Automated guided vehicles (AGV) are very common in modern production environments nowadays. The planning of roadmaps for the vehicles is still a very time consuming task that includes different optimization goals (e.g. shortest path, collision avoidance, maximizing of the free space). Depending on the scenario different optimization goals have different priorities. The weighting of the goals depends on the experience and judgement of the experts. Automated approaches in form of path planning algorithms give results that are mathematically correct but aren’t applicable in reality. This paper presents an expert system that automatically generates roadmaps for AGVs. The aim is to generate road maps that are both efficient and applicable. For this purpose common path planning algorithms (Lee and A*), that are able to generate mathematical efficient road maps, are combined with expert knowledge in the form of fuzzy logic. The results of the expert system are evaluated using real layouts and are compared to manual generated road maps.
Road map, automated guided vehicles, A*, path planning
The required energy of a conveyor belt system is also influenced by the used idlers. The IPH - Institut fuer Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH has modified a test rig to measure the running resistance of idlers, to improve the design of a conveyor belt system. The achieved repetition accuracy of 0.3 N shows a good functionality of the test rig.
test rig, conveyor belt idlers, running resistance
The assembly of large-scale products is usually organized in the construction-site principle. For each assembled product, the area requirement increases with assembly time. So for each product a defined area is reserved, that corresponds to the maximum expansion of the product. As the existing area is limited, the single products are competing for it. This results in an increased area requirement and a poor use of area. Therefore time-variable and competing area requirements should be considered in the facility layout planning.
layout problem, time dynamics, competing areas
In order to guarantee successful long term factory investments, factory layouts need to be flexible and versatile. Thus, a planning and design method is introduced that is based on a synergetic interaction of production process and factory space as well as the accompanying project management of the planning and construction phase. The method integrates several interdisciplinary perspectives, e. g. logistical processes, architecture and building equipment and appliances. Within numerous factory layout planning projects IPH was able to prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the introduce method.
factory planning, layout planning, green-field-planning, brown-field-planning
The lecture gives an overview on the different domains of IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH. In the areas of production automation, logistics and process technology examples of research and consulting projects are exemplarily shown. In addition, an introduction in the subject Industrie 4.0 is given and the resulting trends and opportunities are shown.
research and development, industry 4.0, automation technology
In order to guarantee successful long term factory investments, factory layouts need to be flexible and versatile. Thus, a planning and design method is introduced that is based on a synergetic interaction of production process and factory space as well as the accompanying project management of the planning and construction phase. The method integrates several interdisciplinary perspectives, e. g. logistical processes, architecture and building equipment and appliances. Within numerous factory layout planning projects IPH was able to prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the introduce method.
factory planning, layout planning, green-field-planning, brown-field-planning
Content of the lecture as part of the by the IFA and IPH conducted factory planning seminar was the presentation of the procedure and the results of a factory planning project with an automotive supplier.
factory planning, conceptual layout, automotive supplier
Efficient forming of components without burr: The solution is cross wedge rolling. Hybrid billets require new investigations: Which are the optimum adjustments to be made for joint forming of cohesive bonds – for example between steel and aluminium?
cross wedge rolling, hybrid billets
In the presented article, the initial situation, which leads to the development of a small-scaled cyber physical material handling system, is presented first. Therefore, apart from the general requirements of material handling systems, the reasons for a determination of new requirements are presented as well. Since the developed system consists of multiple decentralized controlled conveyor elements, the data transmission principle inside the system will be described.
cyber physical material handling system, data transmission, decentralized controlled, conveyor
In this presentation the research project "Quality system for the evaluation of 8D report contents (QuSys)" was introduced. The objectives of the research project are the effective organization of complaint management and the internal fault management due to an automated quality evaluation of 8D reports. The evaluation allows to take well-directed measures and prevents that faulty 8D reports are sent to the customer.
claims management, reports, quality evaluation
The concept of angular difference allows simultaneous measurement of the relative and absolute rotation angle as well as the torque. The torsion of a shaft resulting from torque gets determined via the difference of two angles and converted into correlating torque. Today’s measuring devices use encoder disks or additional torque shafts. An incremental or absolute structure of measurement of the encoder disks is applied to it. Torque shafts are used frequently to extend the twist angle as a result of torsion. Current methods of measurement for rotation angle and torque are described.
torque, torsion, rotation angle
In this paper an approach to establish a flow-production in the production of xxl-goods is presented. The developed approach is based on three sequentially steps and takes the specific conditions and characteristics of the xxl-production (e.g. high customization, highly scattering process times) into account. With the developed approach a safe forecast on the economic impact of a manufacturing reorganization is made, so that investments in failing reorganization attempts can be avoided.
xxl-production, flow production, site production, reorganization
Compared to conventional demolition processes (e.g. living houses) the demolition of industrial plants, such as nuclear power plants, is more challenging for the management of logistics processes (e.g. due to spatial and legal restrictions). Therefore the demolition of a nuclear power plant can take up to ten years and incur costs by 4 billion euros. Controlling the logistics processes can reduce these costs and the required time significantly.
dismantling management, demolition
Assembling large-scale products involves frequent process interruptions induced by e.g. delayed material deliveries or missing availability of resources. Our approach for identifying alternative assembly sequences by analyzing the product structure and process dependencies allows for continuing with the assembly process in case of interruptions and therefore increases the process efficiency.
large-scale product, adaptive assembly, alternative assembly process
This paper is concerned to technology trends in logistics and shows a user interface which is focused on voice commands for using it with automated guided vehicles (AGV). Furthermore a multimodal human-machine interaction (HMI) will be presented, which gives the user the possibility to communicate and control an AGV due to information from a speech recognition system and an electroencephalograph (EEG). It will be shown which potentials based on the merging between the acoustical voice signals and the non-invasive recording of the brainwaves from the EEG-Headset are available. By the detection of the cognitive and emotional state of the user from the signal curves by the EEG like attention or mental effort, an intelligent HMI should be realized. As a result, dialogues between humans and machines could be used more efficient and wrong inputs, like for example the request for a reconfirmation if an inattention is detected, could be reduced. First perceptions will be shown in this paper. In conclusion there will be a prospect of upcoming studies in the future.
driverless transport systems, driverless transport vehicles, voice control, eeg
This article presents a solution for the thermoelectric power supply of wireless sensor nodes for condition monitoring of marine gearboxes. Among the different ambient energy sources in marine gearboxes, frictional heat has been identified to be appropriate to thermally power a thermoelectric generator (TEG). The such generated electricity may power wireless sensor nodes for detecting temperature, vibration, torque and rotational speed. Requirements for a corresponding energy supply are formulated, constructive solutions are presented and thermal simulations and practical experiments are reviewed. The results are evaluated and a solution is selected for further implementation, which provides for an actively cooled TEG in the area of the ship gearbox’s heat exchanger. This can provide continuous electrical power of up to 14 mW, thus supplying the planned sensor nodes. The disadvantage of this solution is that a comparatively extensive mechanical modification, for example, to the oil and cooling water pipelines is required.
energy harvesting, thermoelectric generator, wireless sensor nodes, thermal simulation, condition mo
More and more people want to live in the cities. Space is getting scarce – not only living space but space for offices, streets, parking, railways and stations. Will urban infrastructure still be sufficient in the future? And how can we use urban space as efficiently as possible?
material flow simulation, traffic
As a highly-loaded element between the diesel engine and propeller installation, the marine gear has a special significance with regard to the reliability of the entire ship propulsion. Together with project partners from industry and research a condition monitoring system has been developed by the IPH, to prevent failures. The peculiarity of the system is the wireless and self-powered operation.
condition monitoring, wireless sensor nodes, microcontrollers
When designing logistics processes, the demand for an environmental sustainability is increasing. Often companies have a choice between different alternatives, which costs and environmental consequences may differ. This paper presents the results of a research project that aimed to develop a method for the ecological and cost-based selection of supply concepts.
ecological rating, supply concepts, green logistics
The method of injection molding is one of the most important processes in the processing of plastics. Thus moldings can be produced economically in large quantities and with a high reproducibility. Besides quality the energy consumption in the production is an important part because of the energy transition and the rising energy prices. In particular, small and medium enterprises from the plastics processing industry in Germany with about 3,000 companies are, therefore, forced to optimize their processes and production equipment energetically.
injection molding, plastics processing, energy optimization, parameter optimization, energy model
