Task Scheduling of Material-Handling Manipulator for Enhancing Energy Efficiency in Flow-Type FMS

Energy savings and reduction in environmental burdens are necessitated to enhance sustainable manufacturing performances. Not only should energy consumption in the factory be visualized, but also a mechanism, by which in-process production and energy-related information measured in the shop floor are fed back into planning/scheduling decision-making, must be established to improve the energy efficiency during manufacturing execution. This study addresses the effect of scheduling on the improvement of energy efficiency in manufacturing by connecting a developed measurement and control platform with a real manufacturing system. The manufacturing system testbed utilized in this study forms a simple flow-type flexible manufacturing system composed of automated manufacturing cell with a CNC lathe, material-handling manipulator, and vertical machining center. We focus on the task scheduling of the material-handling manipulator, which yields a job sequence, and the effect of task scheduling of the manipulator on the energy efficiency and productivity of the entire manufacturing system.