Project objective [Project theme]

Design of a robotic production system integrating handling, sorting, packaging and palletizing activities for the given products.

Objective functions of the project

1.     Low-cost solution

2.     Low production costs

3.     Highly productive

4.     Energy-efficient

5.     Compact layout

6.     Increased safety level

7.     Highly ergonomic and intuitive (near-zero training time

8.     Flexible (chess + backgammon pieces

9.     Short installation time

10.  Support for people with disabilities

11.  Low maintenance costs

12.  Increasing the capacity of the company to launch new products on the market

Working methodology

Project meeting 1: Presentation of the project theme and project requirements.

Project meeting 2: Critical analysis of the products illustrated in Annexes 1 and 2 in order to identify the technical, dimensional and geometric characteristics. The sketch of the product structure is highlighted; the diagram showing the inter-dependencies between the component parts is highlighted. A list of weaknesses will be generated to highlight the difficulties of handling and sorting those products.

Project meeting 3: Documentation on automated/ robotic handling, sorting, packaging and palletizing systems. Identification of equipment, devices for feeding, transporting, orienting, etc., sensors, control equipment necessary for the process to be automated. The completion of this stage will be done with a synthetic presentation, in front of colleagues, of the identified solutions (= 10 slides).

Project meeting 4: The needs of the process to be automated are defined. The objective function(s) is selected that are to be achieved through automation and the concrete ways in which the objective function(s) is to be achieved.

Project meetings 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: The conception of the automated / robotic production system

1. Identification of the functions of the robotic production system;

2. Elaboration of the flow chart of the entire robotic process;

3. Making the process / sub-process map (eg sorting, packing, palletizing, checking)

4. Elaboration of the scheme of location of the equipment within the space available and taking into account the functionalities of the robotic production system - 2 - 3 solutions - study of various solutions;

5. Generation of the location scheme (3D layout) of the equipment that will be part of the automated / robotic production system.

The generated solution is evaluated according to the performance criteria for such systems highlighted in the course using the correlation matrix (MC).

Project meeting 10: Identification of the types of final effectors (grippers) for the robots integrated in the developed solution.

Project meetings 11, 12 and 13: Carrying out the risk analysis for the solution generated within this project (based on ISO 12100: 2010)

1. Determining the limits of equipment and robotic systems integrated into the generated solution,

2. Identification of potential hazards in the robotic production system (hazards may occur in the mechanical, electrical, thermal, noise, vibration, radiation, material or ergonomic areas);

3. Estimation of the identified risk (s).

Project meeting 14: Simulation of at least one sub-process (e.g .handling and sorting, packaging, palletizing) within the robotic production system.

Project evaluation

20% Results during the semester (A); 

20% Correct choice of equipment / devices / sensors / control equipment (B); 

20% Technical feasibility of the proposed solution – evaluate the 3D solution(s) (C); 

30% Risk analysis for the automated / robotic production system generated (D); 

10% Oral presentation (E).

Examples of production facility layouts (developed by students): 

...the examples below were developed by students from Robotics Specialisation and they were not necessarily scored with the maximum grade; examples below are relevant to the Robotization Manufacturing II project...