LAUSR

Designing and installing jigs and fixtures for new products are very costly tasks. In order to rapidly respond to frequent product changes in a manufacturing system, we developed a transformable pin array fixture system including reconfiguration planning software that finds the optimal position for mounting an assembly part and automatically generates a pin height control code. We first classified main fixturing quality factors such as type of contact, distance between a pin and a joining point, and part shape. We then formulate the part positioning problem as an alignment problem between the joining point set and the pin point set in the xy plane in consideration of the fixturing quality factors. A car door trim assembly module was used to verify the proposed method. Finite-element analysis results showed that in a car door trim assembly process such as ultrasonic welding and screwing, relocating an assembly part at the optimal position reduces its deformation. Note to Practitioners—Jigs and fixture systems are the fundamental manufacturing elements that are used for ensuring assembly quality. Traditionally, manufacturers have produced a small variety of products in massive quantities using dedicated jig and fixture systems. However, these dedicated workholding systems do not fit for the Today’s rapidly changing market. In order to enhance the reconfigurability of these systems, we propose a transformable pin array-based part fixturing system including part position optimization. Due to the system complexity, the assembly quality can be lower using the transformable fixtures than the conventional fixtures. Therefore, it is further necessary to develop a cost-effective reconfigurable fixture while preserving the assembly quality for the better chance of its industrial implementation.