The future looks like Flexible Automation
By Millan Yeung
 Millan Yeung is Precision Freeform Fabrication Special Interest Coordinator, Production Technology Research, Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute, National Research Council Canada (imti.nrc.gc.ca).
Todayís products are complex, sophisticated and have a large selection of different models and configurations. The delivery of these products is increasingly in small-to-medium lot sizes requiring short lead-times. Because of these requirements, production of these products is often very labor intensive.
Many industrialized countries, including Canada, are losing market share of producing these products to other countries that possess low-cost labor. Flexible automation tools such as intelligent manufacturing systems and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) would effectively remove the labor factor from the equation of product development and production, eliminating this disadvantage and help to recapture or even expand the market share. Therefore, R&D of these tools would have a tremendous impact on our productivity, and hence our economy.
Traditionally, a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC) refers to a work unit consisting of a computerized numerical control (CNC) machine and a robotic arm that work cooperatively to complete specific tasks. The advancement of computer and control technologies, and electronic and mechanical systems has expanded the definition of FMC to include almost any CNC and computer controllable equipment and is capable of working with other FMCs to form an FMS.
With the enhanced machine intelligence, increased degrees of freedom and the quick reconfiguration, FMS is becoming a truly flexible automated system that can apply to the manufacturing of various products. Researchers and developers around the world are continuously generating new technologies and knowledge in the area of flexible automation. Projecting from the direction and progress of the R&D, the future FMS will possess advanced capabilities that included adaptability, reactivity, monitoring and control, and autonomy.
The future FMS will automatically generate work plans and control sequences or CNC programs that would adapt to the production of a given product. It will execute appropriate solutions or corrective actions dynamically to react to problems encountered during normal operation and to reduce down time. To reduce and eliminate errors and inconsistency, the FMS will constantly monitor each operating component and issue corrective or compensatory commands to them when errors arise.
Finally, equipped with adaptability, reactivity and monitoring and control, the future FMS would emulate the cognitive and physical activities of a living being such as reasoning, making decisions, taking actions and learning. It will operate autonomously to produce products with only the given designs. It generates plans, coordinates the components, invokes the production, monitors the operation, corrects and makes compensation to errors and inaccuracy, and might even be able to self-diagnose and self-repair.
Guided by this goal, R&D such as high performance machining automation and reconfigurable manufacturing systems are being carried out at the Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute of the National Research Council Canada to develop advanced, intelligent manufacturing technologies for industries. The future of manufacturing will be very different from today.
|
