PFI:BIC: Smart Factories -An Intelligent Material Delivery System to Improve Human-Robot Workflow and Productivity in Assembly Manufacturing

制造业占美国所有就业岗位的四分之一。为了重新安置工作岗位，改善运营，招募、留住和再培训熟练工人，公司越来越多地使用机器人技术。理想情况下，机器人不会取代人类，而是与人类合作提高生产率。然而，大多数工业机器人与人类工作流程的整合很差，导致了昂贵的停工问题（每小时170万美元）、工人压力和人才流失。该项目的研究目标是通过设计新颖的方法来解决这一问题，通过使用智能材料输送系统（IMDS）来改善装配制造中的人机工作流程和生产力，该系统将与人工工作过程紧密结合并提供支持。该项目将研究这一研究领域的创新、多学科方法，极大地推进智能制造和以人为本的机器人技术的最新发展。研究团队将为以人为本的智能服务系统做出以下贡献：1)彻底改变机器人在装配制造过程中的使用，以密切支持熟练的人类工人，使他们能够专注于他们重视的任务（他们的贸易），而不是分散他们才能的任务（材料移动）。2)通过灵活、实时调度的IMDS系统，动态地整合人类工作流程的实时模型，显著提高工厂的生产力和灵活性。3)从员工的认知、疲劳、影响和工作满意度等方面，深入探讨在工作场所安装IMDS系统的社会技术影响。该项目的方法与行业最先进的技术形成了直接对比，后者依赖于严格的人力和机器人工作的分岔，以及严格的交付时间表，无法考虑到当地的修剪线变化。通过将IMDS紧密集成到手工工作过程中，并了解工人和材料状态，该项目将很容易实现人力资源的灵活性和可重构性，这在按订单、小批量制造环境中是绝对必要的。该项目将通过使用自动化直接支持有才能、熟练的劳动力，帮助美国制造业大幅改善运营。它有可能影响美国所有主要制造业，包括汽车、建筑、医疗保健、能源和商品。它将帮助美国公司将业务转移到海外，并为美国工人获得STEM技能创造新的机会。此外，该项目还详细调查了使用机器人从传统到智能材料交付过渡的多个人类工人的影响。通过了解对这种变化的反应，人们将对如何优化系统有新的认识，不仅是为了工作流程和任务效率，而且是为了人类的体验。这些知识对于维持工作满意度、安全和健康以及人类劳动力的长期福祉至关重要。牵头机构是圣母大学计算机科学与工程系，与麻省理工学院航空航天系（Cambridge， MA）和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校土木、环境和建筑工程系（Boulder， CA）合作。主要的工业合作伙伴是Steelcase， Inc.（密歇根州大急流城），这是一家专门从事可定制，按订单制作家具的大型制造商。该提案由计算机和信息科学与工程理事会（CISE），信息和智能系统部门（IIS）以及计算机和网络系统部门（CNS）共同资助。

Manufacturing represents a quarter of all employment in the US. To reshore jobs, improve operations, and recruit, retain, and retrain skilled workers, companies are increasingly using robotics technology. Ideally, robots will not replace humans but team with them to improve productivity. However, most industrial robots are poorly integrated into human workflow, causing expensive work stoppage problems ($1.7M per hour), worker stress, and talent loss. The research goal of this project is to address this problem by designing novel methods to improve human-robot workflow and productivity in assembly manufacturing through the use of an intelligent material delivery system (IMDS), which will closely integrate with and support the manual work process. This project will investigate innovative, multi-disciplinary approaches to this research area, dramatically advancing the state-of-the art in smart manufacturing and human-centered robotics. The research team will make the following contributions to human-centered smart service systems: 1) Revolutionize the use of robotics in assembly manufacturing processes to closely support skilled human workers, enabling them to focus on tasks they value (their trade) as opposed to tasks that distract from their talent (material movement). 2) Dramatically improve the productivity and flexibility of factories through nimble, real-time scheduling of an IMDS system that dynamically incorporates real-time models of human workflow. 3) Deeply explore the socio-technical implications of having an IMDS system in the workplace, in terms of human workers' cognition, fatigue, affect, and job satisfaction. The project's approach serves as a direct contrast to industry state-of-the-art, which relies on strict bifurcation of human and robot work, and rigid delivery schedules that fail to take local trim-line variations into account. By closely integrating an IMDS into the manual work process and understanding worker and material status, the project will readily enable flexibility and reconfigurability of a human workforce, an absolute necessity in made-to-order, small-batch manufacturing settings. This project will help the US manufacturing sector dramatically improve their operations by using automation to directly support a talented, skilled workforce. It has the potential to impact all major US manufacturing sectors, including automotive, construction, healthcare, energy, and goods. It will help US companies reshore operations, as well as create new opportunities for US worker STEM skill acquisition. Furthermore, this project involves a detailed investigation of multiple human worker implications of the transition from traditional to intelligent material delivery using robotics. By understanding reactions to such change, there will be new understanding on how to optimize a system not only for workflow and task efficiency but also for the human experience. Such knowledge is critical to maintaining job satisfaction, safety and health, and long-term well-being of the human workforce.The lead institution is the University of Notre Dame, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics (Cambridge, MA) and University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering (Boulder, CA). The primary industrial partner is Steelcase, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI), a large manufacturer that specializes in customizable, made-to-order furniture.This proposal is co-funded by The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Divisions of Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) and Computer and Network Systems (CNS)