Virtual Prototyping of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

今天的制造业组织面临着一个新的竞争格局。由于市场需求的频繁变化，包括汽车产品在内的许多批量生产产品的生命周期正在不断缩短。通过灵活的流程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）的概念是这方面的最新进展。RMS旨在通过布局和设备重新配置来快速调整生产能力和功能，以响应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）的概念化和原型设计，以及(4)用于加工圆柱形和棱形零件家族的可重构夹具的模块化设计。对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，这通常导致测试RMS/RMT的各种技术支持的机会不足。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原型软件。方法是在RMS/RMT的设计和分析中，利用该软件的虚拟现实引擎能够制定刚体物理定律，并提供几种标准机电设备的虚拟模型。模拟硬件可以通过使用虚拟传感器和执行器来控制，就像它们存在于物理原型中一样。在提出的RMS/RMT可重构监控逻辑研究中将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.