Design of the Locomotion and Docking System of the Swarm It FIX Mobile Fixture Agent

摘要

The European project SwarmItFIX has developed a new highly adaptable self-reconfiguring fixturing system which uses a swarm of mobile agents moving freely on a bench and repositioning in real time to better support the machined part. The project investigates the application of robotic multi-agent fixtures for the support of automotive and airplane body panels during their manufacturing and assembly. Each fixturing robot comprises an adjustable end effector, a parallel manipulator, and a mobile-base-docking-bench module. This paper describes the base-bench subsystem which ensures rapid and precise locomotion, as well as secure docking, of the agent during the machining process. The design addresses with particular care the need for a reliable bench- despite the predicaments of the machining environment, such as flying chips, accumulated swarf, spilled fluids, and vibrations. After a brief review of the state of the art, an overview of the whole project is given. Various candidate robot-base designs and locomotion methods are considered and compared. The final design, selected on the basis of the industrial requirements, is described in detail. A prototype of the SwarmItFIX system has been realized within the project and tested on the premises of an Italian aircraft manufacturer.