JP6628936B2 - Design information generation device and design support system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a design information generation device and a design support system used for designing a production system.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses an assembly order generation device that automatically generates a highly workable procedure from a 3D CAD (3 Dimensional Computer Aided Design) model for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of a production system.

JP 2015-171736 A

  However, according to the above-described conventional technique, the assembling sequence and the assembling direction can only be designed. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain a highly efficient production system as a whole.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a design information generation device capable of obtaining a highly efficient production system including processes other than the assembly process.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a design information generating apparatus that generates process design information of a production system that processes a target part to produce a product, the geometric information of the product being provided. A required operation information generating unit that generates required operation information indicating an operation performed on the target component to reach a target state based on the assembly information and the work process information; and the geometric information, the assembly information, and the A work constraint generating unit that determines at least one constraint condition of the position or the acting force of the target component based on work process information and generates work constraint information; and the required operation information, the work constraint information, and the work. Based on the subject information, a plurality of work subjects that satisfy both the required operation capability for realizing the necessary operation information and the constraint condition are selected, and the selected plurality of work subjects are selected. A working entity selection unit for generating process design information including broadcast, based on the process design information, and an evaluation unit for outputting the evaluation information including the information of the evaluation of the time for the plurality of work entities subject process The operating subject selecting unit reselects an operating subject based on the evaluation information and a request for user information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, there exists an effect that a highly efficient production system including processes other than an assembly process can be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a design support system including a design information generation device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first example of a working time when performing an assembling process and an inspecting process on a work target in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of the operation time when performing the assembling process and the inspection process on the work target in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third example of the operation time when performing the assembly process and the inspection process on the work target in the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a design information generation device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a first configuration example of a design information generation device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the design information generation device according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows the standard work time production | generation part which produces | generates standard work time information in Embodiment 2. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information sharing model according to the second embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a first configuration example of a design information generation device according to a third embodiment. The figure which shows the standard work time update part in Embodiment 3. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the design information generation device according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a design information generation device and a design support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited by the embodiment.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a design support system including a design information generation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The design support system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a display device 1 and a design information generation device 2. The work information 101, the geometric information 102, and the assembly information 103, which are input information, are input to the design information generating device 2. The design information generating device 2 outputs design information 104, which is output information.

  The work process information 101 is information including a target value related to an operation required for a target component such as assembly and inspection and an operation completion determination. The geometric information 102 is product design information indicating a final geometric constraint condition and positional relationship between parts. The assembly information 103 defines the relative positional relationship between the components, and is the transition information of the components from when they are assembled to the final positional relationship.

  The input information input to the design information generating device 2 is stored in an external database. Then, the design information generation device 2 acquires input information from the external database as needed. The external database that stores the input information may be collectively stored in a storage device, or may be a cloud-type database using a cloud.

  The design information generation device 2 selects a work subject from the input information based on the work subject information registered in advance, and outputs the design information 104. The display device 1 to which the design information 104 has been input displays the selected work subject. The user who refers to the display device 1 can know the work subject selected in the design information generation device 2. The display device 1 can be exemplified by a monitor of a PC (Personal Computer) and a display unit of an FA (Factory Automation) device.

  In the design information generation device 2, whether or not each process of the work process information 101 is executable by the work subject is determined, and a work subject suitable for each process is selected. Here, the work subject refers to a means for executing the work of each process of the work process information 101, and the work subject can be exemplified by a worker who is a human, and a dedicated machine and a general-purpose machine which are mechanical devices. In the design information generation device 2, the worker is treated as a person to be arranged without being distinguished by the skill level. However, when it is necessary to consider the abilities of each worker in designing each process of the work process information 101, it is determined whether each process can be executed based on the quantified abilities of each worker. May be done.

  Note that the dedicated machine is a device that is individually designed for a specific purpose, and has specific dimensions to automate each process such as an inspection process, a transport process, a processing process, and a screw tightening process. It is a device that is difficult to divert for the purpose of. The general-purpose machine is a device that can be used for other purposes by exchanging internal programs or tooling, and examples of the general-purpose machine include an industrial robot or an NC (Numerical Control) machine.

  Here, as a premise of the present embodiment, a problem in a production system design and definition of terms will be described. First, required design information in the production system design will be described. When designing a production system for a product, the order and workability of the assembly work, which are determined based on geometric information such as 3D CAD design information, are important for efficient production of the product. The design of the whole production system is not determined only by the order and workability. The activities of the production equipment that make up the production system include operations other than assembly, and unless consideration is given to operations other than assembly, it is not possible to design an efficient production system and efficient production of products Have difficulty.

  In the production of products, operations other than assembly include finishing, surface treatment, soldering, inspection processes, transport of work in process, and buffering of work in process. In the design of the production system, these operations are arranged so as to be resistant to production fluctuations and prevent a decrease in efficiency, and furthermore, equipment design is also performed. According to JIS Z 8206, processes are classified into processing, inspection, transportation, and stagnation. The processing includes processes such as component assembling, cutting and polishing, and assembling of components such as screws or connectors, and is a process in which an added value is generated through the process. The inspection is a step of confirming whether or not the target performance and the target state are achieved. The transport is a process of changing the position and orientation of the target component when moving from the previous process to the next process. Stagnation is a process in which time elapses without changing the state of the target component. Note that the buffer process, which is a process in which the target component is left on the spot for a time intentionally designed as a work-in-progress and absorbs the entire fluctuation, is an example of stagnation. In addition, a state in which the target work-in-process remains at the worker or the mechanical device and cannot be transported to the next process is also included in the stagnation.

  In the following description, the work process is not limited to the assembly work, but also includes the processes belonging to the inspection, transportation, and stagnation of JIS Z 8206. In general, in designing a production system, it is preferable to minimize processes other than processing, that is, inspection, transportation, and stagnation as much as possible.

  In addition, there is an auxiliary work process similar to the work process that is not directly involved in the operation of the target component or work in process. The accompanying work process includes an operation for preparing a tool, including tooling exchange, and an input operation for recording necessary information. Note that the accompanying work process is handled separately from the work process.

  Here, first, a description will be given of a case where the process is designed in consideration of only the assembly in the processing. If the execution of one assembly step requires a great deal of time, it should be considered to automate a plurality of repetition steps at the same time. Specifically, when the screw tightening directions are the same and the dimensions of the screws are all the same, the installation of a screw tightening machine that automatically executes a plurality of screw tightenings at once should be considered. However, the installation of a dedicated screw tightening machine alone does not take into account the time before and after the screw tightening, that is, the time to put the parts to be screwed into the equipment and the time to remove the parts from the equipment. There is room for improvement to meet specifications.

  Next, a case of designing in consideration of work other than the assembly will be described. When considering the assembling direction and workability of the assembling work, 3D CAD and CAE (Computer Aided) are used for the unification of the assembling directions and the feasibility of rotation and transport based on the geometrical relationship between the parts during assembling. Engineering). On the other hand, in a design that considers work other than assembly, consideration should be given to execution of inspection processes such as visual inspection or performance evaluation inspection, transportation of parts to the inspection execution environment or the start position of the inspection equipment, transportation to the work in process box, etc. Then, a series of work processes necessary for product completion are examined, and necessary equipment and jigs are designed.

  Next, a case will be described in which, after the design is completed, workers are allocated to a series of work steps necessary for completing a product and production is actually started. If there is almost no delay before and after in each work process and a work-in-progress is produced from each process, it is possible to draw out ideal production performance without stopping the operator's hand. However, in practice, the tact time of each worker varies, and if the buffer design is not appropriate, a waiting time occurs in one of the steps, and the production tact time increases. In addition, focusing on each worker, if a delay occurs in a process before or after the process, the hand of the worker may be temporarily stopped. In this way, in the actual process, the ideal production performance cannot be brought out, and the production efficiency often decreases. Usually, a production technician designs a process so that a worker's hand does not stop, but is a worker when performing production while frequently switching different types on the same production line, or by shortening a required tact time. When production is performed by a production system in which human work has been rationalized, the production efficiency may not be stable depending on the concentration, physical condition, and the like of a worker who is an operator.

  Hereinafter, a specific example in which a waiting time occurs due to the relationship between the time of the work process and the preceding and following processes will be described. Before and after a long process, work processes may be parallelized, or work processes may be assigned to a plurality of individuals or a plurality of parts for one work subject. In other words, by preparing a plurality of working subjects in a process that takes a long time, for example, by preparing two working subjects, the working time can be halved to reduce the stagnation time, and the waiting time of the working subject requires another working process. Assignment is performed and multiple processes are performed simultaneously. However, when the operation cannot be immediately rounded up by performing another process while waiting for the completion of a process that takes a long time, the stagnation time of the process that is a bottleneck may be increased.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first example of operation time when performing an assembly process and an inspection process on a work object. In FIG. 2, the time related to the product A to be worked is shown in the upper diagram, and the time related to the work subject is shown in the lower diagram. In FIG. 2, the inspection is performed after the assembly A, and then the assembly B is performed. The transfer operation corresponding to the transportation is also included in the operation time. Here, for the sake of simplicity, a case where the transfer operation occurs only between each of the assembly A, B and inspection processes will be exemplified. In FIG. 2, the first working body is responsible for assembly A and B, and the second and third working bodies are responsible for inspection, but the inspection process is long, and this time is a bottleneck. Here, for example, it is assumed that the first work subject is a worker who is a human, and the second and third work subjects are dedicated machines. At this time, the goal should be to minimize the stagnation of the work object before and after the inspection process, which is a bottleneck. However, in FIG. 2, since the first worker who is the operator waits for completion of the inspection process, The first working subject, which is the worker, has a stagnation time.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second example of the operation time when the assembly process and the inspection process are performed on the operation target. In FIG. 3, the first worker, who is the worker, continuously performs the assembly A on the products A of the product numbers (1) to (3) to be worked, without waiting for the completion of the inspection process. In this state, the first worker who is the worker has no stagnation time. However, in FIG. 3, although the inspection process for the product number (1) of the second work subject as the dedicated machine has been completed, the work target having the product number (1) is the worker who is the worker. Since the completion of the assembly A for the product number (3) of the first work subject is waited, the work object having the product number (1) has a stagnation time. That is, since the inspection completed product is stagnated in the inspection device, the stagnation time of the work target is lengthened, and the tact time is reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a third example of the operation time when performing the assembly process and the inspection process on the operation target. As shown in FIG. 4, when the work target is sent to the next step upon completion of the inspection step, which is a bottleneck, it is possible to minimize the cycle time. Assembly A for the product number (3) once suspended in the first operator is resumed later. As shown in FIG. 4, in order to send the work target to the next step together with the completion of the inspection step, it is necessary to share information on the completion of the inspection step. However, when the worker is the worker, information sharing may not be effective depending on the ability of the worker, and the work time may not be stable. Therefore, for example, it is preferable that the transfer operation for taking out the work target from the dedicated machine is performed by the dedicated machine.

  As described above, in order to design the work process efficiently, in order to make the whole work process more efficient, it is effective to pay attention to the completion time of each process and to design a work-based process so as to reduce waste. At this time, taking into account the fact that the nature of the work subject is different between the human worker and the machine, the work subject is selected not only for the work process itself, but also so that there is no waste before and after the work process. It is effective to do.

  By the way, in recent years, diversification of consumer needs has often led to adoption of a cell production system for high-mix low-volume production. In this case, a plurality of processes are assigned to one worker. It costs. Therefore, the level of skill of the workers is required, but since the level of skill of each worker varies, the work time varies for each worker. Here, it is conceivable to stabilize the working time by using two workers to cover the delay of the preceding and following workers by the other worker.

  In addition, as another method, the product design may be reviewed, for example, the number of screws may be reduced to shorten the tact time of the screw tightening work process. The purpose is to improve productivity through selection, and it is assumed that the product design has already been determined.

  As explained above, it is important to select the operator. It is also important to evaluate work efficiency of a work process composed of a plurality of processes, paying attention to the connection before and after and the dead time that occurs. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to improve the production process, the difference in the characteristics of the work subjects in the production process is defined, and the improvement in efficiency by automation is evaluated. In selecting the work subject, the efficiency of the production process can be improved by evaluating the execution time of each work process together with the information sharing capability of each work subject.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the design information generating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The design information generation device 2 shown in FIG. 5 includes a required operation information generation unit 21, a work constraint generation unit 22, and a work subject selection unit 23, and performs a process design of a production system that processes a target part to produce a product. The information 109 is generated.

  The required operation information generation unit 21 receives work process information 101, product geometric information 102, and assembling information 103 indicating an assembling order obtained by analysis so as to satisfy the interference condition of the geometric information 102. . The necessary operation information generation unit 21 outputs the necessary operation information 105. The work process information 101 may use, as an initial value, a result examined by the 3D CAD designer in order to realize the assembly order only by the operator. The extraction of the work process information 101 may be performed by automatically measuring the movement of the work subject by a sensor such as a motion capture, by utilizing a past database on similar products, or by defining and describing in advance. May be defined by the user based on the work procedure.

  The necessary operation information generation unit 21 generates necessary operation information 105 indicating an operation performed on the target component to reach the target state based on the geometric information 102, the assembly information 103, and the work process information 101 of the product. First, the required operation information generating unit 21 extracts a target geometric relationship between components or between components and the surrounding environment from the geometric information 102. Further, the necessary operation information generation unit 21 extracts initial position and end position candidates for a part to be assembled and a part to be assembled using the target geometric relationship and the order of assembly. That is, the guideline of the position and the posture when assembling on the work table or when performing the assembling in the air is determined, and the constraint condition is generally defined from the guideline. The constraint conditions to be satisfied in generating the necessary operation information 105 are defined by a position and a posture at a certain time in a production cycle, or a trajectory that makes this time continuous. The necessary operation information 105 also defines the necessary action force at a specific part or time T for the work target in the work process.

  Specifically, components to be assembled are arranged on a workbench, and a constraint condition that the work subject grasps and assembles the components to be assembled can be defined in advance as a positional relationship constraint condition. The specific numeric value of the positional relationship may be determined from a database based on past design data or the like. Furthermore, using the work process information 101, information that must be satisfied at least for operations necessary before and after assembly is also defined.

  Regarding the acting force, the necessary operation information 105 is defined as follows. First, the assembling direction is determined according to the assembling order.If assembling requires power, it must be placed on the workbench and supported by the reaction force from the workbench. Required. Further, the force required for the assembly is specifically quantified in advance from the design tolerance indicated in the geometric information 102 and the materials of the parts and the surrounding environment, and is defined in the necessary operation information 105.

  In the inspection process, numerical values of specific indices corresponding to inspection contents and detection targets are defined as targets. Specifically, if the inspection process is a visual test, the ability to detect a defect as a sample is required, so the color, shape and size of the defect are specified, and the sensing capability to detect these is required. It is defined as information 105. Or, if the inspection process is an abnormal sound inspection, the ability to detect each of the normal sound frequency or waveform pattern and the assumed abnormal sound frequency or waveform pattern is numerically defined, and is defined as the necessary operation information 105. Is done. As described above, the necessary operation information 105 is defined for each work, and is output in association with each of the work process information 101.

  The work constraint generation unit 22 determines at least one constraint condition of the position of the target component or the acting force based on the geometric information 102, the assembly information 103, and the work process information 101, and generates the work constraint information 106. In the work constraint generation unit 22, a constraint condition regarding the trajectory or the operation force is defined as the work constraint information 106 based on at least the constraint determined by the position or the force.

  The difference between the work constraint information 106 and the necessary operation information 105 is that the work constraint information 106 is associated with the execution of the process of the work process information 101 and does not directly contribute to the work progress. The point is that the conditions that need to be satisfied to realize the process are defined. Specifically, the upper limit of the position and the force due to the interference with the surrounding objects and the upper limit of the time that can be spent in each process of the work process information 101 are defined.

  Specifically, based on the work process information 101, the geometric information 102, and the assembly information 103, the constraint information for the required operation information 105 output from the required operation information generation unit 21 is set so as not to collide with devices installed in the vicinity. At least one of the position and the force for the operation is restricted. When the work constraint information 106 restricts the position, when the contact and the interference are impossible, the work constraint information 106 defines the movable area of the work subject. For example, if the work subject is a robot arm, it is assumed that the elbow of the robot arm collides with the surrounding environment when trying to reproduce the movement of the work subject specified in the necessary operation information 105. For this reason, regarding a collision with a device installed in the vicinity, the movable environment of the robot arm is defined as an area in which the working subject should not interfere with the surrounding environment.

  Alternatively, if contact and interference are allowed, but the applied force exceeds a certain upper limit value and the surrounding environment or the target component is destroyed, the upper limit value is set for the applied force. This upper limit may be defined by the assembly order and the force that can be applied to the action direction in each of the geometric information 102 for the work target. As for the work subject or the surrounding environment, a value that does not break as defined in the specification may be set.

  In addition to using such constraint conditions, in order to improve the workability, if the design is made such that the positioning jig is included in the geometric information 102 of the peripheral device corresponding to each process of the work process information 101, A restriction condition based on environmental cost information may be added in addition to the position and posture to be performed and the restriction condition of a good acting force as an upper limit. Environmental cost information is an estimate of the cost that needs to be invested in equipment or equipment to perform the work. The sum of the environmental costs based on the environmental cost information is used for estimating the total cost in the work entity selecting unit 23. Specifically, by adding geometric constraints to the work constraint information 106 so that the position and posture do not move, a simplified low-cost machine device is selected as the work subject, and as a result, the total cost is reduced. Implement a configuration that satisfies user requirements.

  In addition, it is assumed that the occupied area allowed for the work subject for each process of the work process information 101 is included in the work constraint information 106 as layout information.

  The work subject selection unit 23 selects a work subject from the work process information 101, necessary operation information 105, work constraint information 106, user information 107, and work subject information 108, and generates and outputs process design information 109. Here, the work subject information 108 includes information of a plurality of work subjects that can execute the work and satisfy the necessary operation information 105 and the work constraint information 106. The work subject may be a general-purpose machine such as an operator, an industrial robot or an NC machine, or a dedicated machine such as an image processing apparatus for performing a specific inspection and a test apparatus for confirming a normal operation. The work subject information 108 also includes capability information of each work subject based on past results and the like.

  The abilities of the work subject included in the work subject information 108 include a movable range indicated by a position and a posture, an acting force that the work subject can output to an object, a maximum speed and an average speed during a work operation, a standard work time, and information. There are a sharing model, installation conditions including an occupied area, restrictions on power supply, and restrictions on wiring. Further, as the capability defined by the necessary operation information 105, the capability related to the inspection and the information on whether or not each process of the operation process information 101 can support each process are included in the operation subject information 108.

  Based on the required operation information 105, the work constraint information 106, and the work subject information 108, the work subject selecting unit 23 performs a task that satisfies both the required operation capability for realizing the required operation information 105 and the constraint condition of the work constraint information 106. A subject is selected, and process design information 109 including information on the selected work subject is generated. Further, the selected work subject and the process of the corresponding work process information 101 are output as process design information 109 from the order closest to the condition satisfying the request of the user information 107.

  It should be noted that the user information 107 includes permissible costs in the processes included in the work process information 101, processing times of the respective processes included in the work process information 101, processing times required for all processes, and resource information that can be input. . The resource information includes the abilities and the number of workers and the abilities and the number of mechanical devices. In particular, regarding the cost condition, the total cost obtained by combining the cost of the jig and the cost of the operator specified in the work constraint information 106 and the target cost set in the user information 107 are compared to satisfy the condition. Is checked.

  As described above, based on the geometric information 102, the assembly information 103, and the work process information 101 of the target component, the required operation information 105 that defines the required operation information 105 for the operation performed on the target component and the target value of the operation completion determination A generation unit 21; a work constraint generation unit 22 for determining, based on the geometric information 102, assembly information 103, and work process information 101 on the target part, work constraint information 106 on either the position or the force on the target part; Based on the information 105, the work constraint information 106, and the work subject information 108, a work subject that can satisfy a required operation and a work constraint is extracted, and a work subject that can realize each process of the work process information 101 is output. The design information generation device 2 including the work subject selection unit 23 that performs the operation is realized.

  According to the present embodiment, for the work process information 101, a work subject can be selected according to not only the assembly process but also the process characteristics of the plurality of work process information 101. Therefore, when examining a design for improving efficiency, it is possible to automatically obtain candidate work subject information 108 as process design information 109 over all work processes. As a result, the time for reviewing the process related to the production system design is significantly reduced, and the efficiency can be greatly improved.

Embodiment 2 FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first configuration example of the design information generation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The design information generation device 2A shown in FIG. 6 is applicable to the design support system 10 shown in FIG. The design information generation device 2A shown in FIG. 6 has a configuration in which an evaluation unit 24 is added to the design information generation device 2 shown in FIG. 5 and a work subject selection unit 23A is provided instead of the work subject selection unit 23. Evaluation unit 24 acquires the process design information 109 from the working main selection unit 23A, based on the process design information 109, and outputs the evaluation information 110 by evaluating the time for the target process. The work subject selecting unit 23A reselects a work subject based on the evaluation information 110 and the request of the user information 107. The process design information 109 is information indicating the work subject selected for each work process, which is included in the work process information 101. Here, the time related to the target process includes at least one of the entire process time, the stagnation time, the transfer time, and the inspection time.

  The evaluation unit 24 numerically evaluates the efficiency when each work subject actually performs the work. This evaluation is performed using a simulation of each process of the work process information 101 to which a plurality of patterns of variable elements are given. Here, the variation factor includes a variation in the standard operation time of each process.

  The evaluation information 110 includes at least information obtained by evaluating the time required for each work process. Here, the tact time, the individual work time, and the stagnation time can be exemplified as the time evaluation information. The tact time and the individual work time indicate differences from the standard work time. The stagnation time indicates a difference from 0. The work subject selection unit 23A to which the evaluation information 110 has been input compares the work information with the user information 107, and gives priority to the work subject selection information.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second configuration example of the design information generation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 differs from FIG. 6 in that the work subject information 108 is shown as being specific. That is, in FIG. 7, the inputs to the work subject selection unit 23A are the movable range information 108a, the work process availability information 108b, the standard work time information 108c, and the information sharing model 108d. Here, in the required operation information 105 relating to each process of the work process information 101, a standard work time for executing each process and a target time to be defined are defined. For these, values preliminarily defined in the work process information 101 are used. If the work process information 101 is not specified, the standard work time information 108c is defined and used. The standard work time information 108c may be generated based on the work process information 101 and the user input information 111. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the standard work time generation unit 31 that generates the standard work time information 108c. The standard work time generation unit 31 shown in FIG. 8 performs the standard work time information 108c based on the work process information 101 and the user input information 111 indicating the work time of each process of the work process information 101 input by the user. Generate The standard work time generation unit 31 may be provided inside the design information generation device 2A, or may be provided outside the design information generation device 2A. The user input information 111 is information input by a user operating the input device, and is information indicating a work time serving as a guide for each process of the work process information 101. Alternatively, instead of the user input information 111, a standard operation time model may be generated by utilizing a past production line information or statistical data corresponding to each process of the operation process information 101 to form a standard operation time model. Good.

  For example, a description will be given of a production design for examining an operator who minimizes a stagnation time in an inspection process and a transfer operation before and after the inspection process. The movable range information 108a, the work process availability information 108b, which is the positioning capability required for the transport jig, and the standard work time information 108c are input to the work subject selection unit 23A. Further, an information sharing model 108d is defined.

  In the information sharing model 108d, when the work subject is a human, information on the progress of another work subject cannot be shared or delay occurs in information sharing, and when the work subject is a mechanical device, information can be shared without delay. It is a model to be. For example, it is defined that "the worker must check the information of the mechanical equipment by looking at the display during the work, and cannot share the work process information without delay from the information update". On the other hand, when a mechanical device is connected to a network capable of sharing information between facilities, information can be acquired online, and it is incomparable with an operator even if communication delay is considered. It is possible to obtain information as quickly as possible. Therefore, it can be defined that "current work process information including progress can be shared even during work". For workers, it is possible to realize information sharing more efficiently by using sound than by visual inspection, but there is still a risk of oversight or recognition error. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the information sharing model. FIG. 9 shows one industrial robot, three mechanical facilities, one processing machine, and one worker. In FIG. 9, the industrial robot, the mechanical equipment, and the processing machine are sharing information with the communication device. However, since the worker visually checks the information displayed on the display device, the information acquisition is intermittent. Yes, information cannot be shared.

  In this way, the purpose of defining the information sharing model is to evaluate the time delay between the selected work subjects and clarify whether each work subject is appropriate or inappropriate as the work subject of each work process To do that.

  When evaluating each operation process collectively, there is a delay caused by not grasping information on the preceding and following processes. That is, in the above-described inspection process and the transport process before and after, if the inspection process is the most time-consuming process in the entire process, the processing time of the inspection process becomes dominant with respect to the tact time. If a stagnation occurs before and after the inspection process, it directly leads to a delay in tact time.

  Therefore, it is required to detect the completion of the inspection process as soon as possible and immediately supply the next assembly or work-in-progress, but when assigning a human worker, the worker himself performs the inspection process. There is no time loss if transported as it is, but if the inspection process is complicated or performed by electrical input and output, the inspection process itself is carried by a dedicated machine, and the operator enters the object into the device and removes it from the device. May be responsible only for retrieval. In such a case, since the worker cannot detect the completion of the inspection process, the worker uses the information sharing model to define the work process as inappropriate. Since the worker "cannot share information during another work", it is possible to design and evaluate the information by using an information sharing model if it is inappropriate for taking out the mechanical device before and after the inspection process.

  If the selection of the work subject for the work process is inappropriate, a difference occurs in the processing time due to the selection of the work subject, so that there is a difference in the analysis result of the stagnation time by the simulation. In this way, the evaluation unit 24 evaluates the stagnation time using the simulation, and outputs the evaluation information 110 including the stagnation time to the work subject selection unit 23A.

  The work subject selection unit 23A determines at least one of the cost related to the user's request and the size of the work area to be used, based on the stagnation time information included in the input evaluation information 110. The work subject is selected in consideration of the above.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when evaluating the operation time or the efficiency of a plurality of processes in which the work subject is changed, the performance difference between the respective work subjects that occurs depending on the work subject information 108 is evaluated. Becomes clear as a whole work time. That is, it is possible to quantitatively compare or evaluate the degree of the change in the efficiency due to the change of each work subject selected by the work subject selection unit 23A. Therefore, rework of the production system design can be prevented, and the efficiency of the production system design can be improved.

  In the present embodiment described above, the mode of evaluating the stagnation time has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the entire process time, transfer time, inspection time, or assembly time may be evaluated. Good. Note that the transfer time does not correspond to inspection and assembly, but is a time during which the position and orientation change. The assembling time is the time required for an operation in which a plurality of parts are combined to form one part.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first configuration example of a design information generation device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Note that the design information generation device 2B shown in FIG. 10 is applicable to the design support system 10 shown in FIG. The design information generation device 2B shown in FIG. 10 has a configuration in which the evaluation unit 24 outputs the evaluation information 110 to the process redesign unit 25. The process redesign unit 25 redesigns the work process information by changing the process order of the work process information 101 based on the evaluation information 110 or parallelizing a part of the processes of the work process information 101, and redesigning the work process information. The process information 101a is output. Then, instead of the work process information 101, the work process information 101a after the redesign is input to the design information generating device 2B. The evaluation information 110 includes a difference in work time between a plurality of work subjects, that is, a performance difference. This performance difference is calculated and generated by the evaluation unit 24 based on the process design information 109. The evaluation unit 24 calculates and compares the work time when each work subject is assigned to each process of each work process information 101. Based on this performance difference, the user's request based on the user information 107 of the work process information 101 is severe, and a combination of the work subject and the work process information 101 satisfying the user's request may not be found. For example, a description will be given of a case where there is no work subject that can complete a work within a user's requested time with respect to a processing time required for the entire work process. Normally, simply changing the order of each process of the work process information 101 connected in series does not change the work time of the entire work process. On the other hand, it is possible to shorten the work time by parallelizing each process of the work process information 101 instead of serially. For example, when there is no work performed by the work subject during the stagnation time, the redesign of the work process information 101 such that the work of assembling the next part is started corresponds to parallelization.

  By parallelizing the work process, a worker is selected for all of the processes in the work process information 101, and efficiency is improved by using a jig for fixing a work object installed in the work environment of the worker or improving the assemblability. It is also possible to use a buffer to make the design robust against delays in intermediate steps. As a work subject, a human worker has the advantage that the degree of freedom of operation such as changing the posture is higher than that of a mechanical device, and it is strong in realizing incidental operations and finely modifying processes. However, while a human worker can perform such a variety of tasks, he / she waits without waste in anticipation of the completion timing of the mechanical device, and actively promotes the functional safety provided by the mechanical device. There is a disadvantage that it cannot be operated. In addition, although a human worker can be notified using equipment such as a button or a light curtain, it is difficult to operate mechanical equipment in the shortest time while ensuring safety.

  Generally, the tact is determined by a process having a long processing time among all processes. If it is desired to shorten the tact as much as possible, it is important for the process designer to design a process that reduces the time taken before and after a long process that can be a bottleneck. At this time, the above-mentioned active utilization of the operator for the operation of loading and unloading the object into and from the apparatus has the following problems.

  First, if dedicated workers are assigned to the operation of loading and unloading an object into and out of the apparatus, the human cost of waiting for the inspection process is wasted. Further, if another operation is performed while waiting for the inspection process, it is difficult for a human being to interrupt the operation with good timing, so that the tact time is substantially reduced.

  If the timing of interrupting the work is periodic, it is usual to review the process of the work process information 101 and configure the work process information 101 so as to match the timing of loading and unloading an object into and from the apparatus. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the timing at which the operation is interrupted is often not exactly synchronized with this operation and other operations. In this case, if the worker is a human, the concentration may be reduced due to repeated interruptions, and as a result, the work efficiency may be reduced. However, efficiency is increased when the loading and unloading of objects into and from this device is left to a mechanical device. This is because, using information on when the inspection process of the inspection device is completed, the time for shifting to the loading and unloading of the target object can be calculated without waste, and the work can be reliably performed at that time. This is because it has a characteristic that can be interrupted.

  As shown in FIG. 10, such a problem can be solved by introducing the process redesign unit 25. If the expected work efficiency does not reach the target based on the evaluation information 110 output from the evaluation unit 24, for example, the process redesign unit 25 increases the number of work subjects for a certain work process and executes the work. By changing the work process information 101 by parallelizing or changing the order of work processes or the assignment of processes to work subjects, it is possible to redesign the production system design. At this time, in consideration of the cost, an upper limit may be set for the increase in the number of operators, and restrictions may be imposed on the options of the operators. Further, the change of each process of the work process information 101 may be performed by registering operations to processes that can be changed in advance and exhaustively searching for options for which the user has permitted operations. Good.

  Further, when the process redesign unit 25 is introduced, the standard work time information 108c which is a part of the work subject information 108 may be changed at the same time. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the standard work time update unit 32. The standard work time update unit 32 shown in FIG. 11 updates the standard work time information 108c based on the work process information 101 and the work time database information 112, and generates updated standard work time information 108ca. The work time database information 112 includes the actual work time of each process, and may further include the number of errors when each process is executed. The updated standard work time information 108ca is input to the work subject selecting unit 23B instead of the standard work time information 108c. As a result, when the conditions of the work subject are changed, it is possible to consider the risks related to the stagnation time of the actual work subject, so that high-precision modeling can be realized for the actual production system and the evaluation information The accuracy of 110 can be improved.

  Although the design information generation device 2B in FIG. 10 internally improves the accuracy of the evaluation information 110 by automatically repeating the search, the present embodiment is not limited to this. The process redesign unit may output the work process information after the redesign based on a user input.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the design information generating device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The design information generation device 2C illustrated in FIG. 12 includes a process redesign unit 25a instead of the process redesign unit 25 in the design information generation device 2B illustrated in FIG. The process redesign unit 25a outputs the evaluation information 110 to the display operation device 1a.

  The display operation device 1a has a configuration in which a display device and an input device are integrated, and is a device that displays information and inputs information based on a user operation. As the display operation device 1a, a touch panel can be exemplified. However, the display operation device 1a may be provided with a display device and an input device separately.

  The user of the design information generating device 2C performs an operation on the display operation device 1a while referring to display contents based on the evaluation information 110 displayed on the display operation device 1a. Thus, the user can set, for example, a setting in which some of the plurality of error items are not used for evaluation at the time of redesign of the process.

  The display operation device 1a outputs user input information based on a user operation. User input information from the display operation device 1a is input to the process redesign unit 25a. The process redesign unit 25a combines the process of the process redesign unit 25 with the user input information and outputs the work process information 101a after the redesign. According to the configuration shown in FIG. 12, the user's intention can be immediately reflected in the process redesign, and the process after the redesign can be reflected by the user's intention.

  According to the configuration of the present embodiment described above, if the desired work efficiency or cost cannot be achieved with the current work process and the number of work subjects assigned to the work process, the design regarding the number of work subjects for the work process is performed. By making a change, it is possible to more efficiently find a production system design candidate that can achieve the target production efficiency.

  The configurations described in the above embodiments are merely examples of the contents of the present invention, and can be combined with other known technologies, and can be combined with other known technologies without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is also possible to omit or change the part.

  REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 display device, 1a display operation device, 2, 2A, 2B, 2C design information generation device, 10 design support system, 21 necessary operation information generation portion, 22 work constraint generation portion, 23, 23A, 23B work subject selection portion, 24 Evaluation unit, 25, 25a Process redesign unit, 31 Standard work time generation unit, 32 Standard work time update unit, 101 Work process information, 102 Geometric information, 103 Assembly information, 104 Design information, 105 Required operation information, 106 Work constraints Information, 107 user information, 108 work subject information, 108a movable range information, 108b work process availability information, 108c standard work time information, 108ca updated standard work time information, 108d information sharing model, 109 process design information, 110 evaluation information , 111 user input information, 112 working time database information.

Claims (7)

A design information generation device that generates process design information of a production system that processes a target part to produce a product,
A required operation information generation unit that generates required operation information indicating an operation performed on the target component to reach a target state, based on the geometric information of the product, assembly information, and work process information;
A work constraint generation unit configured to determine at least one constraint condition of the position or the acting force of the target component based on the geometric information, the assembly information, and the work process information to generate work constraint information;
Based on the required operation information, the work constraint information and the work subject information, a plurality of work subjects that satisfy both the required operation capability and the constraint condition for realizing the necessary operation information are selected, and the selected work subject is selected. A work entity selecting unit that generates process design information including information of a plurality of work subjects,
An evaluation unit that outputs evaluation information including information obtained by evaluating the time related to the target process of the plurality of operation subjects based on the process design information,
The design information generation device, wherein the work subject selecting unit reselects a work subject based on the evaluation information and a request for user information.   2. The design information generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request for the user information includes at least information on a processing time required for the set work process. When the work subject is a human, the work subject information cannot share information on the progress of another work subject or causes a delay in information sharing. When the work subject is a mechanical device, the work subject information can be shared without delay. design information generating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises an information sharing model to. The work process information includes standard work time information that is a time required for work of the target process, which is defined in advance,
When standard work time information is not defined in the work process information, the work process information, and the user input information indicating a work time as a guide of each process of the work process information input by a user, The design information generation device according to claim 3 , further comprising a standard work time generation unit that generates standard work time information. A process redesign unit that re-designs work process information by changing the process order of the work process information or parallelizing a part of the processes of the work process information based on the evaluation information. Item 5. The design information generation device according to Item 4 . A standard work time updating unit that updates the standard work time information based on work time database information including the work process information and actual work time of each process of the work process information. 5. The design information generation device according to 5. A design information generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A display device for displaying information output by the design information generating device.

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