A reconfigurable robot workcell for quick set-up of assembly processes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a highly reconfigurable robot workcell designed for quick setup of automated assembly processes, aiming to make automation feasible for SMEs with low batch production needs.

Contribution

It presents a novel reconfigurable hardware and software system combined with fast robot programming techniques to enable rapid setup of flexible automation in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Findings

Achieved high reconfigurability through new hardware and software.

Enabled fast robot programming for quick setup.

Facilitated automation in SMEs with low batch production.

Abstract

High volume production has been a prerequisite in order to invest into automation of the manufacturing process for decades. The high cost of setup and the inflexibility of classical automation meant that low batch productions, often present in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), were dismissed as potential end user of automation technologies. In this extended abstract we present the results of the ReconCell project whose objective was to develop a new type of highly reconfigurable robot workcell for fast set-up of automated assembly processes in SMEs. The high degree of reconfigurability was achieved by the developed reconfigurable hardware and the complementary reconfigurable software, while fast set-up was achieved with technologies for fast robot programming.