Evaluating a Data Distribution Service System for Dynamic Manufacturing Environments: A Case Study

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Europe struggle to incorporate industrial robots in their production environments, while large enterprises use these robots for large batch production only. The paradigm shift from mass production to mass personalization decreases batch sizes and changes the approach to implementation of industrial robots in manufacturing environments. It also opens doors for SMEs to further incorporate robots in their production environments. The goal of this research is to evaluate the suitability of a data-centric, distributed, decentralized manufacturing system for cooperation between robots and humans. A case is presented featuring cooperation between robots and humans. A control system is proposed based on distributed intelligence and decentralized control, to handle the rapidly expanding complexity in dynamic manufacturing environments. The communication in such a distributed environment is provided by a Data Distribution Service system; an extendible, flexible approach to communication. Key issues that are encountered in implementing the cooperation into the current industrial environments are identified. The proposed control system is projected on the case and evaluated for application suitability and expected performance.