Virtual Prototyping of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

当今的制造业组织面临着新的竞争格局。由于市场需求的频繁变化，许多大规模生产的产品（包括汽车产品）的生命周期不断缩短。能够通过灵活的工艺以合理的低成本生产定制产品的制造系统至关重要。可重构制造系统（RMS）的概念是最近在这方面取得的进展。RMS旨在通过布局和设备重新配置快速调整生产能力和功能，以应对新的市场条件和新的工艺技术。本研究的重点是：（1）RMS系统设计和操作控制的集成方法，（2）RMS的可重构监控逻辑，（3）可重构机床（RMT）的概念化和原型化，（4）可重构夹具的模块化设计，用于加工圆柱和棱柱类零件。RMS/RMT的研究通常涉及物理原型，以验证硬件和软件组件之间的交互。然而，物理原型是昂贵和耗时的，这往往导致测试RMS/RMT的各种技术使能因素的机会不足。在本研究中，为了改善这种情况，我们计划使用最先进的虚拟样机软件。该方法是使用虚拟现实引擎的软件能够制定刚体物理定律，并提供虚拟模型的几个标准的机电一体化设备的RMS/RMT的设计和分析。模拟硬件可以通过使用虚拟传感器和执行器来控制，因为它们将存在于物理原型中。在RMS/RMT可重构监控逻辑的研究中开发的各种算法可以虚拟验证。

Today's manufacturing organizations face a new competitive landscape. The life-cycles of many mass-produced products, including automotive products, are constantly shortening due to frequently changing market demands. Manufacturing systems that provide the ability to produce customized products through flexible processes at reasonably low costs are of vital importance. The concept of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) is a recent advance in this regard. RMS is designed for rapid adjustment of production capacity and functionality through layout and equipment reconfiguration in response to new market conditions and new process technology. This research is focused on (1) an integrated approach in systems design and operations control of RMS, (2) reconfigurable supervisory control logic for RMS, (3) the conceptualization and prototyping of Reconfigurable Machine Tools (RMT), and (4) modular design of reconfigurable fixture for machining cylindrical and prismatic part families. Research on RMS/RMT typically involves physical prototypes to validate the interactions between hardware and software components. However, physical prototyping is expensive and time consuming, which often leads to insufficient opportunities for testing various technological enablers of RMS/RMT. In this research, to improve this situation, we plan to use the state of the art virtual prototyping software. The approach is to use the virtual reality engine of such software capable of enacting the laws of rigid body physics and providing virtual models of several standard mechatronic devices in the design and analysis of RMS/RMT. The simulated hardware can be controlled by using virtual sensors and actuators as they would be present in a physical prototype. The various algorithms that will be developed in the proposed research for reconfigurable supervisory control logic for RMS/RMT can be virtually validated.