Enhancing changeability of automotive Hybrid Reconfigurable Systems in digital environments

Changeability accomplishes the engineering design of competitive sustainable manufacturing systems, considered as industrial products characterized by inherent life cycle. Main drivers for changeability are manufacturing system reconfigurability and hybridization. A Hybrid Reconfigurable System (H-RS) is characterized by the coexistence and cooperation of industrial robots and skilled human workers to perform complex tasks within a common reconfigurable production environment. H-RSs rise use-productivity along their total system life cycle, fostering the evaluation and implementation of feasible and innovative technologies, and increasing the utilization ratio and the multiple use—or re-use—of resources. The paper proposes an engineering method which aims at enhancing changeability in H-RSs through the application of a multi level reconfigurability approach within a digital environment. The method includes the advanced design and modeling of digital devices which embed mechanics, electronics, control logic and software code. Advanced models are exploited to analyze the system performance in the system domain of changes and to realize an effective human training. An industrial case study describes the application of the method to the design of a hybrid reconfigurable workcell for manufacturing and assembly of top class car chassis.