Design and Implementation of a Small Scale Flexible Manufacturing System

A Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is a "reprogrammable" manufacturing
system capable of producing a variety of products automatically. FMS consist of the
integration of several equipment such as robot, Programmable Logic Controller
(PLC) and sensors. In the FMS world, a robot is used in areas that require flexible
automation or in other words to produce certain work loop motion to complete the
pre-assigned or sequence of motion. PLC acts as the brain for this system while
sensors work as the detectors in the FMS system. This project is mainly representing
the small scale FMS using the KUKA KR3 robot, Siemens SIMATIC PLC and the
test bed. The Siemens SIMATIC PLC is programmed to control the FMS flow and it
is responsible to give the direction for KUKA KR3 to move and also capable to
receive any information signal from the sensors. By creating a string of commands
and download it into the Siemens SIMATIC PLC through STEP 7 Microwin 32
software, one complete system including robot and sensors can be designed to work
together. The movement of the robot is directed by the coding through their own
software in the KUKA CONTROL PANEL. The main task is to connect the robot
used in the lab with the PLC. To direct the robot by using the PLC, the interface
between the PLC and robot need to be identified. The synchronization between the
two devices must be achieved to make sure that movement of the whole process of
the small FMS system can be controlled by PLC. The use of robot and PLC as the
controller is widely used in the industry of automation. As a conclusion, this project
will provide a good exposure to the student in understanding more on handling robot
and PLC in the real world ofFMS.
IV