Arrangement planning for multiple self-moving trays in human supporting production cell "attentive workbench"

We have proposed "attentive workbench (AWB)", a new cell production system in which an intelligent system supports human workers. Recognizing worker\´s condition and intention, the system supports workers from both physical and information aspects. This paper deals with physical assembly support using self-moving parts trays. The system delivers necessary assembly parts to workers and clears finished products quickly. On transporting large products, multiple trays are subjected to form a rigid body working as a large single tray. In order to realize this arrangement of trays in real-time, a planning method based on the priority scheme and heuristic rule is proposed. The present method is evaluated through simulations. A demonstration of assembly support using real self-moving trays is shown.