IFACOM

Intelligent Fault Correction and self Optimizing Manufacturing systems

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The goal of zero defect manufacturing encompasses both short and long term perspectives. The short term perspective is to develop and implement a real time process control system that eliminates the production of any faulty component due to variances in materials, components and process properties. The long term perspective is to minimize all failures by continuous optimizing of the production process and the manufacturing system. A framework of an Intelligent Fault Correction and self Optimizing Manufacturing system (IFaCOM) will be developed, which can become a general framework for manufacturing equipment and processes for different industrial branches. In this framework it is proposed to extend the use of closed loop control to all vital parameters of a component or product. In today's manufacturing it is still the case that many vital parameters are controlled indirectly, thus creating a larger variability in the output than acceptable within the zero-defect paradigm. The project will create a basic understanding of the method of direct closed loop control of vital parameters and apply this control principle both to single operations and to the entire part manufacturing process in order to eliminate the propagation of defects along the process stages. The principles can be extended to processes where the input material has too large variability leading to high defect rates in production. This involves both the development of suitable measurement and monitoring techniques of the input condition of components as well as development of the necessary actuation methods and mechanisms to implement the necessary control actions. To establish and continuously improve the closed loop methods and to extend them over the entire process chain of part manufacturing, the control models must be upgraded in accordance with the increased insight in the operations that can be obtained by analysis of large amounts of data available from multiple sensors both in the manufacturin'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An ambitious EU-supported research project is targeting near-zero defect levels in manufacturing with advanced process control technology. The intelligent system will be demonstrated in five different applications, highlighting its versatility.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded project 'Intelligent fault correction and self optimizing manufacturing systems' (http://www.ifacom.org (IFACOM)) is aiming for near-zero defect levels in all kinds of manufacturing. Fifteen partners from academics and industry are developing the required real-time process control technology for machine tools. Of the 15 partners, 6 are academic and 9 industrial, of whom 5 will be end users of the developed technology.

The technology emphasises improved performance of process control to reduce defects and the costs of defect avoidance. The team is including a focus on enhanced quality control for more robust product quality. Scientists are further improving manufacturing process capability as well. Target applications are manufacturing processes for high-value parts, high-performance products and custom design manufacturing.

During the second reporting period, the team continued definition of the case studies to be analysed. IFACOM will complete one demonstrator application for each of the five end-user partner organisations. Its benefits are set to be demonstrated for precision manufacturing of superalloys, tool life monitoring during extreme conditions, and electrical discharge machining for aerospace and medical applications. In addition, demonstrators for process control of polishing and of boring and milling machine tools will be delivered.

Researchers have now developed a first virtual demonstrator for simulations. They are creating fuzzy logic-based algorithms for predicting part quality errors based on input process parameters, and have also done extensive work on the sensors, signal handling and graphical user interface. The end of the period witnessed definition of the demonstrator concepts, which will be turned into specifications in the coming months.

The project is paying special attention to communication about its work to small and medium-sized enterprises via seminars and various other communication activities. These will highlight the performance improvements through the processes that IFACOM has developed. Scientists are planning to establish an industrial interest group as well.

IFACOM's self-optimising manufacturing process control will have major impact on the competitiveness of numerous industries through intelligent fault correction. With near-zero fault levels through established closed-loop control methods, scientists will ensure high product quality every time for high-performance and high-value parts.