Modern manufacturing processes have become more reliant on automation because of the accelerated transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0.Manual inspection of products on assembly lines remains inefficient,prone t...Modern manufacturing processes have become more reliant on automation because of the accelerated transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0.Manual inspection of products on assembly lines remains inefficient,prone to errors and lacks consistency,emphasizing the need for a reliable and automated inspection system.Leveraging both object detection and image segmentation approaches,this research proposes a vision-based solution for the detection of various kinds of tools in the toolkit using deep learning(DL)models.Two Intel RealSense D455f depth cameras were arranged in a top down configuration to capture both RGB and depth images of the toolkits.After applying multiple constraints and enhancing them through preprocessing and augmentation,a dataset consisting of 3300 annotated RGB-D photos was generated.Several DL models were selected through a comprehensive assessment of mean Average Precision(mAP),precision-recall equilibrium,inference latency(target≥30 FPS),and computational burden,resulting in a preference for YOLO and Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks(R-CNN)variants over ViT-based models due to the latter’s increased latency and resource requirements.YOLOV5,YOLOV8,YOLOV11,Faster R-CNN,and Mask R-CNN were trained on the annotated dataset and evaluated using key performance metrics(Recall,Accuracy,F1-score,and Precision).YOLOV11 demonstrated balanced excellence with 93.0%precision,89.9%recall,and a 90.6%F1-score in object detection,as well as 96.9%precision,95.3%recall,and a 96.5%F1-score in instance segmentation with an average inference time of 25 ms per frame(≈40 FPS),demonstrating real-time performance.Leveraging these results,a YOLOV11-based windows application was successfully deployed in a real-time assembly line environment,where it accurately processed live video streams to detect and segment tools within toolkits,demonstrating its practical effectiveness in industrial automation.The application is capable of precisely measuring socket dimensions by utilising edge detection techniques on YOLOv11 segmentation masks,in addition to detection and segmentation.This makes it possible to do specification-level quality control right on the assembly line,which improves the ability to examine things in real time.The implementation is a big step forward for intelligent manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 paradigm.It provides a scalable,efficient,and accurate way to do automated inspection and dimensional verification activities.展开更多
Aircraft assembly is characterized by stringent precedence constraints,limited resource availability,spatial restrictions,and a high degree of manual intervention.These factors lead to considerable variability in oper...Aircraft assembly is characterized by stringent precedence constraints,limited resource availability,spatial restrictions,and a high degree of manual intervention.These factors lead to considerable variability in operator workloads and significantly increase the complexity of scheduling.To address this challenge,this study investigates the Aircraft Pulsating Assembly Line Scheduling Problem(APALSP)under skilled operator allocation,with the objective of minimizing assembly completion time.A mathematical model considering skilled operator allocation is developed,and a Q-Learning improved Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm(QLPSO)is proposed.In the algorithm design,a reverse scheduling strategy is adopted to effectively manage large-scale precedence constraints.Moreover,a reverse sequence encoding method is introduced to generate operation sequences,while a time decoding mechanism is employed to determine completion times.The problem is further reformulated as a Markov Decision Process(MDP)with explicitly defined state and action spaces.Within QLPSO,the Q-learning mechanism adaptively adjusts inertia weights and learning factors,thereby achieving a balance between exploration capability and convergence performance.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach,extensive computational experiments are conducted on benchmark instances of different scales,including small,medium,large,and ultra-large cases.The results demonstrate that QLPSO consistently delivers stable and high-quality solutions across all scenarios.In ultra-large-scale instances,it improves the best solution by 25.2%compared with the Genetic Algorithm(GA)and enhances the average solution by 16.9%over the Q-learning algorithm,showing clear advantages over the comparative methods.These findings not only confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm but also provide valuable theoretical references and practical guidance for the intelligent scheduling optimization of aircraft pulsating assembly lines.展开更多
When you think of Dongguan,chances are you picture humming factories and endless assembly lines.For decades,this city in southern China was known as the“world's workshop,”churning out everything from sneakers to...When you think of Dongguan,chances are you picture humming factories and endless assembly lines.For decades,this city in southern China was known as the“world's workshop,”churning out everything from sneakers to smartphones.展开更多
The Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) supported by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) helps factories collect data and achieve seamless communication between physical and virtual components. Sensor nodes are energy-constrained...The Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) supported by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) helps factories collect data and achieve seamless communication between physical and virtual components. Sensor nodes are energy-constrained devices. Their energy consumption is typically correlated with the amount of data collection. The purpose of data aggregation is to reduce data transmission, lower energy consumption, and reduce network congestion. For large-scale WSN, data aggregation can greatly improve network efficiency. However, as many heterogeneous data is poured into a specific area at the same time, it sometimes causes data loss and then results in incompleteness and irregularity of production data. This paper proposes an information processing model that encompasses the Energy-Conserving Data Aggregation Algorithm (ECDA) and the Efficient Message Reception Algorithm (EMRA). ECDA is divided into two stages, Energy conservation based on the global cost and Data aggregation based on ant colony optimization. The EMRA comprises the Polling Message Reception Algorithm (PMRA), the Shortest Time Message Reception Algorithm (STMRA), and the Specific Condition Message Reception Algorithm (SCMRA). These algorithms are not only available for the regularity and directionality of sensor information transmission, but also satisfy the different requirements in small factory environments. To compare with the recent HPSO-ILEACH and E-PEGASIS, DCDA can effectively reduce energy consumption. Experimental results show that STMRA consumes 1.3 times the time of SCMRA. Both optimization algorithms exhibit higher time efficiency than PMRA. Furthermore, this paper also evaluates these three algorithms using AHP.展开更多
In an aircraft final assembly line(AFAL),the rational scheduling of assembly workers to complete tasks in an orderly manner is crucial for enhancing production efficiency.This paper addresses the multi-skilled worker ...In an aircraft final assembly line(AFAL),the rational scheduling of assembly workers to complete tasks in an orderly manner is crucial for enhancing production efficiency.This paper addresses the multi-skilled worker scheduling problem in the AFAL,where the processing time of each task varies due to the assigned workers’skill levels,referred to as variable duration.The objective is to minimize the makespan,i.e.,the total time required for all workers to complete all tasks.A mixed integer linear programming model is formulated under complex constraints including assembly precedence relations,skill requirements,worker skill capabilities,and workspace capacities.To solve the model effectively,a multi-pass priority rule-based heuristic(MPRH)algorithm is proposed.This algorithm integrates 14 activity priority rules and nine worker priority rules with worker weights.Extensive experiments iteratively the best-performing priority rules,and the most effective rule subsets are integrated through a lightweight multi-pass mechanism to enhance its efficiency.The computational results demonstrate that the MPRH can find high-quality solutions effectively within very short central processing unit central processing unit(CPU)time compared to GUROBI.A case study based on real data obtained from an AFAL confirms the necessity and the feasibility of the approach in practical applications.Sensitivity analyses provide valuable insights to real production scenarios.展开更多
In response to the deficiencies of commonly used optimization methods for assembly lines,a production demand-oriented optimization method for assembly lines is proposed.Taking a certain compressor assembly line as an ...In response to the deficiencies of commonly used optimization methods for assembly lines,a production demand-oriented optimization method for assembly lines is proposed.Taking a certain compressor assembly line as an example,the production rhythm and the number of workstations are calculated based on production requirements and working systems.With assembly rhythm and smoothing index as optimization goals,an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is employed for process allocation.Subsequently,Flexsim simulation is used to analyze the assembly line.The final results show that after optimization using the improved particle swarm algorithm,the assembly line balance rate increased from 71.1%to 85.9%,and the assembly line smoothing index decreased from 47.4 to 29.8,significantly enhancing assembly efficiency.This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method for the assembly line and provides a reference for other products in the same industry.展开更多
Due to the NP-hardness of the two-sided assembly line balancing (TALB) problem, multiple constraints existing in real applications are less studied, especially when one task is involved with several constraints. In ...Due to the NP-hardness of the two-sided assembly line balancing (TALB) problem, multiple constraints existing in real applications are less studied, especially when one task is involved with several constraints. In this paper, an effective hybrid algorithm is proposed to address the TALB problem with multiple constraints (TALB-MC). Considering the discrete attribute of TALB-MC and the continuous attribute of the standard teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm, the random-keys method is hired in task permutation representation, for the purpose of bridging the gap between them. Subsequently, a special mechanism for handling multiple constraints is developed. In the mechanism, the directions constraint of each task is ensured by the direction check and adjustment. The zoning constraints and the synchronism constraints are satisfied by teasing out the hidden correlations among constraints. The positional constraint is allowed to be violated to some extent in decoding and punished in cost fimction. Finally, with the TLBO seeking for the global optimum, the variable neighborhood search (VNS) is further hybridized to extend the local search space. The experimental results show that the proposed hybrid algorithm outperforms the late acceptance hill-climbing algorithm (LAHC) for TALB-MC in most cases, especially for large-size problems with multiple constraints, and demonstrates well balance between the exploration and the exploitation. This research proposes an effective and efficient algorithm for solving TALB-MC problem by hybridizing the TLBO and VNS.展开更多
In a manufacturing industry, mixed model assembly line(MMAL) is preferred in order to meet the variety in product demand. MMAL balancing helps in assembling products with similar characteristics in a random fashion. T...In a manufacturing industry, mixed model assembly line(MMAL) is preferred in order to meet the variety in product demand. MMAL balancing helps in assembling products with similar characteristics in a random fashion. The objective of this work aims in reducing the number of workstations, work load index between stations and within each station. As manual contribution of workers in final assembly line is more, ergonomics is taken as an additional objective function. Ergonomic risk level of a workstation is evaluated using a parameter called accumulated risk posture(ARP), which is calculated using rapid upper limb assessment(RULA) check sheet. This work is based on the case study of an MMAL problem in Rane(Madras) Ltd.(India), in which a problem based genetic algorithm(GA) has been proposed to minimize the mentioned objectives. The working of the genetic operators such as selection, crossover and mutation has been modified with respect to the addressed MMAL problem. The results show that there is a significant impact over productivity and the process time of the final assembled product, i.e., the rate of production is increased by 39.5% and the assembly time for one particular model is reduced to 13 min from existing 18 min. Also, the space required using the proposed assembly line is only 200 m2 against existing 350 m2. Further, the algorithm helps in reducing workers fatigue(i.e., ergonomic friendly).展开更多
A two-sided assembly line is typically found in plants producing large-sized products. Its advantages over a one-sided line and the difficulties faced in two-sided line balancing problems were discussed. A mathematica...A two-sided assembly line is typically found in plants producing large-sized products. Its advantages over a one-sided line and the difficulties faced in two-sided line balancing problems were discussed. A mathematical model for two-ALB problem was suggested. A modification of the “ranked positional weight” method, namely two-ALB RPW for two-ALB problems was developed. Experiments were carried out to verify the performance of the proposed method and the results show that it is effective in solving two-sided assembly line balancing problems.展开更多
Multi-manned assembly line,which is broadly utilized to assemble high volume products such as automobiles and trucks,allows a group of workers to assemble different tasks simultaneously in a multi-manned workstation.T...Multi-manned assembly line,which is broadly utilized to assemble high volume products such as automobiles and trucks,allows a group of workers to assemble different tasks simultaneously in a multi-manned workstation.This additional characteristic of parallel operators increases the complexity of the traditional NP-hard assembly line balancing problem.Hence,this paper formulates the Type-I multi-manned assembly line balancing problem to minimize the total number of workstations and operators,and develops an efficient migrating birds optimization algorithm embedded into an idle time reduction method.In this algorithm,a new decoding mechanism is proposed which reduces the sequence-dependent idle time by some task assignment rules;three effective neighborhoods are developed to make refinement of existing solutions in the bird improvement phases;and temperature acceptance and competitive mechanism are employed to avoid being trapped in the local optimum.Comparison experiments suggest that the new decoding and improvements are effective and the proposed algorithm outperforms the compared algorithms.展开更多
To solve the sequencing problem in mixed-model flexible assembly lines (MMFALs) with variable launching intervals, a mathematical model aiming to minimize the cost of utility and idle times is developed. To obtain hig...To solve the sequencing problem in mixed-model flexible assembly lines (MMFALs) with variable launching intervals, a mathematical model aiming to minimize the cost of utility and idle times is developed. To obtain high-quality sequences, an advanced scatter search (ASS) algorithm is proposed. A heuristic approach, i.e. launching intervals between products algorithm (LIBPA), is incorporated into the ASS algorithm to solve the launching interval problem for each sequence. Numerical experiments with different scales are conducted to compare the performance of ASS with genetic algorithm (GA). In addition, we compare the cost of variable launching intervals approach with fixed launching intervals approach. The results indicate that the ASS is efficient and effective, and considering variable launching intervals in mixed-model assembly lines (MMALs) sequencing problem can improve the performance of the line.展开更多
Numerous clothing enterprises in the market have a relatively low efficiency of assembly line planning due to insufficient optimization of bottleneck stations.As a result,the production efficiency of the enterprise is...Numerous clothing enterprises in the market have a relatively low efficiency of assembly line planning due to insufficient optimization of bottleneck stations.As a result,the production efficiency of the enterprise is not high,and the production organization is not up to expectations.Aiming at the problem of flexible process route planning in garment workshops,a multi-object genetic algorithm is proposed to solve the assembly line bal-ance optimization problem and minimize the machine adjustment path.The encoding method adopts the object-oriented path representation method,and the initial population is generated by random topology sorting based on an in-degree selection mechanism.The multi-object genetic algorithm improves the mutation and crossover operations according to the characteristics of the clothing process to avoid the generation of invalid offspring.In the iterative process,the bottleneck station is optimized by reasonable process splitting,and process allocation conforms to the strict limit of the station on the number of machines in order to improve the compilation efficiency.The effectiveness and feasibility of the multi-object genetic algorithm are proven by the analysis of clothing cases.Compared with the artificial allocation process,the compilation efficiency of MOGA is increased by more than 15%and completes the optimization of the minimum machine adjustment path.The results are in line with the expected optimization effect.展开更多
The flexible wearable chair is like a light weight mobile exoskeleton that allows people to sit any-where in any working position. The traditional chair is difficult to move to different working locations due to its l...The flexible wearable chair is like a light weight mobile exoskeleton that allows people to sit any-where in any working position. The traditional chair is difficult to move to different working locations due to its large size, heavy weight (~5 - 7 kg) and rigid structure and thus, they are inappropriate for workplaces where enough space is not available. Flexible wearable chair has a gross weight of 3 kg as it utilizes light-weight aluminium alloy members. Unlike the traditional chair, it consists of kinematic pairs which enable taking halts between continuous movements at any working position and thus, it is capable of reducing the risk of the physical musculoskeletal disorder substantially among workers. The objective of this paper is to focus on the mechanical design and finite element analysis (FEA) of the mechanism using ANSYS<sup>®</sup> software. In the present work, all the parts of the mechanism are designed under static load condition. The results of the analysis indicate that flexible wearable chair satisfies equilibrium and stability criterion and is capable of reducing fatigue during working in an assembly line/factory.展开更多
The successful implementation of mass customization lies on reengineeringtechnology and management methods to organize the production. Especially in assembly phase, variousproduct configurations, due-time penalties an...The successful implementation of mass customization lies on reengineeringtechnology and management methods to organize the production. Especially in assembly phase, variousproduct configurations, due-time penalties and order-driven strategy challenge the traditionaloperation and management of assembly lines. The business features and the operation pattern ofassembly line based on mass customization are analyzed. And the research emphatically studiesvarious technologic factors to improve customer satisfaction and their corresponding implementmethods in operating assembly line. In addition, the models are proposed for operating assembly lineunder dynamic process environment in mass customization. A genetic approach is developed to providethe optimal solution to the models. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated with anindustrial application.展开更多
Aiming at assembly line balancing problem,a double chromosome genetic algorithm(DCGA)is proposed to avoid trapping in local optimum,which is a disadvantage of standard genetic algorithm(SGA).In this algorithm,there ar...Aiming at assembly line balancing problem,a double chromosome genetic algorithm(DCGA)is proposed to avoid trapping in local optimum,which is a disadvantage of standard genetic algorithm(SGA).In this algorithm,there are two chromosomes of each individual,and the better one,regarded as dominant chromosome,determines the fitness.Dominant chromosome keeps excellent gene segments to speed up the convergence,and recessive chromosome maintains population diversity to get better global search ability to avoid local optimal solution.When the amounts of chromosomes are equal,the population size of DCGA is half that of SGA,which significantly reduces evolutionary time.Finally,the effectiveness is verified by experiments.展开更多
As the take-off of China’s macro economy,as well as the rapid development of infrastructure construction,real estate industry,and highway logistics transportation industry,the demand for heavy vehicles is increasing ...As the take-off of China’s macro economy,as well as the rapid development of infrastructure construction,real estate industry,and highway logistics transportation industry,the demand for heavy vehicles is increasing rapidly,the competition is becoming increasingly fierce,and the digital transformation of the production line is imminent.As one of themost important components of heavy vehicles,the transmission front andmiddle case assembly lines have a high degree of automation,which can be used as a pilot for the digital transformation of production.To ensure the visualization of digital twins(DT),consistent control logic,and real-time data interaction,this paper proposes an experimental digital twin modeling method for the transmission front and middle case assembly line.Firstly,theDT-based systemarchitecture is designed,and theDT model is created by constructing the visualization model,logic model,and data model of the assembly line.Then,a simulation experiment is carried out in a virtual space to analyze the existing problems in the current assembly line.Eventually,some improvement strategies are proposed and the effectiveness is verified by a new simulation experiment.展开更多
Fault detection and diagnosis for pneumatic system of automatic productionline are studied. An expert system using fuzzy-neural network and pneumatic circuit fault diagnosisinstrument are deigned. The mathematical mod...Fault detection and diagnosis for pneumatic system of automatic productionline are studied. An expert system using fuzzy-neural network and pneumatic circuit fault diagnosisinstrument are deigned. The mathematical model of various pneumatic faults and experimental deviceare built. In the end, some experiments are done, which shows that the expert system usingfuzzy-neural network can diagnose fast and truly fault of pneumatic circuit.展开更多
A modularized, network, reconfigurable architecture and design method of embedded control module is proposed. This control module uses a TMS320F2812 chip as the core, and intro- duces modularization, network, reconfig...A modularized, network, reconfigurable architecture and design method of embedded control module is proposed. This control module uses a TMS320F2812 chip as the core, and intro- duces modularization, network, reconfigurable theory to the design of control module to better meet the flexible and reconfigurable control need of assembly line. The design method of the control module is verified by constructing a control experiment based on controlling of precision x - y displace- ment platform through a CAN bus. Experimental results show that the controlling repeat position accuracy of precision x - y platform by control module is 0. 5 μm and the position error is less than 1μm which meet the needs of micro-adjustment pose of assembly line.展开更多
A new way to solve the scheduling problem ofgarment assembly line based on genetic algorithmwas proposed. The chromosome was decoded usingtask precedence relation and after the operation ofreproduction, crossover and ...A new way to solve the scheduling problem ofgarment assembly line based on genetic algorithmwas proposed. The chromosome was decoded usingtask precedence relation and after the operation ofreproduction, crossover and mutation, the globaloptimal result can be obtained. Fitness function wasrepresented by smoothness Index ( SI ). Thesimulation shows that the method proposed in thispaper is better than the conventional way and theoptimized solution can be got in this way.展开更多
The health check up flow of digital hospital can be consulted with the assem bly line of industry factory.Because they have the following same features:highly specialized workstation, closeness and continuance,rhyth...The health check up flow of digital hospital can be consulted with the assem bly line of industry factory.Because they have the following same features:highly specialized workstation, closeness and continuance,rhythm,balanced production,continuous production.The essential prerequisites are as the follows:The inspecting item s and methods should be stable;advanced product mix and stable production design;standardized raw m aterial,consumption,procedure, inspection method;there are lots of request for health inspection;the customers move at the least unit;the space arrangement should be reasonable;the time arrangement should be proportion. With the com puter net,the digital inspection can achieves the raw material controlling accurately. The basis of check up line concerns about equipm ent,net and software,data collection,and per- sonnel.The group technology is used in the health inspection flow design of the digital hospital in the field of items custom ers and zone redivided.The digital assembly linem ic health inspect has the following stages:m ember registering,notice,check in,arrange order,tim e control,report,feed- back and analysis. The assem bly linemic has following advantages:increasing the productivity, the space utility,satisfaction of customer,fund returning,lowering the cost and ensuring the quality.展开更多
基金National Science and Technology Council,the Republic of China,under grants NSTC 113-2221-E-194-011-MY3 and Research Center on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability,National Chung Cheng University under the research project grant titled“Generative Digital Twin System Design for Sustainable Smart City Development in Taiwan.
文摘Modern manufacturing processes have become more reliant on automation because of the accelerated transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0.Manual inspection of products on assembly lines remains inefficient,prone to errors and lacks consistency,emphasizing the need for a reliable and automated inspection system.Leveraging both object detection and image segmentation approaches,this research proposes a vision-based solution for the detection of various kinds of tools in the toolkit using deep learning(DL)models.Two Intel RealSense D455f depth cameras were arranged in a top down configuration to capture both RGB and depth images of the toolkits.After applying multiple constraints and enhancing them through preprocessing and augmentation,a dataset consisting of 3300 annotated RGB-D photos was generated.Several DL models were selected through a comprehensive assessment of mean Average Precision(mAP),precision-recall equilibrium,inference latency(target≥30 FPS),and computational burden,resulting in a preference for YOLO and Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks(R-CNN)variants over ViT-based models due to the latter’s increased latency and resource requirements.YOLOV5,YOLOV8,YOLOV11,Faster R-CNN,and Mask R-CNN were trained on the annotated dataset and evaluated using key performance metrics(Recall,Accuracy,F1-score,and Precision).YOLOV11 demonstrated balanced excellence with 93.0%precision,89.9%recall,and a 90.6%F1-score in object detection,as well as 96.9%precision,95.3%recall,and a 96.5%F1-score in instance segmentation with an average inference time of 25 ms per frame(≈40 FPS),demonstrating real-time performance.Leveraging these results,a YOLOV11-based windows application was successfully deployed in a real-time assembly line environment,where it accurately processed live video streams to detect and segment tools within toolkits,demonstrating its practical effectiveness in industrial automation.The application is capable of precisely measuring socket dimensions by utilising edge detection techniques on YOLOv11 segmentation masks,in addition to detection and segmentation.This makes it possible to do specification-level quality control right on the assembly line,which improves the ability to examine things in real time.The implementation is a big step forward for intelligent manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 paradigm.It provides a scalable,efficient,and accurate way to do automated inspection and dimensional verification activities.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52475543)Natural Science Foundation of Henan(Grant No.252300421101)+1 种基金Henan Province University Science and Technology Innovation Talent Support Plan(Grant No.24HASTIT048)Science and Technology Innovation Team Project of Zhengzhou University of Light Industry(Grant No.23XNKJTD0101).
文摘Aircraft assembly is characterized by stringent precedence constraints,limited resource availability,spatial restrictions,and a high degree of manual intervention.These factors lead to considerable variability in operator workloads and significantly increase the complexity of scheduling.To address this challenge,this study investigates the Aircraft Pulsating Assembly Line Scheduling Problem(APALSP)under skilled operator allocation,with the objective of minimizing assembly completion time.A mathematical model considering skilled operator allocation is developed,and a Q-Learning improved Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm(QLPSO)is proposed.In the algorithm design,a reverse scheduling strategy is adopted to effectively manage large-scale precedence constraints.Moreover,a reverse sequence encoding method is introduced to generate operation sequences,while a time decoding mechanism is employed to determine completion times.The problem is further reformulated as a Markov Decision Process(MDP)with explicitly defined state and action spaces.Within QLPSO,the Q-learning mechanism adaptively adjusts inertia weights and learning factors,thereby achieving a balance between exploration capability and convergence performance.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach,extensive computational experiments are conducted on benchmark instances of different scales,including small,medium,large,and ultra-large cases.The results demonstrate that QLPSO consistently delivers stable and high-quality solutions across all scenarios.In ultra-large-scale instances,it improves the best solution by 25.2%compared with the Genetic Algorithm(GA)and enhances the average solution by 16.9%over the Q-learning algorithm,showing clear advantages over the comparative methods.These findings not only confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm but also provide valuable theoretical references and practical guidance for the intelligent scheduling optimization of aircraft pulsating assembly lines.
文摘When you think of Dongguan,chances are you picture humming factories and endless assembly lines.For decades,this city in southern China was known as the“world's workshop,”churning out everything from sneakers to smartphones.
基金Funds for High-Level Talents Programof Xi’an International University(Grant No.XAIU202411).
文摘The Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) supported by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) helps factories collect data and achieve seamless communication between physical and virtual components. Sensor nodes are energy-constrained devices. Their energy consumption is typically correlated with the amount of data collection. The purpose of data aggregation is to reduce data transmission, lower energy consumption, and reduce network congestion. For large-scale WSN, data aggregation can greatly improve network efficiency. However, as many heterogeneous data is poured into a specific area at the same time, it sometimes causes data loss and then results in incompleteness and irregularity of production data. This paper proposes an information processing model that encompasses the Energy-Conserving Data Aggregation Algorithm (ECDA) and the Efficient Message Reception Algorithm (EMRA). ECDA is divided into two stages, Energy conservation based on the global cost and Data aggregation based on ant colony optimization. The EMRA comprises the Polling Message Reception Algorithm (PMRA), the Shortest Time Message Reception Algorithm (STMRA), and the Specific Condition Message Reception Algorithm (SCMRA). These algorithms are not only available for the regularity and directionality of sensor information transmission, but also satisfy the different requirements in small factory environments. To compare with the recent HPSO-ILEACH and E-PEGASIS, DCDA can effectively reduce energy consumption. Experimental results show that STMRA consumes 1.3 times the time of SCMRA. Both optimization algorithms exhibit higher time efficiency than PMRA. Furthermore, this paper also evaluates these three algorithms using AHP.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(52175475).
文摘In an aircraft final assembly line(AFAL),the rational scheduling of assembly workers to complete tasks in an orderly manner is crucial for enhancing production efficiency.This paper addresses the multi-skilled worker scheduling problem in the AFAL,where the processing time of each task varies due to the assigned workers’skill levels,referred to as variable duration.The objective is to minimize the makespan,i.e.,the total time required for all workers to complete all tasks.A mixed integer linear programming model is formulated under complex constraints including assembly precedence relations,skill requirements,worker skill capabilities,and workspace capacities.To solve the model effectively,a multi-pass priority rule-based heuristic(MPRH)algorithm is proposed.This algorithm integrates 14 activity priority rules and nine worker priority rules with worker weights.Extensive experiments iteratively the best-performing priority rules,and the most effective rule subsets are integrated through a lightweight multi-pass mechanism to enhance its efficiency.The computational results demonstrate that the MPRH can find high-quality solutions effectively within very short central processing unit central processing unit(CPU)time compared to GUROBI.A case study based on real data obtained from an AFAL confirms the necessity and the feasibility of the approach in practical applications.Sensitivity analyses provide valuable insights to real production scenarios.
文摘In response to the deficiencies of commonly used optimization methods for assembly lines,a production demand-oriented optimization method for assembly lines is proposed.Taking a certain compressor assembly line as an example,the production rhythm and the number of workstations are calculated based on production requirements and working systems.With assembly rhythm and smoothing index as optimization goals,an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is employed for process allocation.Subsequently,Flexsim simulation is used to analyze the assembly line.The final results show that after optimization using the improved particle swarm algorithm,the assembly line balance rate increased from 71.1%to 85.9%,and the assembly line smoothing index decreased from 47.4 to 29.8,significantly enhancing assembly efficiency.This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method for the assembly line and provides a reference for other products in the same industry.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.51275366,50875190,51305311)Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China(Grant No.20134219110002)
文摘Due to the NP-hardness of the two-sided assembly line balancing (TALB) problem, multiple constraints existing in real applications are less studied, especially when one task is involved with several constraints. In this paper, an effective hybrid algorithm is proposed to address the TALB problem with multiple constraints (TALB-MC). Considering the discrete attribute of TALB-MC and the continuous attribute of the standard teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm, the random-keys method is hired in task permutation representation, for the purpose of bridging the gap between them. Subsequently, a special mechanism for handling multiple constraints is developed. In the mechanism, the directions constraint of each task is ensured by the direction check and adjustment. The zoning constraints and the synchronism constraints are satisfied by teasing out the hidden correlations among constraints. The positional constraint is allowed to be violated to some extent in decoding and punished in cost fimction. Finally, with the TLBO seeking for the global optimum, the variable neighborhood search (VNS) is further hybridized to extend the local search space. The experimental results show that the proposed hybrid algorithm outperforms the late acceptance hill-climbing algorithm (LAHC) for TALB-MC in most cases, especially for large-size problems with multiple constraints, and demonstrates well balance between the exploration and the exploitation. This research proposes an effective and efficient algorithm for solving TALB-MC problem by hybridizing the TLBO and VNS.
基金support and help of many individuals in the SASTRA University
文摘In a manufacturing industry, mixed model assembly line(MMAL) is preferred in order to meet the variety in product demand. MMAL balancing helps in assembling products with similar characteristics in a random fashion. The objective of this work aims in reducing the number of workstations, work load index between stations and within each station. As manual contribution of workers in final assembly line is more, ergonomics is taken as an additional objective function. Ergonomic risk level of a workstation is evaluated using a parameter called accumulated risk posture(ARP), which is calculated using rapid upper limb assessment(RULA) check sheet. This work is based on the case study of an MMAL problem in Rane(Madras) Ltd.(India), in which a problem based genetic algorithm(GA) has been proposed to minimize the mentioned objectives. The working of the genetic operators such as selection, crossover and mutation has been modified with respect to the addressed MMAL problem. The results show that there is a significant impact over productivity and the process time of the final assembled product, i.e., the rate of production is increased by 39.5% and the assembly time for one particular model is reduced to 13 min from existing 18 min. Also, the space required using the proposed assembly line is only 200 m2 against existing 350 m2. Further, the algorithm helps in reducing workers fatigue(i.e., ergonomic friendly).
基金Key Projectof Scientific and TechnologicalCommittee of Shanghai(No.0 3 11110 0 5 )
文摘A two-sided assembly line is typically found in plants producing large-sized products. Its advantages over a one-sided line and the difficulties faced in two-sided line balancing problems were discussed. A mathematical model for two-ALB problem was suggested. A modification of the “ranked positional weight” method, namely two-ALB RPW for two-ALB problems was developed. Experiments were carried out to verify the performance of the proposed method and the results show that it is effective in solving two-sided assembly line balancing problems.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51875421,61803287).
文摘Multi-manned assembly line,which is broadly utilized to assemble high volume products such as automobiles and trucks,allows a group of workers to assemble different tasks simultaneously in a multi-manned workstation.This additional characteristic of parallel operators increases the complexity of the traditional NP-hard assembly line balancing problem.Hence,this paper formulates the Type-I multi-manned assembly line balancing problem to minimize the total number of workstations and operators,and develops an efficient migrating birds optimization algorithm embedded into an idle time reduction method.In this algorithm,a new decoding mechanism is proposed which reduces the sequence-dependent idle time by some task assignment rules;three effective neighborhoods are developed to make refinement of existing solutions in the bird improvement phases;and temperature acceptance and competitive mechanism are employed to avoid being trapped in the local optimum.Comparison experiments suggest that the new decoding and improvements are effective and the proposed algorithm outperforms the compared algorithms.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.71071115)the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863) of China(No.2009AA043000)
文摘To solve the sequencing problem in mixed-model flexible assembly lines (MMFALs) with variable launching intervals, a mathematical model aiming to minimize the cost of utility and idle times is developed. To obtain high-quality sequences, an advanced scatter search (ASS) algorithm is proposed. A heuristic approach, i.e. launching intervals between products algorithm (LIBPA), is incorporated into the ASS algorithm to solve the launching interval problem for each sequence. Numerical experiments with different scales are conducted to compare the performance of ASS with genetic algorithm (GA). In addition, we compare the cost of variable launching intervals approach with fixed launching intervals approach. The results indicate that the ASS is efficient and effective, and considering variable launching intervals in mixed-model assembly lines (MMALs) sequencing problem can improve the performance of the line.
基金supported by Key R&D project of Zhejiang Province (2018C01005),http://kjt.zj.gov.cn/.
文摘Numerous clothing enterprises in the market have a relatively low efficiency of assembly line planning due to insufficient optimization of bottleneck stations.As a result,the production efficiency of the enterprise is not high,and the production organization is not up to expectations.Aiming at the problem of flexible process route planning in garment workshops,a multi-object genetic algorithm is proposed to solve the assembly line bal-ance optimization problem and minimize the machine adjustment path.The encoding method adopts the object-oriented path representation method,and the initial population is generated by random topology sorting based on an in-degree selection mechanism.The multi-object genetic algorithm improves the mutation and crossover operations according to the characteristics of the clothing process to avoid the generation of invalid offspring.In the iterative process,the bottleneck station is optimized by reasonable process splitting,and process allocation conforms to the strict limit of the station on the number of machines in order to improve the compilation efficiency.The effectiveness and feasibility of the multi-object genetic algorithm are proven by the analysis of clothing cases.Compared with the artificial allocation process,the compilation efficiency of MOGA is increased by more than 15%and completes the optimization of the minimum machine adjustment path.The results are in line with the expected optimization effect.
文摘The flexible wearable chair is like a light weight mobile exoskeleton that allows people to sit any-where in any working position. The traditional chair is difficult to move to different working locations due to its large size, heavy weight (~5 - 7 kg) and rigid structure and thus, they are inappropriate for workplaces where enough space is not available. Flexible wearable chair has a gross weight of 3 kg as it utilizes light-weight aluminium alloy members. Unlike the traditional chair, it consists of kinematic pairs which enable taking halts between continuous movements at any working position and thus, it is capable of reducing the risk of the physical musculoskeletal disorder substantially among workers. The objective of this paper is to focus on the mechanical design and finite element analysis (FEA) of the mechanism using ANSYS<sup>®</sup> software. In the present work, all the parts of the mechanism are designed under static load condition. The results of the analysis indicate that flexible wearable chair satisfies equilibrium and stability criterion and is capable of reducing fatigue during working in an assembly line/factory.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.59889505)
文摘The successful implementation of mass customization lies on reengineeringtechnology and management methods to organize the production. Especially in assembly phase, variousproduct configurations, due-time penalties and order-driven strategy challenge the traditionaloperation and management of assembly lines. The business features and the operation pattern ofassembly line based on mass customization are analyzed. And the research emphatically studiesvarious technologic factors to improve customer satisfaction and their corresponding implementmethods in operating assembly line. In addition, the models are proposed for operating assembly lineunder dynamic process environment in mass customization. A genetic approach is developed to providethe optimal solution to the models. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated with anindustrial application.
基金Supported by the 12th Five-Year Plan National Pre-research Program of Chinathe Aerospace Science Foundation of China(20111652016)+1 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2012M511748)the Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds(1102053C)
文摘Aiming at assembly line balancing problem,a double chromosome genetic algorithm(DCGA)is proposed to avoid trapping in local optimum,which is a disadvantage of standard genetic algorithm(SGA).In this algorithm,there are two chromosomes of each individual,and the better one,regarded as dominant chromosome,determines the fitness.Dominant chromosome keeps excellent gene segments to speed up the convergence,and recessive chromosome maintains population diversity to get better global search ability to avoid local optimal solution.When the amounts of chromosomes are equal,the population size of DCGA is half that of SGA,which significantly reduces evolutionary time.Finally,the effectiveness is verified by experiments.
基金supported by China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co.,Ltd.(Grant No.YF03221048P)the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision and Administration(Grant No.2022-35)New Young TeachersResearch Start-Up Foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University(Grant No.22X010503668).
文摘As the take-off of China’s macro economy,as well as the rapid development of infrastructure construction,real estate industry,and highway logistics transportation industry,the demand for heavy vehicles is increasing rapidly,the competition is becoming increasingly fierce,and the digital transformation of the production line is imminent.As one of themost important components of heavy vehicles,the transmission front andmiddle case assembly lines have a high degree of automation,which can be used as a pilot for the digital transformation of production.To ensure the visualization of digital twins(DT),consistent control logic,and real-time data interaction,this paper proposes an experimental digital twin modeling method for the transmission front and middle case assembly line.Firstly,theDT-based systemarchitecture is designed,and theDT model is created by constructing the visualization model,logic model,and data model of the assembly line.Then,a simulation experiment is carried out in a virtual space to analyze the existing problems in the current assembly line.Eventually,some improvement strategies are proposed and the effectiveness is verified by a new simulation experiment.
文摘Fault detection and diagnosis for pneumatic system of automatic productionline are studied. An expert system using fuzzy-neural network and pneumatic circuit fault diagnosisinstrument are deigned. The mathematical model of various pneumatic faults and experimental deviceare built. In the end, some experiments are done, which shows that the expert system usingfuzzy-neural network can diagnose fast and truly fault of pneumatic circuit.
基金Supported by National Defense Basic Scientific Research Project(A092000000)High Quality CNC Machine Tool and Basic Manufacturing Equipment Scientific Major Project(2012ZX04010-061)
文摘A modularized, network, reconfigurable architecture and design method of embedded control module is proposed. This control module uses a TMS320F2812 chip as the core, and intro- duces modularization, network, reconfigurable theory to the design of control module to better meet the flexible and reconfigurable control need of assembly line. The design method of the control module is verified by constructing a control experiment based on controlling of precision x - y displace- ment platform through a CAN bus. Experimental results show that the controlling repeat position accuracy of precision x - y platform by control module is 0. 5 μm and the position error is less than 1μm which meet the needs of micro-adjustment pose of assembly line.
基金Financed by Henan provincial Fund (No. 0324300201)
文摘A new way to solve the scheduling problem ofgarment assembly line based on genetic algorithmwas proposed. The chromosome was decoded usingtask precedence relation and after the operation ofreproduction, crossover and mutation, the globaloptimal result can be obtained. Fitness function wasrepresented by smoothness Index ( SI ). Thesimulation shows that the method proposed in thispaper is better than the conventional way and theoptimized solution can be got in this way.
文摘The health check up flow of digital hospital can be consulted with the assem bly line of industry factory.Because they have the following same features:highly specialized workstation, closeness and continuance,rhythm,balanced production,continuous production.The essential prerequisites are as the follows:The inspecting item s and methods should be stable;advanced product mix and stable production design;standardized raw m aterial,consumption,procedure, inspection method;there are lots of request for health inspection;the customers move at the least unit;the space arrangement should be reasonable;the time arrangement should be proportion. With the com puter net,the digital inspection can achieves the raw material controlling accurately. The basis of check up line concerns about equipm ent,net and software,data collection,and per- sonnel.The group technology is used in the health inspection flow design of the digital hospital in the field of items custom ers and zone redivided.The digital assembly linem ic health inspect has the following stages:m ember registering,notice,check in,arrange order,tim e control,report,feed- back and analysis. The assem bly linemic has following advantages:increasing the productivity, the space utility,satisfaction of customer,fund returning,lowering the cost and ensuring the quality.