Design and Control of Systems for Flexible Assembly

As modern day products are becoming increasingly complex, the demands placed on the manufacturing facilities forces companies to seek alternative ways that are more capable yet less costly. Conventional methods of hand assembly or hard automation are becoming increasingly uneconomical especially in light of shorter product life cycles and diverse product families. Flexible assembly systems offer one solution. These systems would have the versatility to assemble a family of different products instead of just one type. However, such versatility comes with added complexity and problems with respect to process control and alignment. This thesis addresses these problems associated with flexible assembly in the context of a system for bending products. An analysis of the system is conducted to derive a mathematical model of the system. Based on this model, a suitable controller is devised to optimize performance for speed and accuracy. This thesis also addresses two issues regarding alignment of components of a flexible assembly system. It describes the development of a secure clamping mechanism for two systems. It also documents the study of an optical sensing method for the purpose of fine part location. Thesis Supervisor: Professor Steven Leeb Title: Carl Richard Soderberg Assistant Professor of Power Engineering