Throughput optimization in robotic cells
This book presents results on sequencing and scheduling problems arising in robotic cells. Automation in manufacturing has become an important factor in order to increase the traditionally conflicting objectives flexibility and productivity. Flexibility addresses the problem of producing a number of distinct orders in a job shop environment with respect to different production alternatives and in order to meet some objectives. Productivity refers high speed production, high machine utilization, and small storage requirements. Increasing job shop productivity while maintaining production flexibility has become a desired goal. As a result, the introduction of concepts related to automated manufacturing and robotics as well as an increased progress in information technology became an important issue to control the flow of orders in a factory. A problem that frequently arises in flexible manufacturing planning is the process of dividing a manufacturing system into machine (robotic) cells by grouping machines and parts, e.g. based on the similarity of part manufacturing characteristics. Parts that have to undergo similar operations require the same set of machines and are grouped together to part families each of which is assigned to the corresponding machines forming a machine cell. This is the philosophy of group technology. Tooling, loading and scheduling decisions within each cell should preferably be made as far as possible independently of the other cells. This requires that machine groups and part families are as homogeneous as possible and that a minimum interference occurs between cells in order to reduce transportation and setup costs (see Chapter 1). Chapter 2 presents an extension of the well-known three field problem classification scheme for robotic cells. Cyclic production (Chapter 3) defines the production of (identical) parts by repeating a fixed sequence of robot moves. The chapter discusses the robot's waiting time at the machines and computation of the cycle time for a given cycle as well as the computation of bounds and the presentation of approximation algorithms. Dual-gripper robots can hold two parts simultaneously. While one gripper is empty the other one holds a part for the next machine that is still occupied. With one move of the robot arm the finished part can be removed from the machine and the new part can be loaded. Dual-gripper robots lead to an increased throughput in cells on the cost of more complicated sequencing and scheduling problems. Chapter 4 compares results for single and dual gripper robots, contains results about efficiently solvable cases or presents results about single-gripper robots with machine buffers. Chapter 5 discusses a (single- and dual-gripper) robotic cell with parallel machines which is comparable to a flexible flow shop with blocking. Chapters 6 and 7 consider single-and dual-gripper robots that process lots containing different types of parts with different processing times at the machines. Special cases for two and three machines as well as complexity results are contained in more detail. While Chapter 8 is on multiple robot cells, Chapter 9 treats the no-wait case, i.e. there is no waiting time for a part after completion of processing on a machine and the process start of the immediate successor operation. A last chapter with open problems and two appendices followed by a list of 174 concludes the book. This book is a comprehensive approach for scheduling in flexible manufacturing of robotic cells. The book is equally interesting for use in university courses as well as for practitioners. I am not aware of any other book covering such a huge variety of practically relevant aspects and quantitative models on robotic cell planning and scheduling.
- Scheduling Multiple Parts in a Robotic Cell Served by a Dual-Gripper Robot
- Sequencing and scheduling in robotic cells: recent developments
- Scheduling in Robotic Cells: Classification, Two and Three Machine Cells
- Scheduling in Robotic Cells: Heuristics and Cell Design
- Scheduling dual gripper robotic cell: one-unit cycles
- A polynomial algorithm for 2-cyclic robotic scheduling: A non-Euclidean case
- An optimization-based heuristic for the robotic cell problem
- Multi-degree cyclic scheduling of a no-wait robotic cell with multiple robots
- Cycles and permutations in robotic cells
- Optimizing energy consumption of robotic cells by a branch \& bound algorithm
- Cyclic scheduling of parts and robot moves in m-machine robotic cells
- Fast heuristics for minimizing the makespan in non-permutation flow shops
- Cyclic flowshop scheduling with operators and robots: Vyacheslav Tanaev's vision and lasting contributions
- Robotic cells with parallel machines: throughput maximization in constant travel-time cells
- Optimal K-unit cycle scheduling of two-cluster tools with residency constraints and general robot moving times
- Productivity analysis in a robotic cell
- Quantifying the impact of layout on productivity: an analysis from robotic-cell manufacturing
- A scheduling problem in blocking hybrid flow shop robotic cells with multiple robots
- Scheduling multiple factory cranes on a common track
- Multi-degree cyclic flow shop robotic cell scheduling problem: ant colony optimization
- Scheduling Multiple Parts in a Robotic Cell Served by a Dual-Gripper Robot
- Robotic assembly system design for total productivity
- Throughput optimization for the robotic cell problem with controllable processing times
- A faster algorithm for 2-cyclic robotic scheduling with a fixed robot route and interval processing times
- A polynomial algorithm for multi-robot 2-cyclic scheduling in a no-wait robotic cell
- Parametric algorithms for 2-cyclic robot scheduling with interval processing times
- Exact methods for the robotic cell problem
- A robust basic cyclic scheduling problem
- Scheduling dual gripper robotic cell: one-unit cycles
- A note on productivity gains in flexible robotic cells
- Sequencing and scheduling in robotic cells: recent developments
- A local strategy for cleaning expanding cellular domains by simple robots
- Throughput optimization in robotic cells with input and output machine buffers: a comparative study of two key models
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