Automatic Selection and Sequencing of Traps for Vibratory Feeders

摘要

Vibratory parts feeders with mechanical orienting devices are used extensively in the assembly automation industry. Even so, the design process is based on trial-and-error approaches and is largely manual. In this paper, a methodology is presented for automatic design of this type of feeder. The approach uses dynamic simulation for generating the necessary data for configuring a feeder with a sequence of mechanical orienting devices called traps, with the goal of reorienting all parts from a random to fixed orientation. Then, a fast algorithm for facilitating this configuration task automatically is developed from domain specific knowledge. Finally, the algorithm is validated on three industrial cases and its drawbacks and strengths are discussed in detail.