Efficient commissioning of cooperating assembly-robots enabled by Indoor-GPS

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Robert Heinrich Schmitt
• Subject Area: Production Automation and Assembly Technology
• Term: from 2010 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 182894942

The research project aims to facilitate the commissioning of Indoor-GPS enabled cooperating assembly robots. During the projects initial two year research period, the Indoor-GPS was integrated into the simulation environment and an Indoor-GPS based robot position control system was implemented. The second research period builds upon the previous results to develop new methods for the use of Indoor-GPS system to further streamline the commissioning process. Monitoring the line of sight needs to be used to verify the metrological capability. Modeling measurement uncertainty in early planning phases before commissioning the real system decreases the effort spent on commissioning. Achieving these objectives requires addressing the following areas of action: Based on a new developed method of an dynamic tolerance-chain-analysis the assembly system performance can be compared and verified to the assembly-process-requirements A new description-language for movement requirements of assembly processes will be developed. For integrating the Indoor-GPS into the tolerance chain analysis the uncertainty must be modeled. The information out of this model provides a basis to estimate the best possible configuration of the Indoor-GPS incl. the assembly station setup on a self optimization strategy. An additional aim is the compensation of the deformation of elastic components because of gravitation and process forces. This is performed by a model of the behavior of the components. The model is described mathematically and filled with information of a force and torque measurement which record the specific forces. The dynamic tolerance chain analysis is a tool that integrates the individual models into a single system for the application of methods of self-optimization. This enables the design and the qualitative evaluation of an effective commissioning and reconfiguration of complex assembly systems during an early planning phase. This action allow the construction of a robot-based coordinate measuring device and the controlled assembly of elastic components.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants