5. Prototype system for autonomous assembly simulation
Trial implementation of the digital factory for assembly is developing using a commercially available multi-agent simulator “artisoc[10].” Autonomous decentralized assembly operations are simulated on this system. This system has three major functions: simulation manager, simulation monitor and virtual assembly factory. One of applied examples is the assembly of mobile phones. Fig. 11(a) shows the production steps for a mobile phone. There are two types of mobile phones.
The number of production steps depend on the type of mobile phone. A production line is modeled as shown in Fig. 11(b). The production line consists of several screwing machines, bonding machines and workers who can do both the screwing and bonding operations. The job is allocated autonomously and dynamically to the machines. Figure 12 shows one of the user interface displays. Through this interface, the operator configures the production line by selecting machine and inputting
parameters. The operator also inputs the production scenario such as product type, number of product,delivery time and production order. The display screen is changeable through the use of a tab. From various view points such as machine agent view and product agent view, simulation conditions in progress and simulation results can be monitored.