doi: 10.7763/IJET.2024.V16.1265
Methodology for Reconfigurable Cobot-Based Quality Control System for SME Production
Madis Moor
1,2,*
,
Martinš Sarkans
1
,
Jüri Riives
1
,
Tauno Otto
1
,
Jaime Masiá Vañó
3
- 1 Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Taltech, Tallinn, Estonia
- 2 Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, TTK University of Applied Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia
- 3 Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Valencia Polytechnic University, Alcoy, Spain
- Manuscript received December 30, 2024
- revised January 15, 2024
- accepted February 21, 2024
- published June 13, 2024
Abstract
More than a decade ago, we were introduced to the concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), and today a lot has been applied in the manufacturing industry. Moreover, the concept of Industry 5.0 (I5.0) is spreading its branches, focusing on collaboration between humans and machines. The continuous development of collaborative robots (cobots) has led to a situation where Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have the financial resources, but lack of knowledge how to integrate these robot systems into their production by the principles of I4.0. The functions of the cobots meet the requirements of SMEs as these are easy to program, lightweight, and universal machines. In this article, we propose a methodology for reconstructing an existing cobot cell into an autonomous quality control system for SME production. This implies the use of Machine Vision (MV) technology with the development of various product databases, and in the future, adapting Machine Learning (ML) functionality. First, the variables are examined and classified by their features, determining their importance in the redesign process. Then, a digital twin model of the robotic system is developed to evaluate the effectiveness and simplify the preliminary programming of the system. This includes technology process-based design for elements such as gripper and multi-position fixture. Finally, we present the assembly and testing of the reconfigurable cobot-based quality control system with test results which imply that the quality control system can perform by the established goals.
Keywords
- collaborative robot
- machine vision
- machine learning
- quality control
- Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SMEs) production
How to Cite
Madis Moor, Martinš Sarkans, Jüri Riives, Tauno Otto, and Jaime Masiá Vañó, "Methodology for Reconfigurable Cobot-Based Quality Control System for SME Production," International Journal of Engineering and Technology, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 113-119, 2024. https://doi.org/ 10.7763/IJET.2024.V16.1265
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).