Lineless Mobile Assembly Systems at CIRP CATS in Leuven
From April 6 to 8, 2022, the 9th CIRP Conference on "Assembly Technology and Systems" was held in hybrid format. The conference is organized by the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP). The physical part of the gathering of researchers from different countries was held in Leuven. Cluster scientist Armin Buckhorst from the Chair of Production Metrology and Quality Management at WZL was present via teleconference. The conference offered thematic on flexible and reconfigurable assembly concepts, human-robot interaction and collaboration but also topics on operator support and ergonomics.
Buckhorst's presentation dealt with "a mixed-integer program that is a white-box model for fine-grained planning of the so-called line-less mobile assembly system paradigm." His research focuses on flexible mobile assembly solutions based on controllable industrial robots. Line-less mobile assembly systems can become a decisive factor for competitiveness in industry. He evaluates the conference participation positively:
"The presentations were exciting and the proximity and relevance of the conference to our research topics and the IoP was given. It should be emphasized that this white-box model does justice to the corresponding complexity and intricacy of the paradigm for organizing flexible assembly systems. The work on this is related to our workstream (B2.IV) on "Future Assembly". This is about the planning and control layer that any networked production system requires."
The next CIRP conference to be held will be the CIRP General Assembly in Bilbao, Spain, and will take place from August 21-27, also in a hybrid format.