Programming a SCARA Robot for a

This research paper focuses on a single cell manufacturing machine setup that can be programmed according to requirements to perform certain processing functions. Manufacturing cell operation depends on parts to be assembled. The Primary target of this manufacturing cell is to glue three parts together to produce a small medical device with limited human intervention. There are three different trajectory actions required to completely assemble the part. This research paper talks about how to program a low-cost Scara robot for the manufacturing cell which performs multiple sequential operations to produce the device. First operation is to glue part “A” and part “B” together to produce a part ‘AB”. The second operation is the glue drying time of part “AB”. The third operation is to glue part “C” to part “AB”. The forth operation is to dry part “ABC”. Since there is a minimum robot trajectory activity during the glue drying process, a buffer of part “AB” is created to utilize that time. By utilizing the glue drying time the buffered part “AB” gets ready for the third operation. This means that as soon as the buffer part “AB” has been dried, the robot performs its third operation that is joining the part “C” with the dried buffer part “AB”. Then the robot performs again its 1 st and 3 rd operation sequentially. Although, a minimum robot trajectory activity is required during the fourth operation of glue drying of part “ABC, nevertheless it is a required step for the complete part assembly. In this way the process is maximizing its throughput and minimizing the production cycle time. For multiple part-type operation in this single-machine cell, we provide an efficient algorithm that simultaneously optimizes the robot movement and part sequencing operation. The result of this research paper is promising for creating small and compact manufacturing cells.