An innovative energy predictive process planning tool for assembly automation systems

This paper proposes a framework to enable a proactive approach to energy consumption prediction and optimisation that can be utilised from the design phase thus offering significant advantages over existing reactive approaches. The framework integrates energy modelling and management techniques at component and system levels using the modelling capabilities of virtual engineering tools. For proof of concept demonstration, a case study of a pick-and-place automatic workstation is presented. An energy consumption optimisation is achieved by optimising components motion control and reconfiguring the workstation. In the case study, a number of experiments were conducted to compare alternative designs against the original one. Results showed significant energy saving (up to 57% of the original design) by redefining the motion profiles and cycle time in a more optimised form.