figure. During assembly, the workers follow
assembly movement, and an assembly system has only one set of workers following
the assembly, called "Assembly Island".

Illustrative diagram of a RAAS

The basic assembly process planning study issues:

1. Design of the assembly process, assembly parts of each assembly station, the
position and orientation of the parts during assembly (can be transformed in a station),
assembly material list;
2. Assembly tools and its place according to certain station;
3. Design of the assembly fixture and tool.

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 This part of assembly process design work is now under development by a group
of students from BIT. One RAAS is expected to be built by the end of Feb, 2017.

The extended research topics proposed for graduate students:

1. Assembly simulation and assembly process (workstation) division and equalization
(optimization);
2. Design of the assembly robot control system;
3. Management of the assembly logistics and design of the control system;
4. Methods for assembly process quality assurance;
5. Management of enterprise assembly planning and research on the key technologies
of assembly (manufacturing) execution integration system.