Self Reconfigurable Intelligent Swarm Fixtures

Funding: the project was financed under Siódmego Programu Ramowego.

The project was carried out by a consortium: Universita Degli Studi Di Genova (Italy, coordinator), Exechon AB (Sweden), Piaggio Aero Industries (Italy), Politechnika Warszawska (Poland), ZTS VVU Vyskumno-vyvojovy ustav Kosice (Slovakia), Centro Ricerche FIAT (Italy).

The amount of the grant awarded: The CI received EUR 817.440.00.
Implementation period: 2008-2012.
The project aimed at creating a system of flexible, reconfigurable robots for clamping workpieces of large size processed in the production process. The main approach to achieve this goal was the synergy of the issues of production of new materials and devices (flexible chucks, parallel robots, new materials) and the issues of ICT (a team of robots with a built-in distributed control system). Replacement of traditional forms by many robots constituting movable supports requires designing a special control system and a dedicated programming method enabling quick reconfiguration of such a system. The control system of the fastening system has been designed on the basis of a formal specification defining the structure of this system by means of agents whose behaviour is determined by the transition function. This system can control teams of robots of different sizes and allows for structural changes of individual robot parts. Programming of robot actions is done by defining the shapes of the supported parts and the machining schedule, and then the program planning the robot actions produces appropriate sets of commands for them. A prototype of the system was installed and tested at the Piaggo Aero factory in Finale Ligure, Italy.

More information: project page, information on page of Zespoł Programowania Robotów i Systemów Rozpoznających.