RU2771901C2 - Collaborative assembly and production line - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: mechanical engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of mechanical engineering and robotics and can be used to perform assembly operations on a robotic line in collaboration with a human. The collaborative assembly and production line consists of modular cells interconnected by a through-conveying mechanism and a single control unit. Each of the modular cells contains at least one industrial robot, made in the form of a manipulator with means of gripping, a processing station, and means of technical vision. The manipulator is made in the form of a mechanical arm with degrees of freedom that ensure the movement of the gripping means in the XYZ directions to the transporting mechanism, the processing station and the operator’s workplace. The operator’s workplace is equipped with an information display module and a modular cell control unit.

EFFECT: invention is aimed at increasing the intelligence of the technical system when performing assembly and production technological operations.

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Description

The invention relates to the field of mechanical engineering and robotics and can be used to perform assembly operations on a robotic line in collaboration with a person 00].

Known from the prior art is a DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS [JPH 0249498 (A), publ.: 02/19/1990], which supplies components, a soldering unit that cuts the leads of installed components to a predetermined length and forms them into a predetermined shape with horizontal tips, a manipulator , which captures and rises up and down, and a heating element, which is located next to this manipulator, which moves up and down and is heated to a predetermined temperature by supplying power and made rotatable as a single mechanism around a vertical axis through a drive mechanism, a soldering head , equipped with a drive mechanism for linear movement guided by a horizontal beam, and a soldering head located below the horizontal beam within the range of horizontal movement of the soldering head and installed from the transfer conveyor by transfer, a device for installing electronic components with leads, containing: XY- a table that holds the placed circuit board horizontally and performs the lifting and horizontal moving operation in the XY directions.

The disadvantage of the analog is the low flexibility of operation, due to the limited list of operations performed by the devices and the small number of degrees of freedom of the manipulators. Also known is a LINE FOR MANUFACTURING MICROASSEMBLY [SU 1598241 (A1), publ.: 07.10.1990], containing connected to the control unit and equipped with transport mechanisms, a module for installing components on boards, a module for separating boards, a module for attaching a group output tape to boards with a cutting mechanism tapes, a terminal soldering module and loading units with board storage devices, characterized in that, in order to increase productivity, it is equipped with a unit for applying a marking mark on defective boards connected to the control unit, installed in front of the module for installing components on boards, with sensors for reading the marking mark installed at the input of the module for installing components on the boards and at the output of the board separating module, and the mechanism for changing the length of the group output tape being cut off, installed at the input of the module for attaching the group output tape to the boards, and the transport mechanism of the soldering module is equipped with a mechanism for changing the width of the boards, connected to control unit.

The disadvantage of analog is low intelligence, due to low autonomy and limited actuators and low adaptability of the line to change the operations performed.

The closest in technical essence is the AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION FOR SOLDERING COMPONENTS ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL SMT PCBs [DE 4434383 (A1), publ.: 1996-03-21], in which the components are inserted into the printed circuit board and soldered, characterized in that the printed circuit board is held with by an industrial robot and transported to different processing stations, processing at different processing stations for a component or a group of components is performed one after another, and the circuit board remains horizontal with respect to the processing and assembly position of the corresponding component. The main technical problem of the prototype is low intelligence, due to low autonomy and limited actuators and low adaptability of the installation to changes in the operations performed. In addition, this prototype does not involve direct collaboration with a person.

The objective of the invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the prototype.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the intelligence of the technical system when performing assembly and production technological operations.

This technical result is achieved due to the fact that a collaborative assembly and production line containing an industrial robot and processing stations, characterized in that it consists of modular cells connected to each other by a through transporting mechanism and a single control unit, each of the modular cells contains at least one industrial robot made in the form of a manipulator with grippers, a processing station, technical vision means, the manipulator is made in the form of a mechanical arm with degrees of freedom that ensure the movement of the grippers in the XYZ directions to the transport mechanism, the processing station and the operator’s workplace, the operator’s workplace equipped with an information display module and a module cell control unit.

In particular, the conveying mechanism is made in the form of a belt conveyor.

In particular, the transport mechanism is divided into segments along the length of the respective module cell.

In particular, the manipulator is made with at least five degrees of freedom. In particular, the gripping means are mechanical. In particular, the gripping means are made of vacuum. In particular, the gripping means are magnetic.

In particular, the technical vision means are made in the form of digital video cameras.

In particular, the technical vision means are made in the form of touch sensors.

In particular, the processing station is configured to perform assembly operations.

In particular, the processing station is configured to perform packaging operations.

In particular, the processing station is configured to perform sorting operations.

In particular, the processing station is configured to perform control operations

quality.

In particular, the information display module is configured to provide information to the operator about the ongoing assembly operation.

In particular, an interface module is connected to the control unit with the ability to debug and control the operation of the line.

Brief description of the drawings.

In FIG. 1 shows a general view of a collaborative modular cell.

In FIG. 2 schematically shows the zonal distribution of the working surface of a collaborative modular cell.

In FIG. 3 schematically shows a collaborative assembly line.

In FIG. 4 shows a general view of the collaborative assembly line.

The figures indicate: 1 - frames, 2 - working surfaces, 3 - transport conveyors, 4 - manipulators, 5 - grippers, 6 - loading/unloading areas, 7 - shuttles, 8 - manipulator coverage areas, 9 - operator coverage area, 10 - processing stations, 11 - vision aids, 12 - display modules, 13 - control units, 14 - central control unit, 15 - interface module, 16 - data storage unit, 17 - conveyor platform, 18 - assembly area, 19 - module communication, 20 - loading / unloading module.

Implementation of the invention.

A collaborative robot (cobot) is an automatic device that can work together with a human to create or produce various products [http://peshkin.mech.northwestern.edu/cobot/, publ.: 12/26/2019].

Industrial robot - a manipulation robot designed to perform motor and control functions in the production process, i.e. an automatic device consisting of a manipulator and a reprogrammable control device that generates control actions that specify the required movements of the manipulator's executive bodies. It is used to move objects of production and perform various technological operations.

The intelligence of an artificial system is understood as the presence of two properties - autonomy and adaptability. The high degree of autonomy of the artificial system allows it to independently make decisions within the framework of its functionality and expertise. The ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions during operation or changing conditions of operation itself allows the artificial system to learn and continue to function. The higher the degree of autonomy and adaptability of an artificial system, the higher its intelligence. On the other hand, intellectualization refers to the process of increasing the degree of intellectuality of a technical system. Based on the fact that intelligence is a composite characteristic of two simpler properties, intellectualization is a system development trajectory within its life cycle from a low level to a high level in a two-dimensional state space [Dushkin R.V. - Intellectualization of control of technical systems within the framework of the functional approach // Program systems and computational methods. - 2019. - No. 2. - S. 43-57. DOI: 10.7256/2454-0714.2019.2.29192 URL: https://nbpublish.com/library read article.php?id=29192, published: 07/18/2019].

A collaborative assembly and production line is a constructor in the form of collaborative modular cells connected into a single line to form flexible lines for assembling products for various purposes based on collaborative robots. Each of the collaborative modular cells contains a frame 1 (see Fig. 1). A working surface 2 is mounted horizontally on the frame 1. At least a pair of transport conveyors 3, made, for example, of belt conveyors, are mounted sequentially one after the other along the working surface 2.

Above the working surface 2, at least one manipulator 4 is mounted, made in the form of a mechanical arm from hinged elements. The swivel joints of the elements of the mechanical arm in one of the embodiments are equipped with servo drives (not shown in the figures) with the possibility of automatic control. In another embodiment, the swivel joints of the mechanical arm elements are provided with mechanical power amplifiers (not shown in the figures) with the possibility of manual control of a small applied external force. The manipulator 4 is made with at least five degrees of freedom.

At the end of the manipulator 4 on a movable head (not shown in the figures) is mounted a grip 5, made mechanical or vacuum.

The working surface 2 contains loading / unloading areas 6 (see Fig. 2), manipulator coverage areas 8, operator coverage area 9 and assembly area 18.

In the coverage area of the manipulator 8 and the coverage area of the operator 9, an assembly station 10 is mounted, configured to perform assembly operations, or packaging, or sorting, or quality control of parts, while for assembly operations, the assembly station 8 contains an assembly tool, for example, a soldering station, means for feeding and tightening screws, a welding machine, etc.

Above the working surface 2, above the loading/unloading areas 6 and/or the assembly area 18 and/or the transport conveyor 3, technical vision means 11 are mounted, made, for example, in the form of touch sensors or digital cameras.

Above the working surface 2, a display module 12 is mounted with the ability to visualize information about the ongoing assembly operation.

The manipulator 4, the drive of the transport conveyor 3, the assembly station 10, the means of technical vision 11 and the display module 12 are connected to the control unit 13 (see Fig. 3). Collaborative modular cells are mounted in series in a line, the control units 13 of which are connected to the central control unit 14.

An interface module 15 is connected to the central control unit 14 and is configured to debug and control the operation of the elements of the collaborative assembly and production line. Connected to the central control unit 14 is a data storage unit 16 configured to collect and store data on the operation of the collaborative assembly line.

When placing collaborative modular cells in several rows, the transport conveyors 3 of the communicating rows are interconnected by a conveyor platform 17 (see Fig. 4), the drive of which is connected to the central control unit 14.

The collaborative assembly and production line is used as follows. The blanks of the assembled products are placed in the shuttle 7 and loaded onto the transport conveyor 3 of the first of the collaborative modular cells, while for each type of blanks a separate shuttle 7 is provided. and finding the shuttle 7 with blanks waiting to be loaded, while the said signal can be given by the operator manually. The central control unit 14 starts the transport conveyors 3 which transport the shuttle 7 with the workpieces to the assembly area 18.

Depending on the type of assembly operations and their complexity, manual, semi-automatic and automatic assembly options are assumed.

During manual assembly, the shuttle 7 with blanks is fed by transport conveyors 3 to the assembly area 18 and the transport conveyors 3 are stopped. The operator studies the information on the assembly operation, displayed on the display module 12, and in the process uses to control the correctness of the assembly operations. Next, the operator in the coverage area of the operator 9 performs the necessary operations with the blanks using the assembly station 10, taking the blanks from the shuttle 7 and placing them back after the assembly operation. In the embodiment of the manipulator 4 with manual control for workpieces with large weight and size indicators, the movement of the said workpieces by the operator is carried out using manipulators 4.

At the end of the processing of all blanks, the operator sends a signal to the control unit 13 of the collaborative modular cell about the end of the assembly operations. The control unit 13 starts the transport conveyor 3 by which the shuttle 7 is moved to the loading / unloading area 6. After the shuttle 7 has moved to the loading / unloading area 6, the control unit 13 sends a signal to the central control unit 14 about the end of the assembly operations and the movement of the shuttle 7 to wait unloading.

The central unit 14, upon receipt from the control units 13 of the signal that the shuttle 7 is waiting for unloading, is ready to receive a signal from the control unit 13 of the next collaborative modular cell about readiness to receive blanks and, after receiving it, moves the shuttle 7 to the next collaborative cell using transport conveyors 3 modular cell. Repeat the assembly cycle.

In semi-automatic assembly, the shuttle 7 with blanks is fed by transport conveyors 3 to the assembly area 18 and the transport conveyors 3 are stopped.

With the help of technical vision tools 11, the position of the installed workpieces is recognized and they are alternately captured by the gripper 5 of the manipulator 4, while the second manipulator 4 is used to perform complex operations or when using two workpieces to perform the assembly operation.

After the workpiece is captured by the manipulator 4, it is transferred and placed on the assembly station 10. After the workpiece is placed on the assembly station 10, the grip 5 of the manipulator 4 is released or the workpiece is continued to be held by the manipulator 4 and the operator performs assembly operations manually. At the end of the operation, the means of technical vision 11 recognize the end of the assembly operation and the manipulator 4 places the workpiece in the shuttle 7. After processing all the workpieces, the operator sends a signal to the control unit 13 of the collaborative modular cell about the end of the assembly operations. The control unit 13 starts the transport conveyors 3 by which the shuttle 7 is moved to the loading / unloading area 6. After the shuttle 7 has moved to the loading / unloading area 6, the control unit 13 sends a signal to the central control unit 14 about the end of the assembly operations and the movement of the shuttle 7 to wait for unloading .

The central unit 14, upon receipt from the control units 13 of the signal that the shuttle 7 is waiting for unloading, is ready to receive a signal from the control unit 13 of the next collaborative modular cell about readiness to receive blanks and, after receiving it, moves the shuttle 7 to the next collaborative cell using transport conveyors 3 modular cell. Repeat the assembly cycle.

During automatic assembly, the shuttle 7 with the workpieces is fed by the transport conveyors 3 into the assembly area 18 and the transport conveyors 3 are stopped. the second manipulator 4 is used to perform the assembly operation of two workpieces. The workpiece is transferred with the manipulator 4 and placed on the assembly station 10, the grip 5 of the manipulator 4 is released, or the assembly operation is performed using the assembly station 10 while continuing to hold the workpiece with the manipulator 4.

In the process of performing assembly operations, the operator controls the operation of the manipulator 4 and assembly station 10.

At the end of the processing of all blanks, the technical vision means 11 send a signal to the control unit 13 of the collaborative modular cell about the end of the assembly operations. The control unit 13 starts the transport conveyors 3 which move the shuttle 7 to the loading / unloading area b. Upon completion of the movement of the shuttle 7 in the area of loading/unloading 6, the control unit 13 sends a signal to the central control unit 14 about the end of the assembly operations and the movement of the shuttle 7 to wait for unloading.

The central unit 14, upon receipt from the control units 13 of the signal that the shuttle 7 is waiting for unloading, is ready to receive a signal from the control unit 13 of the next collaborative modular cell about readiness to receive blanks and, after receiving it, moves the shuttle 7 to the next collaborative cell using transport conveyors 3 modular cell. Repeat the assembly cycle.

In the event of an emergency at any collaborative modular cell, the operator from the control unit 13 disables the said cell and sends an emergency signal to the central control unit 14.

To load blanks on the first of the collaborative modular cells and unload finished parts from the last of the collaborative modular cells, at least one loading / unloading module 20 is connected to the central control unit 14 through the communication module 19, made, for example, in the form of a mobile platform.

The technical result of the invention - increasing the intelligence of the technical system when performing assembly and production technological operations is achieved through a universal layout into a flexible, quickly adaptable to any volume and assembly operations assembly and production line from collaborative modular cells connected through, divided into segments with the possibility of changing the number cells, transport conveyor 3 and controlled by integrated into the central control unit 14 control units 13 manipulators 4, equipped with grippers 5, processing stations 10, means of technical vision 11 of each of the mentioned cells. At the same time, the involvement of the operator in the production process in order to participate in the performance of individual operations and direct control over the course of the technological process makes it possible to increase the adaptability of the assembly and production line to the production process without making significant structural changes.

The technical result is confirmed by collaborative assembly and production lines manufactured according to the description of the invention and introduced since 2014 based on universal collaborative modular cells due to their rapid deployment for current tasks with the possibility of rapid transformation for new products and / or production volumes. In addition, the use of these lines made it possible to increase labor productivity, increase production savings due to more flexible personnel management and versatile equipment, and ensured that the robotic line and a person could work together in a safe environment.

Claims (15)

1. A collaborative assembly and production line containing industrial robots and processing stations, characterized in that it consists of modular cells connected to each other by a through transporting mechanism and a single control unit, each of the modular cells contains at least one industrial robot, made in the form of a manipulator with grippers, a processing station, technical vision means, the manipulator is made in the form of a mechanical arm with degrees of freedom that ensure the movement of the grippers in the XYZ directions to the transport mechanism, the processing station and the operator’s workplace, the operator’s workplace is equipped with an information display module and a module cell control unit . 2. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the transport mechanism is made in the form of a belt conveyor. 3. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the transport mechanism is divided into segments along the length of the corresponding modular cell. 4. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the manipulator is made with at least five degrees of freedom. 5. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping means are mechanical. 6. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping means are made of vacuum. 7. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping means are made magnetic. 8. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the technical vision means are made in the form of digital video cameras. 9. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the technical vision means are made in the form of touch sensors. 10. The line according to claim. 1, characterized in that the processing station is configured to perform assembly operations. 11. The line according to claim. 1, characterized in that the processing station is configured to perform packaging operations. 12. The line according to claim. 1, characterized in that the processing station is configured to perform sorting operations. 13. Line according to claim. 1, characterized in that the processing station is configured to perform quality control operations. 14. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that the information display module is configured to provide information to the operator about the ongoing assembly operation. 15. The line according to claim 1, characterized in that an interface module is connected to the control unit with the ability to debug and control the operation of the line.

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