Conference
AQUA - robotic Assembly for the Metal-Working Industry
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— 1998
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July 1998
Abstract
Metal-working industry manufactures a wide range of products, from food containers and hand tools to earth-moving equipment and ships. Many of the small and medium sized enterprises involved in the industry produce components in small batches. To compete effectively in world markets, these smaller companies must become more cost-effective by rationalizing their production methods and operational procedures. One way of increasing efficiency is to introduce automation. The AQUA EUREKA project EU 759 aimed to help them achieve this by developing a robotic production cell for the automation of metal-working operations such as cutting, assembling and welding. A production line for small manufactured items needs to be flexible, as from time to time assembly of one product will stop and preparations must then be made for another product to replace it. During this process, the robot will be stopped, which also halts production. This wastes expensive resources and manufacturers must keep this down-time to an absolute minimum. The project addressed the following issues: -The introduction of high flexible automation and production processes -The need to reduce preparation time -The improvement of production planning and control -The introduction of an efficient materials management technique In order to achieve the goals proposed, the following technologies were used: -CAD/CAM -Methodologies of conditioned project -Advanced cutting and welding technologies -CNC cutting -Sensors -Off-line programming -Integration of a flexible manufacturing cell -Production planning system The project was developed in the early nineties (1992-95) and included participants with expertise in robotics and metal-working industries from Brazil, Germany and Portugal.
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Location of the conference
Lisboa, Portugal
Publication language (ISO code)
eng - English
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