Simulation based feasibility analysis of autonomously movable robot arm

Abstract

The use of industrial robots in production is rapidly growing. However, the vast use of industrial robots and implementation of new manufacturing technologies are mostly adopted by large industrial companies. It is due to the nature of the production volume, as robots perform a fair amount of the same work in one specific position in the production process. In smaller companies where robots do not often have sufficient workload in a single specific workplace, the process of robotization has not been so successful. SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) need a solution how the robot can be moved from one workplace to another in order to utilize the resources, such as a robot arm, efficiently. This paper aims to analyse the feasibility of the usage of a robotic arm (a col­laborative robot) to serve more than a single production cell intermittently. Production machines are located at a particular distance from each other and the movement of the robotic arm between the machines is carried out autonomously with the help of an autonomous mobile robot. Simulation and 3D visualization were used to conduct and analyse two different scenarios of an autonomously moving robot. Utilization of production equipment was considered as a key performance indicator.

Keywords

• industry 4.0
• industrial robots
• cobots
• smart machines
• machine vision.