Miniature automated flexible manufacturing system

Abstract

Industry's move toward automated manufacturing has made it mandatory for universities to take an active interest in incorporating automated machines in their laboratory programs. Automated manufacturing machines are, in general, much too large and expensive for universities to consider purchasing, housing, or operating. Thus, it is necessary for universities to develop scaled-down versions of these manufacturing facilities.

This material describes the design and construction of a miniature automated flexible manufacturing system. The system developed is comprised of a hierarchy of computer's driving a robot and a number of typical manufacturing machines. An interrupt driven, multitasking, software kernel was written to manipulate these machines and the robot. This design facilitated command and control communications throughout the system.

Evaluation and testing of the system revealed conclusively, that the final product emulates a real world manufacturing system. The system has great potential as an inexpensive teaching aid for courses in manufacturing, robotic manipulation, and microprocessor machine control.