Automated Handling of Highly Deformable Materials
Project focus
- Design and implementation of a prototypical device for the automated handling of limp materials
- Investigation and evaluation of various gripping technologies
- Mathematical modeling of tensile and bending behaviour of dry fibrous materials
- Active control of fibre tension during the handling process
Description
Since the 1980s fibre-reinforced composites (FRPs) were exclusively reserved for “high-end” applications in aerospace and sports industry. Driven by the possibility of stress optimized production and the enormous light-weight potential, there is an increasing interest in the use of fibre fabrics in other industries, such as automotive, machinery and plant manufacturing, etc. A widespread application across all industries, however, requires the reduction of the substantial additional manufacturing costs of composites compared to traditional materials while ensuring the required process reliability. As today’s FRPs are mainly produced in manual and semi-automated processes, future developments will move forward to a flexible, continuous industrialization of existing production processes. In this context, particularly, the (contour) flexible pick-up of dry or preimpregnated fibrous materials from the cutter table or storing and the subsequent controlled lay-up in a forming tool (mold) still represent a challenge for automated handling systems.
Although a number of mathematical models were developed since the 1930s for the prediction of structural changes of dry fibrous materials, these are, due to the model complexity, hardly used in the automated handling. Hence existing handling systems (mostly) operate in open-loop control (keyword: teach-in), i.e. forgoing any model-knowledge and feedback from a suitable sensor.
Experimental setup for the automated handling of limp materials.
Im Rahmen dieses Projekts wird prototypisch ein Handhabungssystem aufgebaut und das Potential der modernen modellbasierten Regelungstechnik für die Handhabung biegeschlaffer Materialien, wie sie die Halbzeuge darstellen, untersucht.
In this project, a prototype of a handling system is set up and the potential of modern model-based control to handle limp materials is examined.
The handling objects under investigation are non-crimp and woven fabric strips of varying structure, thickness and area density. Various gripping technologies are considered and evaluated regarding their suitability for particular fibrous materials. Basic tests are developed to identify the model parameters of the different fabrics in order to simulate the deformation behavior of these materials. The focus on the mathematical model is placed on the subsequent implementation of a model based control system, which is why a real-time prediction of the deformation behavior of a large class of materials has to be developed. Based on these models appropriate strategies for position and force control are designed. The active control of fibre tension during the handling ensures reliable pick-up, maintaining of the geometric definiteness during the handling process (no fiber displacement) and a wrinkle-free, material-friendly lay-up in or on complex shapes.
The subject is not only limited to the handling of carbon-fibre fabrics. The concepts are applicable to many other issues, such as the automated lamination of large vinyl sheets, textile handling, etc.
Videos
Selected publications
- S. Flixeder, Force-Based Cooperative Manipulation of Highly Deformable Materials, A. Kugi and K. Schlacher, Eds., Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2017, vol. 36.
[BibTex]@Book{Flixeder17a, Title = {Force-Based Cooperative Manipulation of Highly Deformable Materials}, Author = {Flixeder, S.}, Editor = {A. Kugi and K. Schlacher}, Publisher = {Shaker Verlag}, Year = {2017}, Address = {Aachen}, Series = {Modellierung und Regelung komplexer dynamischer Systeme}, Volume = {36}, ISBN = {978-3-8440-5401-9}, Organization = {Institute f{\"u}r Automatisierungs- und Regelungstechnik (TU Wien) und Regelungstechnik und Prozessautomatisierung (JKU Linz)}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, M. Böck, and A. Kugi, Model-Based Signal Processing for the Force Control of Biaxial Gantry Robots, in Proceedings of the 20th IFAC World Congress, Toulouse, France, 2017, p. 3208–3214.
[BibTex]@InProceedings{Flixeder17, author = {Flixeder, S. and Gl\"uck, T. and B\"ock, M. and Kugi, A.}, title = {Model-Based Signal Processing for the Force Control of Biaxial Gantry Robots}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 20th IFAC World Congress}, year = {2017}, volume = {50}, number = {1}, month = {7}, pages = {3208--3214}, doi = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2017.08.439}, address = {Toulouse, France}, issn = {2405-8963}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, and A. Kugi, Force-based cooperative handling and lay-up of deformable materials: Mechatronic design, modeling, and control of a demonstrator, Mechatronics, vol. 47, p. 246–261, 2017.
[BibTex]@Article{Flixeder16a, Title = {Force-based cooperative handling and lay-up of deformable materials: Mechatronic design, modeling, and control of a demonstrator}, Author = {Flixeder, S. and Gl\"uck, T. and Kugi, A.}, Journal = {Mechatronics}, Pages = {246--261}, Volume = {47}, Year = {2017}, Doi = {10.1016/j.mechatronics.2016.10.003}, ISSN = {0957-4158}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, and A. Kugi, Modeling and Force Control for the Collaborative Manipulation of Deformable Strip-Like Materials, in Proceedings of the 7th IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems & 15th Mechatronics Forum International Conference, Loughborough, UK, 2016, p. 95–102.
[BibTex] [Download]@InProceedings{Flixeder16, author = {Flixeder, S. and Gl\"uck, T. and Kugi, A.}, title = {Modeling and Force Control for the Collaborative Manipulation of Deformable Strip-Like Materials}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 7th IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems \& 15th Mechatronics Forum International Conference}, year = {2016}, volume = {49}, number = {21}, month = {9}, pages = {95--102}, doi = {10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.10.518}, address = {Loughborough, UK}, issn = {2405-8963}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, M. Böck, R. Neumann, and A. Kugi, Kombinierte Pfad- und Nachgiebigkeitsregelung für ein Portalsystem mit experimenteller Validierung, in Tagungsband Mechatronik, Dortmund, Germany, 2015, p. 37–42.
[BibTex] [Download]@InProceedings{Flixeder15, author = {Flixeder, S. and Gl\"uck, T. and B\"ock, M. and Neumann, R. and Kugi, A.}, title = {{K}ombinierte {P}fad- und {N}achgiebigkeitsregelung f{\"u}r ein {P}ortalsystem mit experimenteller {V}alidierung}, booktitle = {Tagungsband Mechatronik}, year = {2015}, month = {3}, pages = {37--42}, address = {Dortmund, Germany}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, M. Böck, and A. Kugi, Combined Path Following and Compliance Control with Application to a Biaxial Gantry Robot, in Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Control Applications (CCA), Antibes, France, 2014, p. 796–801.
[BibTex] [Download]@InProceedings{Flixeder14, author = {Flixeder, Stefan and Gl\"uck, Tobias and B\"ock, Martin and Kugi, Andreas}, title = {Combined Path Following and Compliance Control with Application to a Biaxial Gantry Robot}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Control Applications (CCA)}, year = {2014}, month = {10}, pages = {796--801}, doi = {10.1109/CCA.2014.6981438}, address = {Antibes, France}, } - S. Flixeder, T. Glück, M. Böck, and A. Kugi, Kombinierte Pfad- und Impedanzregelung für ein Portalsystem, in Tagungsband GMA-Fachausschuss 1.40 “Theoretische Verfahren der Regelungstechnik”, Anif/Salzburg, Austria, 2014, p. 128–154.
[BibTex]@InProceedings{Flixeder14a, author = {Flixeder, S. and Gl\"uck, T. and B\"ock, M. and Kugi, A.}, title = {Kombinierte {P}fad- und {I}mpedanzregelung f\"ur ein {P}ortalsystem}, booktitle = {Tagungsband GMA-Fachausschuss 1.40 "Theoretische Verfahren der Regelungstechnik"}, year = {2014}, month = {9}, pages = {128--154}, address = {Anif/Salzburg, Austria}, }
Applications
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Machinery and plant manufacturing