NDLI: A Generalized Method for Weld Load Balancing in Multi Station Sheet Metal Assembly Lines

Content Provider	The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Digital Collection
Author	Segeborn, Johan Segerdahl, Daniel Ekstedt, Fredrik Johan, S. Carlson Carlsson, Anders So¨derberg, Rikard
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	Sheet metal assembly is investment intense. Therefore the equipment needs to be efficiently utilized. The balancing of welds has a significant influence on achievable production rate and equipment utilization. Robot line balancing is a complex problem, where each weld is to be assigned to a specific station and robot, such that line cycle time is minimized. Industrial robot line balancing has been manually conducted, based on experience and trial and error rather than mathematical methods. However, recently an automatic method for robot line balancing was proposed by the authors. To reduce robot coordination cycle time losses, this method requires identical reach ability of all line stations. This limits applicability considerably since in most industrial lines, reach ability differs over the stations to further line reach ability and flexibility. Therefore, in this work we propose a novel generalized simulation-based method for automatic robot line balancing that allows any robot positioning. It reduces the need for robot coordination significantly by spatially separating the robot weld work loads. This is furthermore achieved at a cost neglectable to line cycle time. The proposed method is furthermore successfully demonstrated on an automotive stud welding line. Moreover, algorithm CPU-times is a mere fraction of corresponding manual optimization times.
Starting Page	491
Ending Page	499
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9780791854891
DOI	10.1115/IMECE2011-65102
Volume Number	Volume 3: Design and Manufacturing
Conference Proceedings	ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
Language	English
Publisher Date	2011-11-11
Publisher Place	Denver, Colorado, USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Spot welding Welding sequence Automatic path planning Line load balancing Robot coordination Welding Robots Sheet metal Stress Assembly lines
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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