A Mechatronic System Architecture for the development of Flexible Materials Handling Systems

Mass production of customized products requires materials handling architectures to be flexible enough to accommodate varying geometries, masses and volumes of materials. Multi-agent control and coordination structures are under development to provide flexible and scalable transportation systems. In this paper the concept of Mechatronics has been used to develop a Flexible Materials Handling architecture to aid the development of mass customization during product manufacture. Materials handling was provided by the cooperation of multiple differential drive platforms fitted with servo operated and articulated conveyors.