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. I