Flexible Manufacturing by Application of RFID and Sensors in Robot Cell Manufacturing Systems

Cell production in which only a few human operators manufacture products by themselves is popular in Japan due to its flexibility. However, the decrease in the number of young persons in developed countries will make it difficult to do in the near future. Therefore, cell production using robots is going to be needed. A cell production system using a robot and automatic machines having special functions is developed. The robot transfers parts and tools for the automatic machines. A RFID is attached to each part, and the quick change in the functions of the automatic machines is executed as the kinds of products change. Adaptive tool setup scheduling for the change in operation times of the special function machines is executed and the improvement of product efficiency is analyzed. Many vision sensors are used for the adjustment of the position and orientation of the robot hand and parts, and distributed image processing for the hand and parts make rapid motion adjustment possible.