Industrial Robotics: Design Challenges & Applications

2. Project Overview • Introduction to Factory Automation Numerical Control • Build an autonomous robotic solution • Testing an autonomous robot build by human control • Programming a autonomous robot • Exploring sensors • Autonomous robot design challenge • Autonomous robot design challenge • Industrial applications build challenge • Industrial applications build challenge • Industrial applications build challenge • Industrial applications robot delivery • Manufacturing system design challenge

3. LESSON 08

4. LESSON 8 STARTER Learning objective: Analyse the challenge of an industrial process to identify the task and the constraints, begin to formulate a design solution that will meet the industrial challenge, and develop initial ideas. What happens when robots are built into a system?Individual static robots will function and perform a task from an autonomous position much easier than a robot that is moving around, as its environment does not change. A mobile robot needs to be able to acknowledge and interpret its ever changing position in relation to its surroundings.When you put robots into a system, engineers might consider that the robot is now in an ever changing environment, as robots move around other robots. But in reality there is no change to the way the robot is designed nor programmed. Why? Because the robots are now part of a system, but designed and programmed so that they cannot collide. They will be “blind” to one another (i.e. they will not be using sensors to work out the others location), but they will be designed so that they will work in spaces the other is not.

5. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps What are the pro’s and con’s of such a system for manufacture?Consider the situation. You are setting up a manufacturing plant for car engines. The engines can be built by hand, by robot with human support, or by robotic system no human intervention. What are the issues and benefits for such a venture?

6. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Select an industry from the engineering sectors belowTo begin with, you are going to research into an engineering industry of your choice. You will need to find out what that industry makes, how it is made, and consider what product and system you are going to recreate using VEX equipment. TaskSelect an industry from this list and research what it makes/does and how it does it. Automotive, Packaging, Food Production, Consumer Products, Aviation, Recycling, Energy. For example…The automotive industryManufactures vehiclesParts are sub assembled and then passed to a mainassembly, where they are mechanically joined orwelded to the main frame.Products are heavy and complex in their assembly

7. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Present back your industryIn your teams, prepare a short presentation about the industry you have researched, and outline the following facts: - This industry makes… - Companies that work in this industry include… - These companies make… - We are going to create a manufacturing system for a … - We are going to show how the system will… The Energy Industry Companies like: This company stores and distributes energy across the UK and in and out of the UK.They use robots to maintain pipes and along electricity lines to check connections.

8. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps JIT – Just In TimeThere are many manufacturing approaches and strategies that look for efficiency without compromise of quality to the finished product. JIT, or Just In Time, is one such strategy. DefinitionJust In Time is a manufacturing system in which the materials, components and consumables are delivered to the point on the production line at the moment they are required to be there. This minimises storage costs associated with the production of a multi part product.The features of this system are that it makes a company highly competitive and agile. It can change, increase and decrease production, adapt and improve products, and focus on individual stages of the production line for greater cost saving and performance. In order for this system to work, there needs to be a very organised approach employed throughout. Robotics, programming and the automation (linked to sensors feeding live progress information back into the operation) means that JIT is ideally suited to a robotics led production line and modern manufacture. Task: Discuss how this could impact on the design of your industrial design system.

9. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps KaizenCountries beyond our own have excelled at mastering mass and continuous production of products for the consumer market. Japan is a leader in the world economy partly because of Kaizen. DefinitionKaizen means continuous improvement, linked to the words change, correct and good. For a business, Kaizen is about improving everything within a business. Changes are only small but they happen regularly. The philosophy says that “If it isn’t broken, make it better, improve it, because if we don’t, we cannot compete with those who do”.As you prototype your industrial system, you task is to use Kaizen in all aspects of your work. From the moment you begin the lesson, to how you divide up the tasks to be done within your team, to how you build your robot solution, to the way you test it, to the way you clear up the workshop and leave the lesson.Task: Begin a diary for your project, the diary is going to record the following information.- what each person is doing - what small changes each person could make to improve the efficiency of the team- what the team could do collectively different to improve the approach A great example of Kaizen in modern design and engineering are companies who focus on iteration in the design process, whereby they constantly prototype and improve a product by repeating stages moving towards a desired goal.

10. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Plan to an industry standardThe shared document titled “FANUC Design Sample” provides you with a real insight into the level of detail and technical planning FANUC would go into to design the layout of a robotics system. Quick Task:Open the document, and individually, zoom in and identify the elements that make the drawing up. Can you identify:- the robots- the conveyor belts- each robots operational space- storage bays- manufacturing machines

11. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Identify your product/production line processHaving researched your industry, considered how modern manufacturing works, and having developed some experience of building a robotic solution to carry out a task, you are now challenged with identifying what your major project build will do. Consider your industry and what they make- state what your robotic system will do (build, dismantle, sort, etc)E.g.You could create a system that organises and sorts waste into recyclable sub collections. You could plan to use magnets to pick up ferrous metal waste, a water tank to separate dense and aerated materials, and a sensor to sort different materials on a conveyor belt.

12. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Example Production lineFor this example, you can see a car production line from the Automotive industry. The product is a car but for your lesson activity would be a model or toy car. The production line will move the vehicle along a production conveyor, and attach wheels to the car, then spray paint it the appropriate colour before it moves to a loading vehicle for delivery to the customer/retail outlet. Wheels Car frame Shipping Paint

13. autonomous Robotics Industrial Apps Model your systemUsing 2D graphics (birds eye view, symbol based images), create your production system. You should create each part using simple symbols using desk top publishing software (or the handout provided), and cut and move these on the workbench as you see fit to test and plan your production line. PLAN A PLAN B

14. LESSON 8 Plenart As a class, let us consider the following questions?A. Why are design briefs for industry very technical?B. What makes an industrial challenge different from an aesthetically focused design brief?C. Why does it not matter how your robot looks?D. Where can you find inspiration for designing an industrial robot?

15. LESSON 8 Summary Learning objective: Analyse the challenge of an industrial process to identify the task and the constraints, begin to formulate a design solution that will meet the industrial challenge, and develop initial ideas. • Today you have: • Analysed a design brief and challenge • Formulated design solutions that will meet the challenge • Developed initial ideas through sketches