scholarly journals Modelling and condition-based control of a flexible and hybrid disassembly system with manual and autonomous workstations using reinforcement learning

Author(s):  
Marco Wurster ◽  
Marius Michel ◽  
Marvin Carl May ◽  
Andreas Kuhnle ◽  
Nicole Stricker ◽  
...  

AbstractRemanufacturing includes disassembly and reassembly of used products to save natural resources and reduce emissions. While assembly is widely understood in the field of operations management, disassembly is a rather new problem in production planning and control. The latter faces the challenge of high uncertainty of type, quantity and quality conditions of returned products, leading to high volatility in remanufacturing production systems. Traditionally, disassembly is a manual labor-intensive production step that, thanks to advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, starts to be automated with autonomous workstations. Due to the diverging material flow, the application of production systems with loosely linked stations is particularly suitable and, owing to the risk of condition induced operational failures, the rise of hybrid disassembly systems that combine manual and autonomous workstations can be expected. In contrast to traditional workstations, autonomous workstations can expand their capabilities but suffer from unknown failure rates. For such adverse conditions a condition-based control for hybrid disassembly systems, based on reinforcement learning, alongside a comprehensive modeling approach is presented in this work. The method is applied to a real-world production system. By comparison with a heuristic control approach, the potential of the RL approach can be proven simulatively using two different test cases.

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110435
Author(s):  
Anupama Prashar

The case helps students to understand the emerging concept of linear and circular economies. It facilitates to examine the implications of circular business models such as remanufacturing on operations management decisions. It also introduces them to the concept of total cost of ownership and impact of remanufacturing on reducing total cost of ownership. The cases help students to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of remanufacturing business in emerging economy like India. This case is among the first few cases on the application of circular economy principles in context of heavy-duty and off-road sector and the impact of these principles on product design and production planning and control decisions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (04) ◽  
pp. 255-260
Author(s):  
Marvin Carl May ◽  
Andreas Kuhnle ◽  
Gisela Lanza

Im Rahmen der stufenweisen Umsetzung von Industrie 4.0 erreicht die Vernetzung und Digitalisierung die gesamte Produktion. Den physischen Produktionsprozess nicht nur cyber-physisch zu begleiten, sondern durch eine virtuelle, digitale Kopie zu erfassen und zu optimieren, stellt ein enormes Potenzial für die Produktionssystemplanung und -steuerung dar. Zudem erlauben digitale Modelle die Anwendung intelligenter Produktionssteuerungsverfahren und leisten damit einen Beitrag zur Verbreitung optimierender adaptiver Systeme.   In the wake of implementing Industrie 4.0 both integration and digitalization affect the entire production. Physical production systems offer enormous potential for production planning and control through virtual, digital copies and their optimization, well beyond purely cyber-physical production system extensions. Furthermore, digital models enable the application of intelligent production control and hence contribute to the dissemination of adaptively optimizing systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. 1950012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mircea Hulea ◽  
Adrian Burlacu ◽  
Constantin-Florin Caruntu

This paper details an intelligent motion planning and control approach for a one-degree of freedom joint of a robotic arm that can be used to implement anthropomorphic robotic hands. This intelligent control method is based on bio-inspired electronic neural networks and contractile artificial muscles implemented with shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. The spiking neural network (SNN) includes several excitatory neurons that naturally determine the contraction force of the actuators, and unevenly distributed inhibitory neurons that regulate the excitatory activity. To validate the proposed concept, the experiments highlight the motion planning and control of a single-joint robotic arm. The results show that the electronic neural network is able to intelligently activate motion and hold with high precision the mobile link to the target positions even if the arm is slightly loaded. These results are encouraging for the development of improved biologically plausible neural structures that are able to control simultaneously multiple muscles.


Author(s):  
R. Lawrence LaForge

Enterprise systems technology is used to enhance the teaching of operations management through development and operation of a virtual manufacturing enterprise. An ongoing, real-time simulation is conducted in which operations management issues in the ?ctitious factory must be addressed on a daily basis. The virtual manufacturing enterprise is integrated into an operations management course to facilitate understanding of the dynamic and interrelated nature of operations planning and control in a complex manufacturing environment. Enterprise software supports the primary learning objective of understanding how operations management decisions affect customer service, capacity, inventory, and costs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olumide Emmanuel Oluyisola ◽  
Fabio Sgarbossa ◽  
Jan Ola Strandhagen

Many companies are struggling to manage their production systems due to increasing market uncertainty. While emerging ‘smart’ technologies such as the internet of things, machine learning, and cloud computing have been touted as having the potential to transform production management, the realities of their adoption and use have been much more challenging than anticipated. In this paper, we explore these challenges and present a conceptual model, a use-case matrix and a product–process framework for a smart production planning and control (smart PPC) system and illustrate the use of these artefacts through four case companies. The presented model adopts an incremental approach that companies with limited resources could employ in improving their PPC process in the context of industry 4.0 and sustainability. The results reveal that while make-to-order companies are more likely to derive greater benefits from a smart product strategy, make-to-stock companies are more likely to derive the most benefit from pursuing a smart process strategy, and consequently a smart PPC solution.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Lawrence ◽  
Arnold H. Buss

The management of bottlenecks has become a central topic in the planning and control of production systems. In this paper, we critically analyze bottlenecks from an economic perspective. Using a queueing network model, we demonstrate that bottlenecks are inevitable when there are differences in job arrival rates, processing rates, or costs of productive resources. These differences naturally lead to the creation of bottlenecks both for facilities design and demand planning problems. To evaluate bottlenecks from an economic perspective, we develop the notion of an “economic bottleneck,” which defines resources as bottlenecks based on economic, rather than physical, characteristics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Chetan V. Hiremath ◽  
Shankargouda C. Patil

There are many approaches to enhance the overall performance of the production systems. But these approaches are inclined towards intense use of resources and have caused huge pressure on limited resources. Many scholars suggest waste management as an alternative and complimentary approach to tackle this problem. This approach is in nascent stage and lacks standard definitions, practices and tools. The research is taken up in Dharwad District (Karnataka) to know which major factors contribute significantly for waste generation in small scale units and to test whether wastivity can be used to compare the systems to evaluate their performance. The study found that lack of Production Planning and Control contributes maximum toward waste generation followed by Human Resource practices and Inventory Management. Also, it was found that wastivity can be used as a measure to compare production units as it is unit less and is independent of category of production system. There is a further scope to quantify the contribution of each sub systems towards waste generation to develop larger control mechanisms like Total Waste Management System.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Νικόλαος Νικολάκης

Αντικείμενο αυτής της εργασίας είναι η μελέτη των συστημάτων παραγωγής ως κυβερνο-φυσικών συστημάτων επικεντρώνοντας στον προσαρμοστικό σχεδιασμό/προγραμματισμό κι έλεγχό τους. Απώτερος σκοπός είναι η δυνατότητα αναδιαμόρφωσής τους για την αύξηση της αυτοματοποίησης και της ευελιξίας στις συνθήκες εργασίας καθώς και σε μεταβαλλόμενες απαιτήσεις παραγωγής. Για αυτό το λόγο, μέθοδοι, που μεταφράζονται σε διαφορετικά επίπεδα της πυραμίδας αυτοματισμού, μέσω της αρχιτεκτονικής 5C για κυβερνο-φυσικά συστήματα, έχουν διερευνηθεί κι ενσωματωθεί σε υπό-μελέτη κυβερνο-φυσικά συστήματα. Πρώτον, μελετάται ο δυναμικός έλεγχος κλειστού βρόχου ενός κυβερνο-φυσικού συστήματος σχετικά με την ασφαλή συνεργασία ανθρώπου-ρομπότ σε ένα περιβάλλον εργασίας. Μια αρχική εφαρμογή αξιολογείται σε μια συγκεκριμένη περίπτωση χρήσης και συγκρίνονται τα αποτελέσματά της σχετικά με τη χρήση ενός ή περισσοτέρων αισθητήρων. Η σύγκριση πραγματοποιείται με βάση τον χρόνο απόκρισης του συστήματος για την ανίχνευση της ανθρώπινης παρουσίας εντός μιας προκαθορισμένης ζώνης ασφαλείας. Στη συνέχεια, εξετάζονται οι χειρωνακτικές εργασίες συναρμολόγησης, συζητείται ο προσαρμοστικός προγραμματισμός και ο επαναπροσδιορισμός του σταθμού συναρμολόγησης. Η εφαρμογή ψηφιακού διδύμου παρουσιάζεται για να κλείσει ψηφιακά το βρόχο μεταξύ φυσικού και εικονικού συστήματος, επιτρέποντας έτσι μια αποτελεσματική, από πλευράς κόστους, βελτίωση του σχεδιασμού, της ανάθεσης καθώς και ολόκληρου του κύκλου ζωής των διαδικασιών παραγωγής με βάση τον άνθρωπο. Μια μελέτη περίπτωσης σε χώρο αποθήκης καταδεικνύει τη σκοπιμότητα και αποτελεσματικότητα της προτεινόμενης προσέγγισης. Επίσης, στο πλαίσιο της τρίτης μελέτης, συζητείται ένα ολιστικό πλαίσιο για τα αναδιαμορφώσιμα κυβερνο-φυσικά συστήματα παραγωγής, που υλοποιούνται από τις τεχνολογίες των υπηρεσιών πακέτων λογισμικού (containers). Η παρουσιαζόμενη προσέγγιση ενισχύει την ευελιξία σε ένα κυβερνο-φυσικό σύστημα παραγωγής μέσω της δυναμικής αναδιάρθρωσης του συστήματος αυτοματισμού και του χρονοδιαγράμματος παραγωγής, με βάση τα συμβάντα. Η προτεινόμενη λύση υλοποιήθηκε σε μια εφαρμογή λογισμικού και εφαρμόστηκε σε ένα κυβερνο-φυσικό σύστημα παραγωγής μικρής κλίμακας που προέρχεται από την αυτοκινητοβιομηχανία. Τέλος, η συμβολή των στρωμάτων ολοκλήρωσης της αρχιτεκτονικής 5C για την υλοποίηση και την ανάπτυξη λειτουργιών CPPS, που μετατρέπει τις συμβατικές διαδικασίες παραγωγής σε έξυπνες, έχει αξιολογηθεί μέσω ενός συνόλου δεικτών επιπέδου ευελιξίας μέσω του αυτοματισμού και δεικτών χαρακτηριστικών των κυβερνο-φυσικών συστημάτων παραγωγής.


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