A Conceptual Study Towards Delivery of Consumable Materials to AircraftAssembly Stations Performed by Mobile Robots Based on Industry 4.0Principles

Abstract

This paper aims to present a conceptual study that integrates mobile robots and communication systems developed for delivery of materials to workstations of aircraft assembly lines. In the interest of providing deliveries of material in heights, a concept of a customized UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) has been proposed herein in order to assist the labor needs related to logistics requirements. A picker aerial vehicle has been designed to perform the operations through a man-machine interaction based on a proper software application developed for this specific intention. In order to integrate this whole process, an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) is used to deliver the materials on the floor and to transport the proper aerial vehicle to take-off in specific places. Accordingly, it is understood that these integrated automated systems commanded by CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems) could manage the information, perform tasks and contribute to a better process. Therefore, the major contribution and novelty of this paper is to show how an adapted UAV in conjunction with a special AVG and a tailor-made software application could bring several benefits to the aircraft manufacturing industry. Thus, this approach has looked for better results in terms of productivity, safety of people and costs related to down-time, number of ground support equipment and wastes associated with movements. A case study has demonstrated earnings of approximately USD 300 k per year. This proposal can also improve the flexibility of work tasks; manage production routines due to the balancing of the assembly line and easiness to attend requests online, adding value and providing a greater efficiency of the process based on Industry 4.0 trends. A proper framed-model is presented as a novelty in order to evidence advantages reached when robotics and internet of things are combined.