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US 12,699,381 B2Granted
Systems, devices, and methods for allocation of workpiece transfers in multi-machine, multi-process production systems
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorAhmed M. Hussein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Some devices, systems, and methods receive a production-system description that describes respective operations that can be performed on workpieces by each of a plurality of machines and that describes capabilities of one or more robots to transfer the workpieces to and from each of the plurality of machines; receive a process description that describes at least one sequence of process operations to be performed on a workpiece; construct a plurality of transfer chains by recursively generating transfer chains based on a production-system state, the process description, and on the production-system description; and select a particular transfer chain of the plurality of transfer chains based on one or more selection criteria.
Claims20
A method of generating a schedule for a plurality of machines and robots, the method comprising:
- receiving a production-system description that describes respective operations that can be performed on workpieces by each of a plurality of machines and that describes capabilities of one or more robots to transfer the workpieces to and from each of the plurality of machines;
- receiving a process description that describes at least one sequence of process operations to be performed on a workpiece;
- constructing a plurality of transfer chains by recursively generating transfer chains based on a production-system state, the process description, and on the production-system description, wherein the plurality of transfer chains include a parent transfer chain and one or more child transfer chains that were recursively generated from the parent transfer chain,
- wherein the production-system state describes, at a respective point in time in a series of points in time, a respective state of each machine of the plurality of machines, a respective state of each robot of the one or more robots, and a respective state of each workpiece that is held by either a robot of the one or more robots or a machine of the plurality of machines;
- and
- selecting a particular transfer chain of the plurality of transfer chains based on one or more selection criteria.
3 more elements
A system for operating on workpieces, the system comprising:
- a plurality of machines that are configured to operate on workpieces;
- a plurality of transfer robots, wherein each transfer robot of the plurality of transfer robots respectively comprises one or more transfer arms that are each configured to carry the workpieces;
- one or more memories;
- and
- one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors and the one or more memories are configured to
- obtain a production-system description that describes respective operations that can be performed on the workpieces by each of the plurality of machines and that describes capabilities of the plurality of robots to transfer the workpieces to and from each of the plurality of machines;
- obtain a process description that describes at least one sequence of process operations to be performed on a workpiece;
- generate a first plurality of transfer chains based on a first production-system state, the process description, and on the production-system description, wherein each transfer chain of the first plurality of transfer chains includes a respective sequence of transfer tasks, wherein generating the first plurality of transfer chains includes recursively performing a transfer-task-addition process in which an instance of the transfer-task-addition process invokes another instance of the transfer-task-addition process,
- wherein the first production-system state describes, at a first point in time, a respective state of each machine of the plurality of machines, a respective state of each robot of the plurality of robots, and a respective state of each workpiece that is held by either a robot of the one or more robots or a machine of the plurality of machines;
- and
- select a first particular transfer chain of the first plurality of transfer chains based on one or more selection criteria.
8 more elements
A method of generating a schedule for a transfer robot, the method comprising:
- obtaining a production-system description that describes respective operations that can be performed on workpieces by each of a plurality of machines and that describes capabilities of one or more robots to transfer the workpieces to and from each of the plurality of machines, wherein the one or more robots include a first robot;
- obtaining a process description that describes at least one sequence of process operations to be performed on workpieces;
- generating a future production-system state based on the process description and on the production-system description, wherein the future production-system state describes, at a future point in time, a respective state of each machine of the plurality of machines, a respective state of each robot of the one or more robots, and a respective state of each workpiece that is held by either a robot of the one or more robots or a machine of the plurality of machines;
- generating a plurality of transfer chains for the first robot based on the future production-system state, on the process description, and on the production-system description, and on respective future states of the first robot in the plurality of transfer chains, wherein each transfer chain of the plurality of transfer chains includes a respective sequence of transfer tasks, and wherein the plurality of transfer chains include a first transfer chain and a second transfer chain that share at least one transfer task;
- and
- selecting a particular transfer chain of the plurality of transfer chains based on one or more selection criteria.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.