Automated rotating stations and related methods

An automated mass production system comprising:

• a plurality of supply carriers, each supply carrier holding at least one workpiece assembly and advanceable through a receiving position;
• a rotating station adjacent the receiving position, the rotating station including at least one tooling and at least one sensor;
• and
• a control system for synchronizing operation of the supply carriers and rotating station, the control system configured to perform a method comprising:
• advancing a supply carrier toward a receiving position of a rotating station, the supply carrier holding at least one workpiece assembly, the workpiece assembly comprising at least one stationary workpiece and at least one rotational workpiece, and the rotating station comprising at least one tooling and at least one sensor;
• advancing the at least one tooling towards the receiving position in electronic synchronization with the advancement of the supply carrier towards the receiving position;
• determining an initial orientation of the at least one workpiece assembly;
• determining a rotating value based on the initial orientation;
• preparing the at least one workpiece assembly for rotating, including coupling the at least one tooling to the at least one workpiece assembly;
• and
• rotating the at least one rotational workpiece by driving the at least one tooling to rotate the at least one rotational workpiece relative to the at least one stationary workpiece according to the rotating value.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor configure the processor to perform a method comprising:

• advancing a supply carrier toward a receiving position of a rotating station, the supply carrier holding at least one workpiece assembly, the workpiece assembly comprising at least one stationary workpiece and at least one rotational workpiece, and the rotating station comprising at least one tooling and at least one sensor;
• advancing the at least one tooling towards the receiving position in electronic synchronization with the advancement of the supply carrier towards the receiving position;
• determining an initial orientation of the at least one workpiece assembly;
• determining a rotating value based on the initial orientation;
• preparing the at least one workpiece assembly for rotating, including coupling the at least one tooling to the at least one workpiece assembly;
• and
• rotating the at least one rotational workpiece by driving the at least one tooling to rotate the at least one rotational workpiece relative to the at least one stationary workpiece according to the rotating value.