Automated Generation of Clamping Concepts and Assembly Cells for Car Body Parts for the Digitalization of Automobile Production

Abstract

A central success factor for the digitalization of production processes is the provision of a consistent database across domains and life cycles. The current situation in the automotive industry is characterized by a multitude of engineering tools with diverse, proprietary data formats, which require complex conversion processes and show dramatic deficits in the consistency and accessibility of the data. In recent years, graph-based design languages have been refined and their range of application expanded to an extent that they represent an interesting approach to addressing these problems. The focus of this paper is on the automated generation of assembly processes and assembly resources (e.g. type-related production equipment such as clamping devices) using the example of automotive body parts (front flap and B-pillar). Within the presented engineering framework of automated production planning, clamping concepts and assembly cells (with automated wiring) are generated using graph-based design languages. Based on the manufacturing concept, a joining sequence and fastener planning is carried out, from which a product-specific clamping and fixing concept is derived. The central advantage of this procedure is, in addition to the high degree of automation, the possibility of providing a consistent database. This database allows the automatic derivation for the various specialized engineering tools.