Electromagnetic modular Smart Surface architecture and control in a microfactory context

•Proposal of flexible and reconfigurable conveyance system for modular microfactory.•Prototype of the associated technical solution for electromagnetic modular Smart Surface (emSS).•Development of a framework to manage and control the electromagnetic modular Smart Surface within microfactory.•First results on the displacement of one pallet on the electromagnetic modular Smart Surface and two studies exploiting the emSS modeling.

This paper presents an electromagnetic conveyance system called electromagnetic modular Smart Surface (emSS) permitting to move pallets on a planar surface in a microfactory context. The proposed surface concept allows flexibility in reconfiguring the system layout along with product routing. The possibilities of accurate positioning of the moving pallet and controlling multiple pallets on the surface make the emSS suitable for reconfigurable and flexible manufacturing systems. However, the emSS control needs to be robust and scalable to adapt the changes in manufacturing systems. A framework is therefore defined to monitor and control the emSS by simulation or in-line. It allows to define product routing on the emSS by satisfying numerous requirements such as reduction in energy consumption, collision avoidance, etc., and to minimize the human interventions by changing product routing when emSS component failures occur. A first experiment realized on an emSS prototype, allowed to compare two paths strategies regarding cost function linked to energy consumption and velocities. Two other studies exploit the emSS modeling in terms of pallet path generation and simulation of collision avoidance.