Robotically Assisted Manufacturing Workcell

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Design Task
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Problem Statement
Hundreds of nut plate assemblies are built every day using human labor. This work is monotonous and physically taxing for the workers involved, often resulting in injury due to repetitive motions. In addition to causing workplace injury, the repetitive nature of these tasks results in an accumulation of process errors. The goal of this project is to create an automated work cell centered on an industrial robot which can tirelessly and consistently perform these assembly tasks which are ill-suited for human workers.

Design Goals

 * Safety
 * Robot enclosure protocols
 * Removing humans from the manufacturing task
 * Providing students with practical experience in industrial automation
 * Creating thorough documentation for future students and design teams
 * Creation of a proof of concept for a process that can be used for production
 * 1st semester goals
 * Understand current assembly process
 * Establish baseline of mock parts
 * Develop a proposal for an automated process using one industrial robot
 * Develop a concept for tooling and part orientation, including prototype tools and fixturing
 * 2nd semester goals
 * Programming of the robotic process
 * Final design and construction of fixturing and tooling required for process
 * Presentation and exit (feeding/removing parts in work cell)
 * As a stretch goal: multiple, collaborative robots (will require additional safety features)

Detailed Specifications
1. Quick and Efficient Process
 * At least as fast as a human operator
 * Robot should be able to operate with minimum human input
 * Robot can be adaptedto various nut plate assembly tasks with minimal setup time

2. Correct Rivet Placement
 * Rivet depth must be withing the tolerance requirements, -0/+0.010 inches
 * Rivets must be placed at a minimum distance of two rivet head diameters away from the edge of the plate and from other rivets

3. Correct Nut Plate Placement
 * The clocking of the nut place is positioned within 2 degrees from the drawing specifications
 * The nut plate is positioned within 0.030 inches from the drawing specifications

4. Minimal Human Interaction
 * Assembly requires at most a worker to place parts into the work cell and remove completed assemblies

Current Manufacturing Process
This is the current manufacturing process for a nut plate assembly as built by a human worker. Note that some assemblies have multiple types of rivets and nut plates.
 * 1) Receive 'shoebox' full of parts
 * 2) Follow specifications on work instruction
 * 3) Gather materials
 * 4) Use a test plate to check Winslow drill depth
 * 5) Drill countersinks and rivet holes with Winslow drill
 * 6) Load rivets and tape down
 * 7) Flip part over and place nut plates into position
 * 8) C-squeeze to fasten rivets
 * 9) Place completed assemblies back into ‘shoebox’