Research Topics

(1)

Manufacturing System Realization

(2)

Sensor Networks in Manufacturing

(3)

Integration of Product and Process Characteristics

(4)

Reconfigurable Assembly Systems

(5)

Material Handling of Compliant Parts

(5) Material Handling of Compliant Parts

The critical need to integrate information for product design and manufacturing process is also clearly seen in design of material handling for compliant parts.  The impact of material handling on large sheet metal part quality and cycle time is one of the most crucial and at the same time neglected areas of research in stamping dimensional quality.  A fundamental shortcoming of existing material handling models is the lack of modeling of part dimensional variation induced by handling operations which causes up to 50% of total dimensional part variation/quality defects in automotive sheet metal parts [14].  Our methodology for optimal trajectory planning during the handling of compliant sheet metal parts led to the reduction of dimensional variation and overall press-to-press cycle time [15, 18].