Design and construction of a flexible manufacturing system test bench

Abstract

This thesis explores the history, concept and criteria of flexible manufacturing systems. A small-scale test bench is designed and constructed for educational and demonstrational pur- poses. The test bench in comprised of an industrial robot, a CNC machine, and a conveyor. These are all controlled and automated from a PLC with a connected touch panel for human machine interface. It describes in detail the three main parts of building the test bench. First is the physical construction of the test bench and how the parts were machined using a metal band saw and a milling machine. Second is the interfacing between the components with electrical wiring, signal configuration and usage of OPC, PLC and PC to enable communication. The third and final step is the programming of the components where python, g-code, robot code and two different PLC codes all work together to create a seamless system with many customisation options.