Abstract
Forming processes are manufacturing processes that use force and pressure in order to modify the shape of a material part until obtaining the final product. The wide range of non-linear factors that drive this sort of processes make them very complex and extremely difficult to be controlled. Traditional control techniques, like PID controllers, have not offered a reliable solution when global control has been pursued and the figure of the operator still remains present in most of the forming facilities. On the other hand, although operators have demonstrated to be a very successful strategy when controlling this type of processes, the actual market evolution towards the fabrication of more complex parts, made of lower formability materials at higher production rates, is decreasing their capacity of reaction when solving the daily problems. Thus, the development of new global control systems based not on traditional control techniques and mathematical models but on the control strategy that has been used successfully for many years, the control through the experience and knowledge is now even more necessary. In the present work, an intelligent control system based on one of the main techniques within the artificial intelligence, expert systems, has been developed. The main purpose of this intelligent control system is to emulate the decisions that expert operators take but in a quicker and more reliable way. The developed intelligent control system has been installed in a blanking facility and very good results have been achieved.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 773-779 |
Number of pages | 7 |
ISSN | 0736-5845 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work is being carried out in the frame of a CRAFT Project (Pro2Control: “On-line Control of Drawing and Blanking Processes and of Quality of the Product by Fusion of Sensors and Artificial Vision Techniques”, http://www.pro2control.net ) contract no. 017900 supported by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme.
Keywords
- Artificial vision system
- Blanking process
- Expert system
- Force and acoustic monitoring system