Integrated Topological Planning and Scheduling
27
also to evaluate ergonomic conditions for humans. Authors evaluate the proposed
approach in an sheet metal fabrication case study.
In [2], authors propose an approach to a collaborative workplace design toolchain considering different strengths of robot and human. Authors describe an
ontology based information model based on the Product-Process-Resource Model
(PPR), which accounts for the different active and passive resources taking place
in factory process, and addresses topological as well as task assignment concerns.
The utility of the model has been validated with process engineers, however currently the proposed approach does not include heuristic capabilities for problem
solving.
2.3 Illustrative Example
Hereby the case of device dismantling in a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling process taking place in a recycling plant is presented as
an illustrative example. In a traditional WEEE recycling process, it is common
to have several workstations within the factory floor, where workers use tools to
dismantle devices and extract components that contain valuable or hazardous
materials. WEEE arrives unsorted in containers, is sorted into types and then
distributed to workstations for processing. As part of processing, components of
devices that contain valuable or hazardous materials are extracted and sorted.
Following device dismantling in workstations, containers with extracted components are moved to other points within the factory floor for further processing.
The task of dismantling the device and extracting components is one that is
offered for human-robot collaborative processing. This process comprises some
steps that may be performed by robot, however others are necessarily performed
by humans due to robot perception and manipulation limitations.
In the scenario we envision, human-robot collaboration is performed in two
ways: On one hand, at the workstation through the use of a fixed robotic manipulator arm, that undertakes disassembly steps, and on the other hand, in terms of
device and component transport, where Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGVs)
are used to autonomously pick devices and components from and to the device
and component sorting areas respectively. A diagram of the overall process is
shown in Fig. 1.
3 Two-Stage Planning-Scheduling Approach
The simultaneous consideration of topological and temporal properties of HRC
orchestration yields a large and complex problem space that is difficult to explore.
In order to simplify finding suitable solutions, this paper proposed a two-stage
hierarchical approach that comprises stochastic optimization over an abstract
problem formulation, followed by a detailed search of a more focused area. Our
approach is inspired by previous approaches such as [7], however it is extended
to specifically address HRC features.
27
also to evaluate ergonomic conditions for humans. Authors evaluate the proposed
approach in an sheet metal fabrication case study.
In [2], authors propose an approach to a collaborative workplace design toolchain considering different strengths of robot and human. Authors describe an
ontology based information model based on the Product-Process-Resource Model
(PPR), which accounts for the different active and passive resources taking place
in factory process, and addresses topological as well as task assignment concerns.
The utility of the model has been validated with process engineers, however currently the proposed approach does not include heuristic capabilities for problem
solving.
2.3 Illustrative Example
Hereby the case of device dismantling in a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling process taking place in a recycling plant is presented as
an illustrative example. In a traditional WEEE recycling process, it is common
to have several workstations within the factory floor, where workers use tools to
dismantle devices and extract components that contain valuable or hazardous
materials. WEEE arrives unsorted in containers, is sorted into types and then
distributed to workstations for processing. As part of processing, components of
devices that contain valuable or hazardous materials are extracted and sorted.
Following device dismantling in workstations, containers with extracted components are moved to other points within the factory floor for further processing.
The task of dismantling the device and extracting components is one that is
offered for human-robot collaborative processing. This process comprises some
steps that may be performed by robot, however others are necessarily performed
by humans due to robot perception and manipulation limitations.
In the scenario we envision, human-robot collaboration is performed in two
ways: On one hand, at the workstation through the use of a fixed robotic manipulator arm, that undertakes disassembly steps, and on the other hand, in terms of
device and component transport, where Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGVs)
are used to autonomously pick devices and components from and to the device
and component sorting areas respectively. A diagram of the overall process is
shown in Fig. 1.
3 Two-Stage Planning-Scheduling Approach
The simultaneous consideration of topological and temporal properties of HRC
orchestration yields a large and complex problem space that is difficult to explore.
In order to simplify finding suitable solutions, this paper proposed a two-stage
hierarchical approach that comprises stochastic optimization over an abstract
problem formulation, followed by a detailed search of a more focused area. Our
approach is inspired by previous approaches such as [7], however it is extended
to specifically address HRC features.