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VISION STATEMENT
To establish a 'State of the Art' research and education environment for the development of Mechatronics and Robotics Technologies. To educate students in the field of Computer Integrated Manufacturing. To collaborate with local and international academic institutions incorporating South African industry partnerships.
 

Robots are required for search and rescue purposes. They should be able to go into concealed places and environments that fire fighters and rescue personnel cannot gain access to. Three hundred forty three firefighters died at the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in 2001. Rescuers often enter rooms that have unstable structures yet there are no people to rescue. Sixty five of these rescuers died due to searching confined spaces that flooded.

Robots could save lives of victims and be first responders. Rescue workers have about 48 hours to retrieve victims due to survival constraints. Many hours are often lost as rescuers who cannot enter a building due to unsafe conditions. These robots could also be used in mines for rescue purposes that often plague South African mining corporations.

Problems observed with USARs are the robot's traction systems malfunction; robots cannot withstand harsh conditions, limited wireless communication range in urban environment occurs and unreliable wireless video feedback is frequent. A robot is needed that will be able to withstand these harsh conditions and that will be able to overcome the limitations that past robots have had.

Research is being done on the design and development of a robot that will perform urban search and rescue. This will include suitable materials for the constructions and insulation of the robot. The different requirements that are needed on a USAR robot are investigated which involve video transmission, communication and robot control in these difficult environments.

Global economic competition, the rapid introduction of new products to markets and the need for mass customization have highlighted the inadequacies of present day manufacturing paradigms. The need for a manufacturing system that is responsive to change has lead to the evolution of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). The RMS paradigm incorporates features of Dedicated, Flexible, Cellular and Lean manufacturing systems; while overcoming the inertia of these systems in accommodating technological developments and the frequently changing demands of customers.

The focus of this research is on the development of a Modular Reconfigurable Machine (MRM); which is an enabling technology for RMSs. MRMs are modular in both their mechanical and electronic control architectures. The concept being researched is the development of a set of machine modules for the synthesis of a complete machine tool. These modules when assembled in varying configurations will produce machines with varying topologies, as best suited for the production of the required part family. A modular ‘building block’ approach for the synthesis of machine tools promotes hardware reusability; this reduces investment costs in hardware and allows the modular components of a machine to be reassembled in varying configurations to meet changing production mix and volume characteristics.

The development of a fully modular machine will require the implementation of a modular Open Architecture Control (OAC) system. OAC overcomes the problem of inflexibility found in the proprietary automation of conventional CNC and dedicated machinery. The software and electronic control modules should possess generic ‘plug and play’ capabilities to minimize machine reconfiguration and system ramp-up times. Modular control hardware and software architectures will facilitate the reconfiguration of machine hardware while allowing the controllers to be easily upgraded as new technologies and more efficient control algorithms are developed.

The progression of industry, toward mass personalisation, initiates added complexities to the quality control and part inspection processes. Mass produced custom parts require varying, and sometimes unique inspection routines, and so inspection of these parts must occur at a higher frequency than batched production. This leads to an increase in the inspection time involved. There is a need for current inspection processes to undergo cost-effective modifications to facilitate flexible inspection of custom parts, whilst maintaining batched production rates.

This research details the modification of an existing Automated Visual Inspection System (AVIS), using Mechatronic engineering as a design tool, to become more applicable and suited to a Reconfigurable Manufacturing Environment (RME). The AVIS was a constituent of a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) cell. The modified apparatus was able to perform part inspection at a faster rate than was achieved by the previous design.

The mass production of customised products requires materials handling systems which are flexible enough to accommodate the transportation of varying geometries, masses and volumes of materials. This requires mobile platform architectures which can operate effectively in both a singular context and during the cooperative transportation of larger loads with irregular geometries. Multi-platform cooperation calls for a robust inter-platform communication mechanism and networked operation. Research into Flexible Materials Handling at MR2G has produced a mobile platform with a mechanical architecture that allows for effective materials transportation during single platform tasks and during multi-platform cooperative transportation.

The platform architecture consists of a differential drive mobile base fitted with an articulated conveyor system which allows for the projection of lesser constrained kinematics onto the transported load. Holonomic movement of payloads with irregular geometries will be required in manufacturing environments with limited space. Each articulation on the conveyor is fitted with a quadrature encoder to allow for sensed articulations which can monitor the change in payload configuration during multi-platform cooperative material transportation. The mobile platform is accessible over a wireless network and uses a Robot Server namely Player as its Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). This allows for the development of generic control algorithms and standardised data fusion primitives. Plug-in drivers abstract the drive control system, articulated conveyor system and sonar sensors into high level network interfaces in the Player server. The platform has both proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensory infrastructures to allow for pose estimation and local obstacle avoidance. The mobile platform uses as it’s on board computer an Mini-ITX form factor motherboard with a VIA C7 processor and runs Fedora Core 7.

There is a need for mobile robots in reconfigurable manufacturing systems to reduce bottlenecks that occur in associated materials handling systems. These bottlenecks can occur as a result of the mass production of custom products. This project is focusing on researching, designing, assembling, testing and validating a two-wheeled autonomous materials handling robot for the purpose of reducing bottlenecks in a reconfigurable manufacturing system. A Mechatronic engineering approach is being used for the project (system integration). This approach is being used to research and design a vehicle that will be dynamically and statically stable while in operation. The figure shown represents a CAD model of the physical structure of the robot.

Autonomy is largely provided by means of an onboard computer that serves as a robot sever to which a system controller (typically a host computer) can subscribe to in order to convey commands. A novel navigation system is being researched and developed that will allow the vehicle to perform materials handling tasks necessary to reduce bottlenecks. A communication system will also be incorporated into the infrastructure of the vehicle. Performance analysis and testing will also be done in a reconfigurable production environment. This will involve vehicle scheduling and routing while performing materials handling tasks.