PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND PRODUCTION CONTROL METHODS WITH LOCATING SYSTEM-BASED SIMULATIONS OF PRODUCTION SEQUENCES

Abstract

The disclosure relates to digital models of a production apparatus. The digital models can generate simulations of production sequences of the production apparatus, and a controller can access the simulation to improve operations of the production apparatus. The digital model uses data of a locating system to create the simulation. The locating system monitors carriers for transporting components. The controller can compare parameters of the simulation results with corresponding parameters of earlier simulation results and/or actually obtained parameters of earlier production sequences, which can be stored in a model library. The disclosure further relates to corresponding production control methods.

Claims

1. A production system comprising: a production apparatus having i) one or more production tools for manufacturing components, and ii) one or more carriers or transport aids, or both carriers and transport aids, arranged and configured to transport the components between the production tools; a controller arranged and configured to control the production apparatus on the basis of production data; a locating system for localizing a mobile unit arranged or embodied on any one or more of the carriers, components, production tools, or transport aids, wherein the locating system is configured to i) determine the position of the mobile unit, ii) detect identification information stored on the mobile unit and to communicate the position data thus determined of the one or more of the carriers, components, production tools, and transport aids to the controller, or iii) both i) and ii); and a digital model of the production apparatus that provides a simulation of production sequences, wherein the simulation is based at least on the data of the locating system.

2. The production system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the production apparatus on the basis of results of the simulation.

3. The production system of claim 1, wherein the production data comprise one or more of production sequences, arrangements of the production tools, characteristic parameters of the production tools, and component data.

4. The production system of claim 3, wherein the characteristic parameters of the production tools include one or more of laser beam intensity, laser beam focus, bending tool used, throughput speed, feed speed, pulse ratio during pulsed operation, power, and energy.

5. The production system of claim 4, wherein in the power is laser power, and wherein the energy is laser energy.

6. The production system of claim 4, wherein the power is stamping power, and wherein the energy is stamping energy.

7. The production system of claim 3, wherein the characteristic parameters of the component data include one or more of material, contour, dimensions, deformations, and thickness.

8. The production system of claim 1, wherein the carriers or transport aides, or both the carriers and transport aids, comprise at least one further sensor.

9. The production system of claim 1, wherein the production system comprises a model library having simulated production sequences, actually implemented production sequences, or both simulated and actually implemented production sequences, wherein the controller is configured to compare the production sequence simulated in the digital model with the production sequences of the model library.

10. The production system of claim 9, wherein the simulation, the model library, or both the simulation and the model library are embodied in a cloud-based fashion.

11. The production system of claim 1, wherein the locating system comprises an ultra-wideband system.

12. The production system of claim 1, wherein the locating system is configured to detect the position of the carriers with an accuracy of less than 1 meter

13. The production system of claim 1, wherein the locating system is configured to detect the position of the carriers with an accuracy of less than 0.3 meters.

14. The production system of claim 1, wherein at least one production tool comprises a loading zone for loading and unloading a carrier, wherein the production system comprises an image recording unit configured to capture image information in the loading zone, and wherein the locating system comprises an image evaluation unit configured to determine the position and/or a state of a carrier using the image information.

15. The production control system of claim 1, wherein the simulation is stored in the form of a material flow simulation.

16. The production system of claim 1, wherein at least one production tool comprises a metal processing tool.

17. The production system of claim 1, wherein at least one component or workpiece comprises a sheet-metal part.

18. The production system of claim 1, wherein the digital model comprises a map of a part of the production apparatus or of the complete production apparatus.

19. A production control method of a production system of claim 1, the method comprising: detecting position information, identification information, or both position information and identification information, of one or more of a carrier, a transport aid, a production tool, and a component by a locating system and producing locating system data; simulating a production sequence to provide simulation results, wherein the simulation is based at least on the locating system data; and controlling a production apparatus on the basis of the simulation results, wherein the simulation results comprise a digital model of the production apparatus.

20. The production control method of claim 19, further comprising comparing the digital model with simulated production sequences or actually implemented production sequences, or both, stored in a model library.

21. The production control method of claim 19, wherein the simulation is stored in the form of a material flow simulation.

22. The production method of claim 19, wherein the digital model comprises a map of a part of the production apparatus or of the complete production apparatus.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

[0052] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a production system as described herein and, respectively, of a production control method as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] FIG. 1 shows a production system 10 having a production apparatus 12 including a plurality of production tools 14. The production tools 14 are used for producing components 16. In some embodiments, at least one production tool 14 is embodied in the form of a metal or sheet-metal processing tool, e.g., a stamping machine and/or a laser cutting machine. At least one component 16 can be embodied in the form of a sheet-metal part.

[0054] At least one component 16, or a plurality of components 16, e.g., a plurality of components 16 combined to form a component assemblage, is/are transported between production tools 14 by carriers 18. The components are the parts combined to produce a complex product. The carriers can be, for example, automated guided vehicles. The carriers 18 are controlled by a controller 20 and tracked or monitored by a locating system 22. The controllers can be, for example, processors, ASICs, or FPGAs. The locating systems can be or include omlox—the open locating standard, wi-fi, ultra-wideband (UWB), GPS, 5G, RFID, or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) locating systems, for example. The locating system 22 can include a plurality of transceiver units to determine the position of the carriers 18 in the production apparatus 12 by means of the calculation of signal times-of-flight between the transmitters and the carriers 18. The transceiver units can be embodied to receive and to transmit electromagnetic signals. In this case, the time-of-flight of these signals can be determined by the locating system 22 and the instantaneous position in the production apparatus 12 can thus be determined. A plurality of the transceiver units can be fixedly installed units, the positions of which are known to the locating system 22. In this case, the identification of the carriers 18 in the locating system 22 is effected by means of mobile units 24, which are arranged or embodied in each case indirectly or directly on the carriers 18. Alternatively or additionally, further mobile units can be assigned to a transport aid, component, and/or component assemblage and possibly also to tools. In this regard, the positions of these units can also be tracked.

[0055] The mobile units 24 can themselves be embodied as transceiver units embodied to receive and to transmit electromagnetic signals (indicated by dashed lines 17), and can include omlox markers, UWB tags, or other hardware tags, for example. In this case, the time-of-flight of these signals can be determined by the locating system 22 and the instantaneous position in the production apparatus 12 can thus be determined. Locating with an accuracy of 1 meter or less, e.g., 30 cm or less, is achievable in this way.

[0056] The mobile units 24 can be assigned to the carriers 18, transport aids 19 and/or individual components 16 and/or component assemblages and also tools 23. The data of the locating system 22 can then be assigned to the job orders of the production controller.

[0057] The unloading and loading of the carriers 18 can be effected—in particular in a manner monitored by an image recording unit 26, e.g., a camera, a 3D camera, or light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system, in a loading zone 28 of the production tool 14. In this case, for the purpose of optimizing the production apparatus 12, the controller 20 can be embodied to have recourse to the data of the image recording unit 26. Such a system is described for example in the document DE 10 2016 120 131 A1. The content of DE 10 2016 120 131 A1 is concomitantly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0058] The controller 20 has recourse to a digital model 30 of the production apparatus 12. Digital modelling of factories and production sequences are known (e.g., FlexSim®). A simulation of the production sequences of the production apparatus 12 can be implemented in the digital model 30. This simulation is based on the data of the locating system 22. As a result, the simulation becomes particularly precise.

[0059] The data of the locating system 22 can be processed in a data processing and analysis unit 21 (e.g., a processor, computer, ASIC, or FPGA) before they are fed to the controller 20. The data processing and analysis unit 21 can condition the position data, that is to say, e.g., associate them with the production tools, assign data to a specific work step, such as transport A-B, manufacturing step on machine C, manufacturing on machine D, sorting and placement on transport aid E, transport by carrier F to bending machine G, etc.

[0060] Additionally or alternatively, however, the data of the locating system 22 can also be fed directly to the controller 20. The controller 20 can then improve the simulation during ongoing manufacturing, which is to say, during production operation, and update the digital model 30.

[0061] Additionally or alternatively, however, the data of the locating system 22 can also be fed directly to the digital model 30. The digital model 30 can then even more rapidly improve the simulation during ongoing manufacturing and update the digital model 30.

[0062] Additionally or alternatively, the data of the locating system 22 can be processed in the data processing and analysis unit 21 before they are fed to the digital model 30.

[0063] In addition to the data of the locating system 22, the data of the production tools 14 and/or of the image recording unit 26 can influence the simulation.

[0064] The simulation, i.e. the simulation results, are made available to the controller 20. Furthermore, the controller 20 can be embodied to have recourse to a model library 32 having a plurality of simulations or simulation results. The controller 20 can be embodied to carry out automatically, and/or upon the instruction of a user, the control of the production apparatus 12, optionally with the parameters used during the simulation or with parameters from the model library 32.

[0065] Additionally or alternatively, the digital model 30 can be embodied to have recourse to the model library 32 having a plurality of simulations or simulation results. The digital model 30 can be embodied to use automatically, and/or upon the instruction of a user, the parameters used for the simulation or the parameters from the model library 32.

[0066] The digital model 30 and/or the model library 32 can be embodied in a cloud to enable a plurality of users to have access to a large data set.

[0067] Taking all the FIGURES of the drawing jointly into consideration, the present disclosure relates in summary to a digital model 30 of a production apparatus 12. The digital model 30 is embodied to generate a simulation of a production sequence of the production apparatus 12. A controller 20 can access the simulation to most efficiently operate the production apparatus 12. The digital model 30 is embodied to use data of a locating system 22 for creating the simulation. The locating system 22 monitors carriers 18 for transporting components 16. The controller 20 can be embodied to compare parameters of the simulation results with corresponding parameters of earlier simulation results and/or actually obtained parameters of earlier production sequences. These parameters of earlier simulation results and/or actually obtained parameters may be stored in a model library 32. By virtue of the methods and systems described herein, the controller 20 is able to control the production apparatus 12 very effectively. The present disclosure furthermore relates to a correspondingly implemented production control methods.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

[0068] It is to be understood that while the inventions have been described herein in conjunction with the detailed description thereof, the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the inventions, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other aspects, advantages, and modifications are within the scope of the following claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0069] 10 Production system [0070] 12 Production apparatus [0071] 14 Production tool [0072] 16 Component [0073] 17 Electromagnetic signals [0074] 18 Carrier [0075] 19 Transport aid [0076] 20 Controller [0077] 21 Data processing and analysis unit [0078] 22 Locating system [0079] 23 Tool [0080] 24 Mobile unit [0081] 26 Image recording unit [0082] 28 Loading zone [0083] 30 Digital model of the production apparatus [0084] 32 Model library