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- System adjustment: robots will assemble ship and aircraft parts ten times faster
System adjustment: robots will assemble ship and aircraft parts ten times faster
Russian scientists have presented advanced algorithms and a prototype of a robotic system that can increase the speed and efficiency of production processes. The new approach allows manipulators to adapt to changing conditions without laborious reconfiguration, reducing assembly time costs to record levels. This paves the way for the creation of the unpopulated industries of the future, where technology itself controls processes with maximum precision and minimal cost. The technology has yet to be tested in real production, but it can already be said that it will be in demand in mechanical engineering, instrument engineering, composite materials and other advanced industries, experts told Izvestia.
A robotic complex with "flexible" control
Researchers at the Scientific Center for Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence at Sirius University of Science and Technology, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, have created a set of algorithms and a prototype robotic system that allows industrial manipulators to interact more precisely with parts, adapt to changes in production, and perform automatic assembly operations with minimal reconfiguration of equipment. The developed solutions can be an important step towards creating flexible, unpopulated industries in which robots are able to adapt to changing conditions on their own, the scientists said.
One of the key problems of modern industrial robotics is the lack of flexibility of automated systems. Most robots work effectively only in a strictly structured environment where the position of the parts is known in advance and practically does not change. Even small deviations in the geometry of products or their location often require reprogramming of equipment, the use of special devices or human involvement. This problem is especially relevant for threaded assemblies (when parts are screwed or screwed into each other due to thread alignment), which account for more than a quarter of all industrial assembly processes.
— Today, assembly operations are most often solved using special working tools that are created for a specific task. When the technological process changes, such systems require readjustment or complete replacement of equipment, which leads to downtime and additional costs. Our global goal is to create flexible production facilities where the robot can adapt to new conditions without major modification of hardware and control programs," said Danil Kulminsky, project leader, Associate professor of Mathematical Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at the Scientific Center for Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence at Sirius University.
Scientists have developed new calibration methods for industrial manipulators that significantly improve positioning accuracy without changing the design of robots. Algorithms for converting motion models and tools have also been created that ensure high stability of parameter identification and compatibility with industry standards. The specialists paid special attention to the interaction of the robot with various objects: they developed a mathematical model of contact with elastic bodies and algorithms to control the force of pressure.
The practical result of the project was a prototype of a robotic complex for automation of threaded assembly. The system combines an industrial manipulator, a vision camera, and a force-torque sensor (a high-precision sensor that measures applied forces and torques). All this combined allows the robot to independently determine the position of the parts, monitor the contact process and adjust its actions in real time.
This approach can significantly reduce the time of production processes.
— If the process took ten hours, then it will be an hour. But that's not the main saving. It usually takes several hours, and sometimes even days, to switch from one process to another. Our approach can eliminate this stage," Danil Kulminsky told Izvestia.
Acceleration of processes in mechanical engineering
Such technology will be most in demand in mechanical engineering, aircraft construction, shipbuilding, when working with composites and in any assembly operations where accuracy, repeatability and contact interaction with parts are important, especially in threaded assembly, polishing, grinding and coating, Leonid Drobyshevich, NTI technology expert, told Izvestia.
—If the system really knows how to quickly adjust to shifts in parts, changes in geometry, and minor technological deviations, this significantly reduces downtime, simplifies changeover, and makes automation much closer to real production than to a laboratory stand," the specialist noted.
Global industrial robotics is moving away from "rigid" robotic lines programmed for a single operation to flexible cells that can work with a variety of positions, geometries and contact conditions, said Alexey Vedyakov, Deputy Dean of the ITMO Faculty of Control Systems and Robotics.
"An integrated approach is important in the development of Sirius: manipulator calibration, technical vision, force feedback and control algorithms are combined into a system that potentially allows the robot not only to repeat the trajectory, but to adapt to a real production situation," the expert said.
In addition, technologies that reduce the cost of changeover and increase the autonomy of existing industrial robots can have a noticeable effect even without a complete replacement of equipment, Alexey Vedyakov noted.
— As for speed, the effect here will be expressed not only in the fact that the robot will start moving faster, but above all in reducing reconfiguration time, reducing defects and reducing downtime. In real assembly processes, these factors often limit productivity," the expert said.
The developers still have to overcome a number of difficulties, Alexey Vedyakov said. The main challenges are bringing the prototype to industrial reliability, integration with existing lines, and accumulation of statistics on different types of parts. But now we can say that the development logic fully corresponds to the global trend and looks timely.
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