autorizada la entrega del proyecto el director del ... · plantilla, se ha creado la cinemática de...

Proyecto realizado por el alumno:

Enrique García Ruiz

Fdo.: …………………… Fecha: ……/ ……/ ……

Autorizada la entrega del proyecto

EL DIRECTOR DEL PROYECTO

Petter Falkman

Fdo.: …………………… Fecha: ……/ ……/ ……

Vº Bº del Coordinador de Proyectos

Álvaro Sánchez Miralles

Fdo.: …………………… Fecha: ……/ ……/ ……

ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR DE INGENIERÍA I.C.A.I.

TÍTULO DE: INGENIERO INDUSTRIAL

VIRTUAL PREPARATION OF AUTOMATION STATION OF VOLVO TRUCKS© PRODUCTION

STATION USING DELMIA© SOLUTIONS

Autor: Enrique García RuizDirector: Petter Falkman

Madrid Septiembre 2010

VIRTUAL PREPARATION OF AUTOMATION STATION OF VOLVO TRUCKS© PRODUCTION STATION USING DELMIA© SOLUTIONS. Autor: García Ruiz, Enrique.

Director: Falkman, Petter.

Entidades colaboradoras: Volvo Trucks Company.

Chalmers University of Göteborg.

RESUMEN DEL PROYECTO:

La simulación y fabricación virtual es cada vez más prometedora tanto en la industria del automóvil como en las demás industrias manufactureras. La constante innovación en los sectores de fabricación permite a los fabricantes producir en menor tiempo y reduciendo costes. Las herramientas digitales de fabricación como Dassault Systèmes, DELMIA V5 han sido desarrolladas hasta tal punto, que prestan apoyo a casi todo tipo de fabricación en lo que respecta a sus tres pasos principales, que son; el diseño, la planificación de la producción y la puesta en marcha virtual.

Este trabajo forma parte de “FFI Research Project”, una investigación realizada en Suecia entre el gobierno y la industria automotriz con el fin de alcanzar objetivos sociales como la reducción del impacto medioambiental del transporte y el fortalecimiento de la seguridad vial en el país. En esta investigación intervienen empresas por el gobierno como VINNOVA (la Agencia gubernamental sueca de Sistemas de Innovación, la administración de Carreteras de Suecia y la Agencia Sueca de Energía y por la industria como Volvo AB, AB Volvo Cars, Scania CV AB, Saab AB de Automóviles y FKG.

El proyecto expone las orientaciones necesarias para la construcción de la automatización de una estación virtual utilizando las soluciones que ofrece Dassault Systèmes (Delmia, DELMIA Automation). La memoria recoge cómo el comportamiento de los equipos se puede definir utilizando piezas CAD con el fin de reducir al mínimo, o idealmente por completo, el trabajo de posteriores ingenieros. Por lo tanto, es necesario investigar cómo esta información definida puede ser reutilizada.

En esta memoria se crea y se simula una estación contenida en una línea existente de producción de cabinas de camiones en “Volvo Trucks Umeå”, situada en el norte de Suecia, adecuando el trabajo a la normativa de Volvo. La estación se basa en el montaje de la cabina de un camión una vez que han sido fabricadas las distintas partes de esta, mediante el uso de cuatro robots y sus correspondientes herramientas.

Ilustración 1. Modelo virtual de la estación Y.

En primer lugar, se ha utilizado la geometría existente en CAD de Volvo para crear una plantilla en el entorno PPR (Producto, Proceso y Recurso). Una vez creada esa plantilla, se ha creado la cinemática de la misma utilizando CATIA, debido a que Volvo carece de la herramienta de DELMIA capaz de alcanzar este fin. Para ello, se ha tenido que separar cada pieza en partes más pequeñas y crear los diferentes mecanismos con el fin de darle movilidad (cinemática) a las piezas rígidas proporcionadas por Volvo.

Tras definir la cinemática, el siguiente paso en este proyecto ha sido la creación de las etiquetas y las tareas de los robots, que se ha basado en la visita a la estación de Volvo Trucks en Umeå, Suecia. Las principales tareas que se definen son los diferentes movimientos que realiza el robot para montar y desmontar herramientas o coger, soltar y soldar piezas, todo ello optimizando el tiempo del proceso. Posteriormente, se creó la SOP (secuencia de operaciones), validándola y optimizándola mediante el uso de los programas “Sequence Planner” y “Supremica”.

Por último, se ha utilizado el módulo de DELMIA dedicado a automatización (DELMIA automation) para definir la lógica interna basada en las tareas anteriormente creadas. Se ha creado el comportamiento lógico utilizando un diagrama de funciones secuencial (SFC) compuesto por bloques de acciones y transiciones (condiciones). Para controlar este comportamiento se ha diseñado virtualmente un HMI (interfaz entre

humanos y máquinas) y se ha relacionado mediante el uso de puertos en las distintas piezas (robots, agarraderas, pistolas de soldar…).

El informe está escrito de tal manera que ayude a los lectores a comprender todos y cada uno de los pasos que se han dado durante el proyecto. Viene complementado con figuras, bibliografía, páginas consultadas y programas empleados.

La conclusión principal es, como se demuestra, que es posible controlar el campo de trabajo de la estación Y, para el montaje de cabinas de camiones, con un PLC virtual a través de un HMI. Para ello, se ha utilizado la base de datos de Volvo Trucks y las soluciones que ofrece el programa DELMIA a través de la simulación de la estación de trabajo.

Este trabajo realizado con Volvo podría reutilizarse en otras compañías para simular otras estaciones de producción. Se adjunta en la memoria, en uno de los apéndices, unas guías de trabajo con el fin de esquematizar, a modo de tutorial, los diferentes pasos a seguir para lograr automatizar las estaciones virtualmente utilizando DELMIA.

ABSTRACT

Simulation and virtual manufacturing is becoming more and more promising in the automotive industry and in the other manufacturing industries. Constant innovation in the manufacturing sectors allows the manufacturers to produce products reducing cost and time. Digital manufacturing tools like Dassault Systèmes DELMIA V5 platform have been developed to such an extent that provide support to almost all kind of manufacturing industries regarding design, production planning and virtual commissioning, the three major steps with in digital manufacturing.

This work is a part of “FFI Research Project”, an investigation that is being carried out in Sweden between the government and the automotive industry in order to satisfy social goals such as reducing the environmental impact of transport and strengthening the traffic security. Very important companies participate on this research. On one hand, government industries such as VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems), the Swedish Road administration and the Swedish Energy Agency and on the other hand, automotive industries such as Volvo AB, Volvo Cars AB, Scania CV AB, Saab Automobile AB and FKG.

This thesis work highlights the necessary guidelines to build a virtual Automation station using Dassault Systèmes solutions (Delmia, Delmia Automation). The report clarifies how equipment behavior can be defined on CAD parts that will minimize, or ideally diminish entirely, the need of rework for the subsequent engineer. The other way of looking at this problem, demands to investigate how the defined information can be reused.

A station within an existing front cab production line at “Volvo Trucks Umeå”, in the north of Sweden, is created virtually and simulated, following the Volvo normative. The station is focused on the assembly of the truck cab after the different parts are made by using four robots and their tools.

Figure 1. Virtual model of Station Y

First of all, the existing CAD geometry from Volvo was used to build a template in PPR hub. Once the template was created, the kinematics were defined using CATIA, due to Volvo does not have DELMIA tools to lead this aim. It was necessary to separate each piece in smaller parts and to define the different joints in order to create the kinematics in the rigid pieces that Volvo had.

Once the kinematics were defined, the next step in the report was to define the tags and tasks of the robots. This activity was based on the visit to Volvo Truck Station at Umeå, Sweden. The main tasks defined are the different movements that the robot does like mount and dismount the tools or to pick, drop and weld the pieces, all of them optimizing the cycle time. Later, the SOP (sequence of operations) was created. It was optimized and validated using “Sequence Planner” and “Supremica” programs.

Finally, DELMIA automation was used to define the internal logic that was based on the tasks that were previously created. The logical behavior was created using the sequential function char (SFC) that is described by actions (blocks) and transitions (conditions). In order to control this behavior, a virtual HMI (Human-Machine Interface) was defined and it was related by using ports in the different pieces (robots, grippers, weld guns…).

The report has been written in a way that helps the reader to understand each of the steps that have been done during the work. It is complemented with figures, bibliography, consulted pages and the programs that have been used.

The main conclusion is, as it has been demonstrated, that it is possible to control the work cell of the Station Y to do the assembly of the truck cabs. It is controlled by a virtual PLC through an HMI using DELMIA solutions and the Volvo Trucks database system.

This work has been done with Volvo Company, although it could be reused in other companies to simulate other manufacturing stations. One of the appendices of the report includes a work guide that explains the different steps that are necessary to follow in order to lead the virtual automation station using DELMIA.

INDEX OF THE REPORT

9

UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA COMILLAS

ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR DE INGENIERÍA (ICAI) INGENIERO INDUSTRIAL

Index of the report

Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 15

Chapter 2. Preliminaries................................................................................. 16

2.1 Intended readers ............................................................................................ 16

2.2 Background .................................................................................................... 16

2.3 Problem description ...................................................................................... 17

2.4 Purpose & aims .............................................................................................. 18

2.5 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 19

2.6 Volvo Truck Corporation ............................................................................. 20

2.7 Dassault Systèmes .......................................................................................... 22

2.8 DELMIA V5R19 ............................................................................................ 22

2.8.1 Device Builder ........................................................................................................ 23

2.8.2 DELMIA Automation ............................................................................................. 24

2.8.3 HMI Control Panel Design ..................................................................................... 24

2.8.4 LCM Studio ............................................................................................................ 25

2.8.5 Smart Device Builder ............................................................................................. 25

2.8.6 Controlled System Simulator .................................................................................. 26

2.8.7 PLC Setup ............................................................................................................... 26

2.9 CATIA V5R19 ............................................................................................... 28

2.9.1 Volvo’s Requirements Specification towards Suppliers ......................................... 28

2.9.2 Different extensions files ........................................................................................ 29

2.10 Supremica....................................................................................................... 30

2.11 Sequence Planner .......................................................................................... 31

2.12 PLC ................................................................................................................. 32

2.12.1 About PLC’s ...................................................................................................... 32

2.12.2 IEC1131-3 .......................................................................................................... 34

2.12.3 Common Elements ............................................................................................. 35

2.12.4 Programming Languages ................................................................................... 36

INDEX OF THE REPORT

10



2.13 FFI Research Project .................................................................................... 42

Chapter 3. Analysis of the Task ...................................................................... 44

3.1 The station ...................................................................................................... 44

3.2 Manufacturing Hub ...................................................................................... 54

3.3 Learning the Manufacturing Hub ............................................................... 58

3.3.1 DPM (Digital Process Manufacturing)-Process Engineer Compatibility ............... 58

3.3.2 How to Make Template in DELMIA Process Engineer ......................................... 58

3.3.3 Selecting a Project from the Manufacturing Hub ................................................... 61

3.4 How to populate Product List ...................................................................... 64

3.5 Assign Robot Units to Activities ................................................................... 64

3.6 Load fasteners in Delmia from ENOVIA .................................................... 65

3.7 Assign Fasteners to Resources ...................................................................... 65

3.8 Defining I/O Signals ...................................................................................... 66

3.9 DELMIA Automation ................................................................................... 66

3.9.1 SFC codes ............................................................................................................... 66

3.9.2 HMI ........................................................................................................................ 66

3.9.3 PLC ......................................................................................................................... 67

3.10 Sequence of Operations (SOP) ..................................................................... 67

Chapter 4. Methodology ................................................................................. 69

Chapter 5. Results ........................................................................................... 71

5.1 Creating the work cell ................................................................................... 71

5.2 Planning the SOP ........................................................................................... 72

5.3 Kinematics ...................................................................................................... 72

5.4 Small WorkCell example .............................................................................. 73

5.4.1 Define Kinematics .................................................................................................. 74

5.4.2 Create Robot Tags & Tasks .................................................................................... 74

5.4.3 Create Logic, HMI & Control Panel ....................................................................... 74

5.5 Final simulation ............................................................................................. 76

5.5.1 Defining the template ............................................................................................. 77

INDEX OF THE REPORT

11



5.5.2 Defining Kinematics ............................................................................................... 77

5.5.3 Create Robot Tags & Tasks .................................................................................... 83

5.5.4 Create Logic, HMI & Control Panel ....................................................................... 84

5.6 Bridge Gaps.................................................................................................... 91

Chapter 6. Conclusions................................................................................... 94

Chapter 7. Future work .................................................................................. 96

Chapter 8. Bibliography ................................................................................. 97

Chapter 9. List of Abbreviations ..................................................................... 99

Chapter 10. Appendices .................................................................................. 101

10.1 Appendix A .................................................................................................. 101

10.1.1 BUILD LAYOUT (Robot Unit) ...................................................................... 101

10.1.2 Moves to .cgr files ............................................................................................ 102

10.1.3 Task definition ................................................................................................. 103

10.1.4 Internal Logic and HMI ................................................................................... 105

10.1.5 Delmia Automation LCM Studio ..................................................................... 107

10.2 Appendix B ................................................................................................... 113

Introduction

12



Index of the figures

Figure 1. Collaborative Manufacturing Management Model(4) ........................... 22

Figure 2. Tools availables to design the virrtual HMI .......................................... 25

Figure 3. Simulation with PLC(7) ......................................................................... 27

Figure 4. Things not allowed by Volvo ................................................................. 29

Figure 5. Supremica Interface ............................................................................... 30

Figure 6. Sequence Planner Interface .................................................................... 32

Figure 7. Two parts of the standard IEC 1131-3 ................................................... 34

Figure 8. Sequential Functional Charts (SFC) (8) ................................................. 37

Figure 9. Example of Ladder Diagram (8) ............................................................ 38

Figure 10. Example of Instruction List (8) ............................................................ 39

Figure 11. Example of Functional Block Diagram (8) .......................................... 39

Figure 12. Example of Structured Text (8) ........................................................... 40

Figure 13. FFI project(17) ..................................................................................... 42

Figure 14. Station X .............................................................................................. 45

Figure 15. Description of station Y ...................................................................... 45

Figure 16. Robot A with the side left going to fixture .......................................... 47

Figure 17. Robot A and its tools ............................................................................ 47

Figure 18. Robot D and its tools ............................................................................ 48

Figure 19. Robot B ................................................................................................ 49

Figure 20. From above the assembly of the flow cab ........................................... 50

Figure 21. Robot C ................................................................................................ 50

Figure 22. Robot C spot welding in a low cab ...................................................... 52

Figure 23. Fixture .................................................................................................. 53

Figure 24. Fixture with the cabin in it………….……………………………….. 53

Introduction

13



Figure 25.Empty fixture ........................................................................................ 53

Figure 26. Station Y .............................................................................................. 54

Figure 27. Delmia PPR (20) .................................................................................. 55

figure 28. Mainly views ......................................................................................... 56

figure 29. Resource List ........................................................................................ 57

Figure 30. Manufacturing Hub Menu bar (1) ........................................................ 58

Figure 31. Template opened in Delmia V5 ........................................................... 60

Figure 32. Vitual model of Station Y .................................................................... 61

Figure 33. Process Engineer Dialogue box(1) ....................................................... 62

Figure 34. Open Project Dialogue box(1) ............................................................. 63

Figure 35. Working with Supremica ..................................................................... 67

Figure 36. Verification of SOP using Supremica .................................................. 68

Figure 37. Methodology of the Final Term Project ............................................... 69

Figure 38. SOP for Station Y ................................................................................ 72

Figure 39. Small workcell (File based System) .................................................... 73

Figure 40. SFC code of the small workcell ........................................................... 75

Figure 41. HMI in the small workcell example ..................................................... 76

Figure 42. Geogripper where it has needed define kinematics ............................. 78

Figure 43. Complete clamp opened in a new window .......................................... 79

Figure 44. The part of the clamp when it necessary to define the revolute joint .. 79

Figure 45. Part with revolute joint inside the clamp ............................................. 80

Figure 46. Fix part inside the clamp ...................................................................... 80

Figure 47. Making rigid joints with the pink part to move all together ................ 81

Figure 48. Making the simulation to verificate the behaviur of one complete

clamp ..................................................................................................................... 82

Figure 49. Geogripper after define the kinematics in clamps ............................... 83

Figure 50. In fixture have been defined the kinematics in clamps ........................ 83

Introduction

14



Figure 51. Creating Tags & Tasks ......................................................................... 84

Figure 52. Sequence of Robot A by using Sequence Planner ............................... 85

Figure 53. Non blocking in Supremica software ................................................... 86

Figure 54. GRAFCET of robot A unit .................................................................. 87

Figure 55. Defining ports ...................................................................................... 88

Figure 56. SFC code of robot unit A ..................................................................... 88

Figure 57. Simulating the SFC code in DELMIA ................................................. 89

Figure 58. Connecting Ports .................................................................................. 90

Figure 59. Control of Work cell vitual PLC through HMI ................................... 91

Figure 60. Process Simulation Menu bar(1) ........................................................ 104

Figure 61. Workbenches in LCM ........................................................................ 107

Figure 62. Creating blocks .................................................................................. 108

Figure 63. Interface Block Manager .................................................................... 108

Figure 64. Behavior of the program visible n SFC+ view .................................. 110

Figure 65. Pre-defined gadgets ............................................................................ 110

Figure 66. 2 values: closed and opened ............................................................... 111

Figure 67. Signal Monitoring, testing its behavior .............................................. 111

Figure 68. Sequence for Robot C ........................................................................ 113

Figure 69.Sequence for robots unit A,B and D ................................................... 114

Figure 70. Sequence for fixture and conveyor .................................................... 114

Introduction

15



Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION

A new paradigm of manufacturing has been a new tide of change towards digital

manufacturing from quite some time now. Manufacturing across all industrial

sectors is being driven by a new set of business imperatives. Flexibility, nimble

response to capricious markets and lead time are few of the challenges facing

manufacturers. Constant innovation in the manufacturing sectors allows the

manufacturers to produce products with reduced cost and time. Similarly,

reducing the ramp up time while optimizing manufacturing processes has become

more significant as product lifecycle become shorter, the level of flexibility

increases, market prices erode and out-sourcing increases.

This Final Term Project aims at the virtual preparation of Automation Station at

Volvo Trucks Corporation using the DELMIA Solutions. This work can be seen

as the basic building block for the guide for the future Automation Stations. The

clear guide lines for the design and control engineer should be highlighted so that

no one does less or more work and more importantly rework should be avoided.

The effort is to make it possible for both the design engineer to define the

equipment as much as he can using CATIA and that the control or the process

engineer does not have to rework the same things which already been done by the

design engineer in CATIA.

This research work addresses the following questions:

Is it possible to create simulation model of a robot station following

Resource Centric approach of Volvo PTS using DELMIA Solutions?

How much information can be reused working with Manufacturing Hub?

Is it possible to control a virtual work cell from HMI connected with the

virtual PLC?

Preliminaries

16



Chapter 2. PRELIMINARIES

2.1 INTENDED READERS

The report is informative and useful for the students from under graduate level to

the advance level like doctoral. The basic knowledge in digital logic control,

discrete event systems, CAD software & robot programming and manufacturing

assembly will be useful to fully grasp the contents of this report.

However, due to the amount of knowledge written it is not necessary to

understand the overall concept that is achieved in this report.

2.2 BACKGROUND

To prepare an automatic production system based on product variables and the

activities necessary for full compliance with product specifications of each and

every product variant require many different tasks. These activities cover all the

way from initial system design to final preparation of the functions of control for

equipment such as robots, turntables, weld guns, fixtures, etc. These activities

involve mapping product requirements to a system of production, i.e. specifying

the necessary operations to be executed in order to meet the specification. Based

on these necessary operations the next step is to find available equipment that can

perform them.

The additional requirements like to prepare the system of production cycle time,

the prevention of collisions or the sequence of operations should be taken care of.

Cycle time is an important requirement, not only because it should be short but it

should be the same as the rest of the systems so that a balanced flow through the

Preliminaries

17



entire manufacturing plant is achieved. Many factors influence the final cycle time

and these factors have to be dealt with. Collision prevention deals with the

equipment movements within the system. It has to be prepared so that collisions

are avoided between equipment and product within the system. Reachability

means that all equipment reaches the designated area where operations are to be

executed. To find the best operation sequence is of great importance. To design an

optimal operation sequence many aspects have to be considered, such as product

requirements cycle time, potential collisions, reachability, etc.

Conventionally, these activities have been carried out by using different types of

software’s and by different people. Information has not necessarily been reused

between the different preparation phases. This means that information about the

prepared system has to be manually translated between different activities and

software’s which can lead to manual errors being incurred. Another important

factor is that not all necessary information has been created and therefore

influenced the final result. This has been especially true when it comes to the

logic behavior of the system, i.e. the control programs that supervise and direct

the overall flow in the production system as well as controlling the specific

equipment behavior.

2.3 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

In order to meet the demands of the new manufacturing standards, manufacturers

have to adapt the ways which provide them with better tolerances and shorter lead

times. Digital manufacturing tools like Dassault Systèmes DELMIA V5 platform

have been developed to such an extent that provide support to almost all kind of

manufacturing industry regarding design, production planning and virtual

commissioning, the three major steps with in digital manufacturing.

Manufacturing organizations are taking those software´s more seriously to invest

in which the information among the different activities towards the digital

Preliminaries

18



manufacturing can easily be transferred, read and reuse. This leads to a more

efficient cooperation possibilities.

One problem has been that information cannot be reused from one activity to

another or in other words one software to another. This problem can sometimes be

solved by specifying information in certain ways. This work aims at investigating

how information behavior can be defined on equipment in CAD system i.e.

CATIA and how this can be read into DELMIA from CATIA and be reused. This

research will help Volvo Trucks Corporation to have a clear and better defined

requirement specification towards their suppliers, supplying CAD (.CADPART,

.CADPRODUCT) parts.

A lot of time has been spent on creating virtual models. The ability to define

equipment behavior, e.g. turntables, fixtures, in order to reuse this information for

generation of control functions would decrease the amount of work in the

implementing phases.

The control programs thus generated will be tested to control the simulation

model. The PLC code from the control functions will be evaluated and verified

against the virtual controller by using the DELMIA Automation. It is very

necessary to investigate if the original model needs to be changed.

2.4 PURPOSE & AIMS

The automotive industry in the world today has tons of hundreds of suppliers for

each part or number of parts. The customer, for sure requires the highest possible

degree of satisfaction along with the flexibility delivered to them from their

suppliers. The standards are set by the giants within the industry and the suppliers

have to follow them in order to qualify as their suppliers. This work therefore has

been an effort to help VOLVO TRUCKS to define in a better way what they

require from their design suppliers and what they can offer to their process or

control engineer.

Preliminaries

19



The purpose and objectives involved in this research work can be outlined as

follows.

Learn how to use Dassault Systèmes framework eg. CATIA, DELMIA Learn how to use PPR hub from DELMIA How should behavior be defined on equipment in CAD system i.e. CATIA

(-I/0´s) How can equipment behavior, I/0´s be read into DELMIA from CATIA

and be reused Investigate how specification of equipment behavior could be used for

generating control functions Perform a simulation of work cell sequence, robot paths, equipment

behavior based on specified equipment behavior Make for the report a way to increase the knowledge of how to use

DELMIA PPR structure

2.5 LIMITATIONS

First of all, there is a feeling that a clear guide line on using the software

(DELMIA, DELMIA AUTOMATION & DELMIA PROCESS ENGINEER)

lacks on the internet. For this reason it has been tried to comprehend this report as

a guide for the new students and the researchers to minimize their effort seeking

how they work and what the connections are among them.

Few basics starting guide lines are attached in appendix A.

One limitation was the time that was lost due to delays during information transfer

among the different segments of the project (Volvo, DELMIA, Chalmers and us).

It was very difficult to import the necessary working files in the beginning from

Volvo to Chalmers as Chalmers does not have the license of Manufacturing Hub

from DELMIA. Later the problem was to export the work from Volvo to

Chalmers. Also the frequent crashes of DELMIA and CATIA and time it took to

open the workcell added up in the time delays.

Preliminaries

20



2.6 VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION

Volvo is one of the world´s leading manufacturers of heavy commercial vehicles

and diesel engines and is founded in 1927.

The Volvo Group also offers a comprehensive range of customized solutions in

financing, leasing, insurance and service, as well as complete transport systems

for urban traffic.

The business areas are - Volvo Trucks, Mack, Renault Trucks, Volvo Buses,

Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Penta, Volvo Aero and Volvo Financial

Services. Several business units provide additional manufacturing development or

logistical support. The largest business units are: Volvo Powertrain, Volvo 3P,

Volvo IT, Volvo Logistics and Volvo Parts.

The Volvo Truck Corporation is the second-largest heavy-duty truck brand in the

world; more than 95% of the trucks that have been built are in the heavy weight

class above 16 tonnes. The Volvo trucks are sold and serviced in more than 140

countries all over the world.

The company's retail strategy is based on customer orientation and it is supported

by over 2300 dealerships and workshops. The trucks are the core products in the

total offer, which also includes aftermarket, service and extended offers.

Volvo Trucks has a production structure based on global presence. Volvo has

eight wholly-owned assembly plants and nine factories owned by local interests.

About 95% of the company's production capacity is located in Sweden, Belgium,

Brazil and the USA.

Throughout the production apparatus and the entire organization Volvo has

focused on its core values: Quality, Safety and Care for the Environment. With

17,000 dedicated employees, Volvo Trucks strives to have satisfied customers and

to be an attractive employer (2).

Preliminaries

21



Volvo builds Volvo trucks at 16 different plants world-wide. Some of them are

wholly-owned by Volvo, while others are owned in partnership with other

interests. In some cases, Volvo has no holding in the plant at all.

The Umeå plant has one of the world’s most sophisticated paint shops, with award

winning environmental solutions. The production is based on customer orders and

every cab is produced according to customer needs.

Figure 1. Different cabs created by Volvo Trucks at Umeå(2)

Umeå vehicle production produces Volvo FH Cabs and Volvo FM Cabs.

This plant is very important as the whole project has been focused on it. It has

been visited while the investigation was done. The project focuses on its

improvement and its simulation.

Preliminaries

22



2.7 DASSAULT SYSTÈMES

Dassault Systèmes is a leader in PLM solutions. It holds a significant place in the

realm of digital manufacturing. The company’s software and services allow

businesses of any size in any industry around the globe to digitally define and

simulate products, as well as the processes and resources required to manufacture,

sustain, and recycle them while maintaining this environment.(3)

The collaborative manufacturing management model shows clearly how virtual

simulation leads to automation and then to the whole Production System.

Figure 1. Collaborative Manufacturing Management Model(4)

2.8 DELMIA V5R19

DELMIA is capable of virtually define, plan, create, monitor and control all

production processes, from early process planning and assembly simulation to a

Preliminaries

23



complete definition of the production facility and equipment. Virtual simulation

tools like the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA V5 platform are becoming more and

more useful in reducing substantial product lifecycle, time to launch product and

significant cost savings realized by the virtual validation and commissioning of

production systems. The reason is that this manufacturing solution set represents

an integrated suite of tools that provides manufacturing process design, tool &

fixture design, factory & production systems design, visualization and automation

through powerful 3D virtual simulation tools. This allows the manufacturing

engineers to plan, design, synchronize and validate production lines, robot

stations, machine centers, production equipments. The control/process engineer

can then configure the entire control logic, the I/O’s with the virtual PLC’s and

validate the robot workcell sequences and robot paths that exactly correspond to

those that were defined by the manufacturing engineer, before downloading them

in real line.(4). For all of this DELMIA has been used during the most part of the

project as the main software.

The different modules that are used in the Final Term Project are briefly

introduced in the following sections.

2.8.1 DEVICE BUILDER

Device Builder is the module where the functional mechanical objects are built

and configured. Properties configured are i.e. the geometry, kinematics and

behavior. It is possible to import a model from a 3D CAD system. To use

geometry from a CAD-system a neutral file format, i.e. STEP and VRML, can be

used. The model can be turned into actuators and sensors so it can be controlled

by a PLC. The kinematics can be reused from the CAD-model but it can also be

added afterwards.

It is in Device Builder that mechanisms are created and every mechanism can

consist of many different joints. A joint is a type of motion that a part can perform

(revolute, prismatic, cylindrical, planar and rigid). Depending on the type of joint

it has different degrees of freedom (DOF) which can be translational and/or

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rotational. A rigid joint has no DOF and it locks a part to another part. To move a

part with a mechanism to a predefined position, the home position command is the

one that is used. Several motions can be defined in task lists, and the time for the

motion can be defined.

2.8.2 DELMIA AUTOMATION

DELMIA Automation is a module within DELMIA. DELMIA is targeted towards

the manufacturing industry where it is being used to simulate virtual models of

different manufacturing processes where it is also possible to optimize and control

the production systems. DA uses kinematics for the different robots and the PLC

connected devices. “Programmable Logic Controllers” (PLCs) can be

programmed and the logics can be validated against a virtual machine, cell or an

entire line. The PLC-code from DA must pass a special PLC Setup to convert the

code to a specific PLC, like a postprocessor.” DA can simulate both large and

small manufacturing cells, where several products and robots are used together to

describe the entire cell and it has a library with the most popular robots available.

(5)(6)

2.8.3 HMI CONTROL PANEL DESIGN

HMI Control Panel Design is a product to create virtual human-machine

interfaces. Control panels can be used in Controlled System Simulator for

interactive use in debugging, validation and simulation. There are several

predefined controllers, such as buttons, switches, lights and gauges. But there are

no tools to create lines or simple figures, as a rectangle. After designing the HMI,

the signals will be set which are auto-generated. The tools to design the HMI are

showed in Figure 5.10.

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Figure 2. Tools availables to design the virrtual HMI

2.8.4 LCM STUDIO

LCM Studio is an environment for the implementation of PLC programs. It uses

the languages that are defined in the standard IEC 61131-3. In DA V5R15 the

only available language is SFC, while the rest of the IEC 61131-3 languages will

be added in the following releases of DA. LCM Studio provides the necessary

tools to create, edit, debug, and validate controls logic and it allows the user to

create and re-use predefined control logic blocks. In the debugger the code can be

run continuously or cycle by cycle. All the signals are set manually, which makes

possible to test code blocks in many different ways.

DELMIA Automation LCM Studio allows the control engineer to program and

validate controls logic in the “context” of the virtual equipment designed using

DELMIA Automation Smart Device.

2.8.5 SMART DEVICE BUILDER

DELMIA V5 Automation Smart Device Builder turns the 3D CAD models

(CATIA, Solidworks, UGS, ProE, Solidedge, and others) into actuators and

sensors to be used in defining kinematics/tasks, internal behavior and electrical

I/Os. Smart Device Builder is the module where the behavior for a mechanism is

defined. The behavior is built up by using any languages supported by LCM

Studio. The behavior uses the predefined tasks done by Device Builder to do the

motion for the internal logic.

To make a device controllable it needs to be connected to the environment. This

will be done in Smart Device Builder by creating an interface of electrical I/O-

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signals, that in DA are called ports and a port will be mapped to a signal, which is

used in the internal logic.

In the Smart Device Builder it is possible to create test logic for a testing scenario.

This is useful to automate the simulation of a device and the signals, i.e. from an

HMI, can be set in the code. The test logic is created in SFC and the 3D-

simulation is connected, but the code is not shown during the simulation.

2.8.6 CONTROLLED SYSTEM SIMULATOR

Controlled System Simulator acts like a link between the LCM Studio and the

Smart Device Builder It allows the user to simulate, debug, and validate a

complete PLC program against virtual equipment before any real equipment is

even built. If a real PLC is used the PLC Setup module must be used to map the

signals.

Controlled System Simulator can analyze the collisions in order to detect if the

parts in the machine will crash into each other. Some other types of analysis that

can be done are the distance analysis and sweep of 3D geometry. Sweep is done to

create a volume from all positions that a machine can have during a run and it can

be used to determine a working space for a machine.

The module is not only suitable for doing simulations to validate the PLC-code

but it is also available to connect an HMI.

2.8.7 PLC SETUP

The PLC Setup is developed by or in close collaboration with the major PLC

providers (Schneider Electric, Omron, Siemens and others) using the V5 open

platform (CAA V5). PLC Setup (one per PLC provider/type) downloads a PLC

program developed with DELMIA Automation LCM Studio to the real PLC,

Compiled to the PLC native code and transfer to the real PLC, developed by PLC

vendor using CAA V5, to guarantee the downloaded program and shorten support

time for new PLC hardware or Integrated into DELMIA Automation V5 Desktop.

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If this is done like this, control and maintenance engineers can download, run,

stop, and debug in the same environment

Figure 3. Simulation with PLC(7)

Once the virtual PLC program is downloaded to the real PLC using the correct

DELMIA Automation PLC Setup, the controlled system simulator can be used to

link the real PLC and the virtual equipment using open connectivity. The users

can define the simulation environment, as previously described, and perform

production system analysis and reporting. Operations can be created with the real

Human Machine Interface (HMI) connected to the real PLC. The DELMIA

Automation Control System Simulator can be used for virtual startup, virtual

commissioning with end users, and operation training. (7) (8)

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2.9 CATIA V5R19

CATIA is a commercial software suite developed by Dassault Systèmes and

marketed worldwide by IBM. The aim was to create a design solution covering

the CAD / CAM / CAE / KBE / PDM (Design / Machining / Structural Analysis /

Knowledge Management / Product Management). This has been based in CATIA

V4, European leader in the aerospace, automotive and tooling. CATIA V5 works

under Windows which allows the user to integrate into their work environment all

the advantages of this operating system, sacrificing stability for the time it had the

UNIX environment. The program is designed to meet the needs of its customers

by providing all the tools they need in their work, so it has been designed in a

modular environment, where the user buys what it needs and where the door is

always open to new modules (9)

2.9.1 VOLVO’S REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION TOWARDS

SUPPLIERS

Some of the restrictions that Volvo recommends to its suppliers will be explained

on this section.. All geometry structure has to be inside each CATPart, no links to

bodies outside the CATPart are allowed. Reused geometries from outside the

CATPart have to be pasted without link and placed in the body imported

geometry. No links to other kinds of files (for instance Excel sheets) are allowed.

There are things that are not allowed in models in CATIA from Volvo such as,

CATComponents, Assembly features, deactivated pats/components, external

references (ghost links), part names exceeding 25 characters, instance ID more

than 40 characters or use bodies instead of separate CATParts.

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Figure 4. Things not allowed by Volvo

2.9.2 DIFFERENT EXTENSIONS FILES

The most relevant files used in DELMIA and CATIA in the project are .CATpart,

.CATProduct, .CATProcess and .cgr.

A CATpart file is a part design document. This file contains the basic data of a

model including its dimensions, lines, visualization, position, etc. The

CATproduct file is an assembly design document where it is defined the assembly

of several pieces (CATparts). It is possible to have CATproduct files inside a

CAT product too. A CATProcess file is a process document. It contains three

directories, the process where activities and tasks are stored, resources where

resources are stored like CATprodcut files and products where the products are

stored as CATproduct files. The cgr extension file lacks any type of set

geometrical values for the parts containing only its visual data and data needed for

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proper simulation. This means that no change can be done in the part but at the

same time the amount of storage data it uses is vastly lower.

2.10 SUPREMICA

Supremica is an integrated environment developed at Chalmers University of

Technology for synthesis and verification of discrete event systems. The models

can be entered as ordinary finite automaton or as an extended finite automaton.

An extended finite automaton is an ordinary finite automaton extended with

variables, guard expressions and action functions.(10) (11)

Figure 5. Supremica Interface

This program will be use to validate the correct the functionality of the activity

flow.

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2.11 SEQUENCE PLANNER

Sequence Planner is software that has been developed at Chalmers University of

Technology. It is used for planning the sequence of operations including pre and

post conditions. The operations can be shown from several perspectives with

different graphical representations of the pre and post conditions. By using this

software the starting and the finishing of the processes can be represented in a

way that explains the model operations clearly. Sequence Planner can export its

data to Supremica for verification and optimization.

The work flow in Sequence Planner can be visualized easily by the following four

steps:

Collect the data about the entity under consideration e.g. a robot station. Create the best possible model in Sequence Planner of the entity in

consideration from the data gathered in earlier step. Analyze the model in Supremica for verification and optimization. Convert the verified and optimized model to PLC-code that could be used

in the manufacturing cell or verify it against a virtual PLC. (5)(12)

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Figure 6. Sequence Planner Interface

2.12 PLC

2.12.1 ABOUT PLC’S

The PLC was invented in response to the needs of the American automotive

industry. Before the PLC, the control, the sequences, and the permissive logic for

manufacturing automobiles were accomplished using relays, timers and dedicated

closed-loop controllers. The process for upgrading these facilities to the changing

industry each year was very expensive and time consuming. Relay-based systems

had to be rewired by skilled electricians. In 1968 GM Hydramatic (the automatic

transmission division of General Motors) made a request for a proposal for an

electronic replacement for wired systems.

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The winning proposal came from Bedford Associates of Boston, Massachusetts.

The first PLC was designated the 084, because it was the project Eighty-four of

Bedford Associates. Bedford Associates started a new company dedicated to

developing, manufacturing, sales and service for this new product: Modicon

(Modular Digital Controller). One of the people who worked on that project was

Dick Morley. He is considered the "father" of the PLC. The Modicon brand was

sold in 1977 to Gould Electronics, and it was later acquired by a German

Company AEG and then by Schneider Electric, the current owner (13)

To be used in industrial automation systems a PLC must operate in real time. This

can be done by two different techniques, polling or with interrupt signals. The

most effective way is to use input devices that send a signal, called the interrupt

signal to the CPU when new data is needed to be processed. Its effectiveness is

due to the processor that only has to work on that data available for processing.

The other way is the method of polling from processor polls all the time input

devices in order to see if they have input data to report, the central processing unit

(CPU) on a computer checks the data over and over. Whenever it finds data, it

processes it (14)

Polling is easier and cheaper, but if the PLC is not fast enough you can miss some

external events. Using interrupt signals is more difficult to program, and more

expensive, but the risk of losing an external event is much smaller. So voting is

used in simple systems and interruptions in complex systems.

Programming a PLC can be done in several languages, but the Independent

Electoral Commission has combined the languages in an international standard.

The latest standard “IEC 1131-3″ has tried to merge plc programming languages

under one international standard. Now there are PLCs that are programmable in

function block diagrams, instruction lists, C and structured text all at the same

time. (15)

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2.12.2 IEC1131-3

The Standard IEC 1131-3 is the first real effort to standardize the programming

languages used in industrial automation. The IEC 1131-3 is the third part of the

family of IEC 1131, which consists of five parts; overview, hardware,

programming languages, user guidelines and communication.

Part three of the IEC is the result of the task force number three within the IEC

TC65 SC65B, which is in charge of programming languages, where international

companies have participated in July by adding 10 years of experience in industrial

automation.

An elegant vision to see the standard is divided into two parts: common elements

and programming languages. Considering these parts in more detail:

Figure 7. Two parts of the standard IEC 1131-3

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2.12.3 COMMON ELEMENTS

Data types are defined within the common elements. The Data typing prevents

errors early. It is used to define the types of any parameters to be used. This

prevents for example split a Date to an Integer.

Common data types are: Binary (Boolean), Integer, Real, Bytes (byte), word

(double byte), as well as dates, type Day_Hour chains. Based on these data types

it can be built and defined custom data types, known as derived data types. In this

way analog input channels can be defined as a data type and it can be used again

and again.

Hardware addresses (inputs and outputs) are explicitly assigned to the variables in

the settings, resources, or programs. Thus is created a high level of independence,

supporting the reusability (recycling) of software. The scope of the variables is

usually limited to the organization of the program unit in which they are declared,

for example, Local. This means that their names can be reused in other parts

without any conflict, eliminating another source of errors, example temporary

variables. If the variable requires a global reach, must be explicitly declared with

the directive VAR_GLOBAL.

At the highest level, the total software required to solve a particular problem of

control can be defined as a configuration. A configuration is specific to a

particular type of control system, including the arrangement of hardware, for

example processing resources, memory addresses for the channels of I / O and

other system capabilities. Within the configuration, it can be defined one or more

resources, like a facility that is able to execute IEC programs. Also within the

resources one or more tasks can be defined, the tasks control the execution of a set

of programs and /or Function Blocks.

The programs are built using a number of different elements of software written

in either of the languages defined by IEC. A program typically consists of a

network of functions and functional blocks, which are capable of exchanging data.

The functions and function blocks are the basic building blocks, containing a data

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36



structure and algorithm. If a comparison of this with a conventional PLC is made,

the conclusion is that it contains an action, executing a task, which controls a

program for a closed loop control. IEC 1131-3 ads much more than that, opening

the future, a future that includes real-time multitasking systems and event-driven

programs, the future is not far away if only it looks into the current distributed

control systems. IEC 1131-3 is suitable for a wide range of control applications,

without having to learn additional programming languages.

Within IEC 1131-3, Programs, Function Blocks and Functions are called Program

Organization Units, or POU's. IEC has defined standard functions and user-

defined functions. The functions are normalized such as ADD or sum, ABS

(absolute value), SQRT (square root), SIN (sine) and COS (cosine). User-defined

functions, once defined, can be used repeatedly.

These are the equivalent of integrated circuits (IC) or discrete analog control

modules, representing specialized control functions. They contain both data and

algorithms, so as to keep track of the past (which is one of the differences with the

functions written). These function block (FB's) has a well defined interface and a

hidden internal as well as an IC or a discrete control module black box. In this

way they give a clear separation among different levels of programmers and

maintenance personnel.

The functional blocks can be written in any of the IEC languages, and in most

cases even in high-level languages like "C". In this way it can be defined by the

user. Derived Function Blocks are based on FB's standard, but since this brand is

new, these FB's bespoke course can be within the standard: thus providing a

platform for programming.

With the building blocks above, it can be said that a program is a network of

Functions and Functions blocks.

2.12.4 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

A program can be written in any programming languages defined.

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The Sequential Function Charts (SFC) describes graphically the sequential

behavior of a control program. It is derived from Petri Nets and GRAFCET

standard IEC 848, with the necessary changes to convert the representation of a

standard for documentation to a set of executable elements.

The SFC's structure is the internal organization of a program, and it helps to

decompose a control problem into more manageable parts, maintaining a vision of

everything. The SFC consists of Steps, linked to action blocks and transitions.

Each step represents a particular state of the system under control. A transition is

associated with a condition that, if it is true, it causes the step before the transition

is disabled, and the next step is activated. The steps are interconnected blocks of

Action and some control actions have been made. Each element can be

programmed into any of the IEC languages, including SFC itself. Alternative

sequences can be programmed and even more parallel sequences, as it is

commonly required in batch applications (batch). For example, one sequence is

used for a primary process, and the second is used to monitor operating conditions

of limited overall.

Figure 8. Sequential Functional Charts (SFC) (8)

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The Ladder Diagram has its roots in USA. They are based on a graphical

representation. The great advantage with ladder is for logical expressions. It is

also possible to use it for sequential programs

Figure 9. Example of Ladder Diagram (8)

Instruction List is its European counterpart. It is as a textual language, similar to

the assembly language.

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Figure 10. Example of Instruction List (8)

Functional Block Diagram is very common for the process industry. This

expresses the behavior of functions; function blocks and programs that are as a

whole interconnected graphical blocks, like electronic circuit diagrams. It looks at

the system in terms of signal flow among processing elements.

Figure 11. Example of Functional Block Diagram (8)

Structured Text is a very powerful language that has its roots in the ADA, Pascal

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and "C". It can be used excellently for the definition of complex functional blocks,

which can then be used within any of the other languages.

Figure 12. Example of Structured Text (8)

The languages describe the same part of a simple program. The choice of

language to be used depends on the preparation of the program, the problem to be

solved, the level of description of the problem, the control system structure, the

interface with other staff or departments. In DELMIA and thus in this project SFC

language is used.

The standard also allows developing two programs: By descent, bottom or bottom

to top. As well as declaring the application as a whole and divided into parts,

declare the variables, and so on. Another possibility is to start to program the

application in parts at lower levels, using such derived functions and function

blocks. Whichever is chosen, the development environment will help through the

entire process.

The global requirements of IEC 1131-3 are not easy to satisfy. For this reason, the

rule allows partial implementations of various aspects. This applies to the number

of languages, functions and function blocks supported. This gives some freedom

on the side of the manufacturer, but the user should be well warned of this during

the selection process. Many programming environments provide everything now

expected of modern environments: an operation using the mouse, menus

descendants, graphical programming screens, support for multi-windows,

hypertext functions, verification during the design phase, etc. But it warns that

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this functionality is not specified in the rule itself, one of the aspects where

manufacturers can differentiate.

The technical implications of the IEC 1131-3 standard are high, leaving enough

room for future growth and differentiation. This rule makes this suitable for the

present century. IEC 1131-3 will have a major impact on the entire industry and

industrial automation control. Certainly, it is not restricted to only the

conventional market of PLC's. Today, it can be seen that it has been adopted by

the motion control market, distributed systems, control systems based on personal

computers with software logic (softlogic), including SCADA's systems.

Taking a rule on such a wide area of application brings many benefits for users

and programmers. The benefits of adopting the standard are several, depending on

the application areas. Just to mention a few, reduce waste in human resources,

training, debugging, maintenance and engineering consulting establishing an

approach to solving the problem through recycling or reuse of high-level software,

reduce misunderstandings and errors, programming techniques usable in a wide:

general industrial control and the combination of different components in different

programs, projects, locations, companies and / or countries.(16)

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2.13 FFI RESEARCH PROJECT

Figure 13. FFI project(17)

FFI is a partnership between the Swedish government and automotive industry to

join the funding of research, innovation and development concentrating on

Climate & Environment and Safety. Initially it was supposed to be set to run from

2009-2012 with no definite ending year. FFI has R&D activities worth approx.

100 million of Euros per year, of which half is governmental funding. The

background to the investment is that development within road transportation and

Swedish automotive industry has a big impact for growth. There are previous

positive experiences of successful cooperation in research and innovation between

the industry and the state and this is a further development of this cooperation.

Funded research and innovation projects will be carried out in cooperation

between industry and academy.

The Swedish automotive industry is facing many challenges such as keen global

competition, increased transport requirements, demand for minimal climatic and

environmental impact and international acceptance of “Vision Zero thinking”. The

government commissioned VINNOVA to design a strategic collaboration

program relating to the Swedish automotive industry and based on the automotive

research program which expires in 2008-2010. The new program, FFI, has a four-

year planning horizon and no definite finish date. Implementation is to take place

in collaboration between industry and universities/institutes. The program is to

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concentrate on social goals regarding to environment, energy and traffic safety in

combination with industrial competitiveness and employment in Sweden. Two

thirds of the project portfolio will comprise climate and environment and one third

will be aimed at safety. Ancillary projects within production technology, new

technologies and materials may be included.

FFI will contribute principally to goals such as reducing the environmental impact

of transport, reducing the number killed and injured in traffic and strengthening

international competitiveness.

The main companies included in the project by the government are VINNOVA

(the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems), the Swedish Road

administration (Vägverket) and the Swedish Energy Agency and by the industry

are Volvo AB, Volvo Cars AB, Scania CV AB, Saab Automobile AB and FKG

(Fordonskomponentgruppen)(17)(18).

Analysis of the Task

44



Chapter 3. ANALYSIS OF THE TASK

Since DELMIA is relatively new software, the time it took to learn and to work

with it was ample as this was the first time having hands on experience with this

software. The documentation which comes with DELMIA proved to be a great

support; still there were quite many times when help from the professionals was

needed.

3.1 THE STATION

As it was mentioned before this work is inspired by a station in Sweden. This

station produces two different cabs for the trucks, high and low cabs. The main

difference between these cabs is that the high cab has one more part, the front roof

member and the low cab does not have it. The station has many substations

dedicated to manufacturing the cabs of trucks. One of these is the station X, which

contains the Station that will be called Y which is where this work has been

carried out. This station focuses on the production of low and high cabins. This is

done once some parts, which will be explained below, have been made.

Station Y has four robots (Robot A, Robot B, Robot C and Robot D) whose job is

to assembly the truck cab. The robots are in the two sides (left and right), in the

front and in the roof and they catch, they put into the correct place and they weld

the different parts. These robots are standards from ABB group.


45



Figure 14. Station X

Figure 15. Description of station Y


46



Then the workflow of each robot will be described. In the sequence, first of all,

the four robots wait until the transporting conveyor, with the floor in it, comes to

the main structure. This structure is kind of cube, only the edges in order to help

the robots to make the job. When the floor is in its place and the conveyor has

gone, it starts the tasks of the robots that in some cases would be different if the

floor is to a high or a low cab. Due to this, there is one of the sensors in this

station which work is to notify the robots if the floor that has been put inside the

fixture is for a high or a low cab.

The Robot A, at the beginning is waiting for the floor with the gripper taken.

When the floor comes, the robot moves with the gripper to the left side stand and

it clamps the side left part (that is basically the left door of the cab). Then it moves

the gripper and the side left to the fixture that clamps this, informed by a sensor,

and Robot A comes back empty to the weld stand in order to take the welding

gun. Subsequently, the different parts that are used in the assembly process by the

robots will be explained. In the figure bellow it can be seen Robot A with the door

and the gripper in it. When the robot takes the welding gun, it needs to wait to put

the other parts in the fixture to start welding (The right side is in the fixture more

or less at the same time that the left side). When the roof and the front roof

member are in the fixture, the robots start to weld the different sides and when this

task has been finished Robot A leaves the welding gun in the weld stand and it

moves to the fixture to take the empty gripper and to return to the home position

so it can wait for the next floor.


47



Figure 16. Robot A with the side left going to fixture

Figure 17. Robot A and its tools


48



The different parts that can be seen in the picture above will be explained later.

Robot D has a task flow similar to Robot A, the difference between both of them

is that Robot D is responsible for the right side. Both robots work simulataniously.

Figure 18. Robot D and its tools

Robot B waits, like the other two robots that were explained before, with the

empty gripper in it, and when the new floor is in the fixture it moves to the roof

stand to clamp this part with the gripper. Then it waits until the sides and the front

roof member, if there is a high cabin, are in the fixture. After the expected, the

Robot B moves the gripper and the roof to the fixture. Later it goes to the weld

stand, to take the gun and to start quickly with the spot welding. Finally, before

coming back to the home position it moves to the weld stand and it unclamps the

gun and it clamps the gripper to start a new flow of tasks.


49



Figure 19. Robot B

The Robot C has a different behavior whether there is a low or a high cab and it

also varies depending on how it was the last cab that was mounted. Firstly, the

case where there was a low cab and now there is a low cab too will be explained.

In this case, Robot C is waiting for the floor with the welding gun in it and when

the roof is in the fixture, Robot C starts to spot weld to the sides of this roof, and

later it goes to the home position to wait again. In the figure bellow it can be seen

the chronology order in which the “flow cab” is mounted.


50



Figure 20. From above the assembly of the flow cab

Figure 21. Robot C


51



If the last cab was low and the new is high, the flow is pretty different because

Robot C needs to leave the weld gun in the weld gun stand and it moves to take

the gripper to clamp the front roof member after the sides are in the fixture and it

moves to the fixture to leave the front roof member with the gripper in it. Now it

is the time when it goes to the weld stand, it takes the weld gun and it begins to

spot welding the front roof member with all and to the sides with the roof. After

this, the next step is to unclamp the weld gun in its stand and it moves to the

fixture to take the empty gripper and later it goes to the home position to wait to a

new production. If the previous cab was high and the next was low, the Robot C

would go to clamp the weld gun and after the roof was in the fixture it begins to

weld, as it can be seen in the figure bellow, and later it would return to the home

position. The last case would be if there is a high cab two consecutive times where

Robot C would wait to the floor with the empty gripper and it would only have to

clamp the front roof member in the front roof stand and when the sides are in the

fixture it would leave the gripper and the part in the fixture and it will take the

weld gun from the weld gun stand and spot weld before coming back to home

position like in the second case (Low-High).


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Figure 22. Robot C spot welding in a low cab

These sequences can be seen later in the flows diagrams that will be used to verify

the process and to give the logic in order to obtain the virtual simulation of the

work cell.

In the next figure, it can be seen the empty fixture. It is possible to see in the next

figures the fixture. It is also possible to see the clamps to hold the grippers for the

different parts with the sensors indicating it.


53



Figure 23. Fixture

Figure 24. Fixture with the cabin in it Figure 25.Empty fixture

The task of the fixture is to keep the different parts along the process while the

robots change their tools and finish the complete assembly of the cab. Later, the

transporting conveyor (brown conveyor in the picture bellow) comes and takes the

cab to bring it to the next station.


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Figure 26. Station Y

3.2 MANUFACTURING HUB

The PPR family of products provides DELMIA V5 users the capability of directly

access, edit and manage data stored in the Manufacturing. These three products

are the DELMIA PPR Manufacturing Hub Navigator, DELMIA PPR Editor, and

DELMIA Manufacturing Lifecycle Management.

DELMIA PPR Manufacturing Hub Navigator provides efficient navigation of

product, process, and resource data, along with their related entities (fasteners)

and it also provides tools to search and to display properties of PPR objects, as

well as visualize (preview) the selected product or resource in a dedicated 3D

viewer. It provides cross-highlighting between the PPR tree and 3D viewer.(19)

DELMIA PPR Editor provides basic authoring capabilities in the Navigator

environment including attribute editing, deletion of process and resource

detailing, and the ability to create new processes.

DELMIA Manufacturing Lifecycle Management delivers the tools to manage the

lifecycle of process and resource data stored in the Manufacturing Hub including


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alternatives, versions, and status management. (20) The figure below outlines

some of the possibilities within PPR hub.

Figure 27. Delmia PPR (20)

Now, the PPR tree that will be used during the entire project in DELMIA

interface is going to be described. It is located at the left of the screen and it is

separated in three types of perspectives: Process, Product and Resource. It is

possible to have several of each type.


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figure 28. Mainly views

An analysis of how the information is structured is made. It begins with the

highest level that it is possible to reach and it gets progressively specified in detail

the correspondence between the levels.

Process List contains most of the information in the views of processes or Process

View. They consist of two distinct subdivisions. They are called Process Structure

(PS) and Production Plan (PP), which contain essentially the same information,

but it is structured in a different way. Both are interrelated so that the information

contained in one of them is also accessible from the other and a change in any of

them will be reflected in both. However, each of them is optimized to manage a

different type of information. Production Plan; This subdivision of the light is

focused on managing and storing internal information of the FAL, regardless of

priority of how processes are organized. Process Structure; although it is possible

to access to the internal information processes, their main function is to organize

at the levels all aspects of the manufacturing line.

Resource List stores all the information about system resources. These views, as

well as the processes are structured in stations, from which hang all the resources

that are required for some of the routes belonging to it. Depending on the needs of

the factory, the same resource can be associated with more than one station.


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figure 29. Resource List

In relation to the resources of the processes, it is necessary to define the stations in

the two views separately. Later, DELMIA enables partnerships between each path

and concrete resource.

Product List contains information about components, ie, raw materials or semi-

finished products out of a secondary line. It differs from previous ones in which it

is not structured in stations, directly defined products being able to be grouped

into sets with similar features called Production View.


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3.3 LEARNING THE MANUFACTURING HUB

The Manufacturing Hub provides a mechanism by which PPR (Process, Product and Resource) data can be re-used and shared between different manufacturing planning disciplines, allowing users to work concurrently on conceptual pre-planning, rough planning and detailed planning, while continually enhancing and evolving the PPR.

The Manufacturing Hub stores its data within a database, allowing its users to build relationships between the various products, processes and resources. This allows each user to know the impact of the changes that they (or others) are making.

Manufacturing Hub commands can be accessed via the Insert > Manufacturing Hub Object and Tools > Manufacturing Hub Commands menu.(1)

Figure 30. Manufacturing Hub Menu bar (1)

3.3.1 DPM (DIGITAL PROCESS MANUFACTURING)-PROCESS

ENGINEER COMPATIBILITY

For proper operation, the release version and service pack level of the DPM-based application used (Process and Resource Definition, Machining, Body-in-White, Assembly) must identically match the release version and service pack level of DELMIA Process Engineer used. This means, for example, that DPM Process and Resource Definition Release 10 Service Pack 2 is supported only when used with Process Engineer Release 10 Service Pack 2.(1)

3.3.2 HOW TO MAKE TEMPLATE IN DELMIA PROCESS ENGINEER

Open DPM and log on to PPR Hub is needed. To create the own template it is

important to note that you should be logged on as ADMINISTRATOR in the PPR


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HUB. The common problem is that the Project and Template in DPM looks

similar. So it is necessary to start by creating a project. Then from the project the

template is created. Then project does not exist only the template does. If by

mistake it is put the graphics and the path to the CATPARTS or CATPRODUCTS

files they were not been able to import when DELMIA is opened.

Once it has been created a new project and it has been logged on as

ADMINISTRATOR, it will be possible to create a new template.

Open DPM process library default Volvo template right click new

template

Name the resource and in graphics tab point it to the .CADPART,

.CADPRODUCT or .CGR file, e.g. gripper.

The idea is to create an exact resource centric approach (PPR TREE) i.e. template,

which then can be used to import in DELMIA having the required resource

structure.

Once template is finished as desired; open DELMIA BiW Process Planner Light

User and open project from PPR Hub. This will load the project with the same

hierarchy as made in DPM. The template when open in DELMIA looks like this:


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Figure 31. Template opened in Delmia V5

It is very important to check the path of the resource file i.e. CADPART,

.CADPRODUCT or .CGR in the graphics tab so that the graphics become visible

in DELMIA environment. Other important thing to consider here is that, when it

is seen in the graphics in DELMIA environment, all the resources were not

exactly in the correct order as they should be. That means it is necessary to re

align them according to the work station. Especially the Robot Units need a lot of

careful attention to put the resources at their proper places.

In the case studied on this project, the most important part of the workcell was

station Y within Station X. It can be seen this line in the figure below.


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Figure 32. Vitual model of Station Y

3.3.3 SELECTING A PROJECT FROM THE MANUFACTURING HUB

After having created the required workcell template in DPM and have saved it as

a Project, it creates a project in the Manufacturing Hub database. To load the

project in DELMIA click, Open Manufacturing Hub Project in the

Manufacturing Hub Commands toolbar, or select Insert > Manufacturing Hub

Object > PPR from a Project the menu bar. DELMIA Process Engineer login

dialogue box will appear. Log in to Process Engineer. The first time the

Manufacturing Hub is accessed in a DELMIA session, the user is prompted to log

in to DELMIA Process Engineer. Enter the proper name and password in the

respective text fields:


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Figure 33. Process Engineer Dialogue box(1)

Select a project to open. Once it has been logged in, the Open Project dialog box

appears, which lists all of the projects currently stored in the Manufacturing Hub

database(1)


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Figure 34. Open Project Dialogue box(1)


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3.4 HOW TO POPULATE PRODUCT LIST

The product can be imported using “Import Product, Resources from Hub” button

.

Then to link the product with the assembly operation inside the process use

Assignment assistant for AST and then save.

Then it is the time to open the resource in Delmia V5 for editing and to link the

AST as the output of the Assembly Line. This can be done by clicking on “Insert

AST” button; a dialog box will appear showing the available Manufacturing

Assembly. Select the appropriate MA and assign it to the Assembly which will

assemble the particular assembly part.

DELMIA creates an output MA out of that inputs which were provided to the

specific Robot Station. This output manufacturing assembly can be seen under

Applications Tab within the PPR hub tree.

The manufacturing assembly thus import may consist of separate products, all

being assembled together to an output manufacturing assembly. It is therefore

important to check that the input products must have all of their constituent’s parts

being imported from the PPR hub or not. The number of parts making up a

specific manufacturing assembly increases as it moves down to the Production

Level. The Robot Station in this Final term Project assembles the front cab for the

trucks so the parts coming as the input to the station are complete products already

like side doors, roofs and etc.

3.5 ASSIGN ROBOT UNITS TO ACTIVITIES

After assigning the output MA to the Assembly Line (Line X) the next task is to

assign the robot units within the assembly to their respective activities which they

will perform.


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Go to Fastening Process Planner module. Click on the Assign Resource tab then

click on the activity and then click on the robot unit in which it is wanted to

perform that activity. The robot unit gets assigned to the activity. In the same way

assign all the activities to the prescribed robot units.

3.6 LOAD FASTENERS IN DELMIA FROM ENOVIA

Fasteners are created in ENOVIA and they are saved in text mentioning the

attributes and then this text file is pushed into PPR hub of the project they are

created by using bridge. Bridge is a simple script created by Dassault Systèmes.

Go to Fastener Process Planner module. Click on load fasteners tab, a dialogue

box will open. The available fasteners which were pushed in from ENOVIA can

be selected for the available assembly product and can be assigned. Once it is

done, you can visualize the fasteners on the product. It is explained in more detail

in the following section

3.7 ASSIGN FASTENERS TO RESOURCES

While in Fastener Process Planner. Click on Assignment Assistant for Resources,

its dialogue box will appear. On the left hand side the “To Resource” drops down

list pick “Station Y”. Click on the products to find fasteners and click “Find

Joining Fasteners” the system will then mark all the fasteners related to the

marked products. Note that the “from resource” drop down list should have

“None” selected.

The next is to assign the fasteners to each robot units. This will sort and assign the

robots their fasteners to work on. This can be done in the similar way; the only

difference is to select the required robot unit from the ‘To Resource’ drop down

list.


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3.8 DEFINING I/O SIGNALS

I/O’s are defined in two ways. One within the Workcell Sequencing and other is

inside CLM Device Logic through Ports. Workcell Sequencing module is used to

create sequence and to synchronize more than one resource (robot). The I/O’s

within this module are used to send or receive signals for the start or finish of the

certain tasks. The explanation of how workcell sequence I/O’s are read in DA will

be done later.

The aim of the robotic IO state is to synchronize the tasks of different robots.

When the tasks are run from the LCM logic, the synchronization of the IOs is

disabled.

3.9 DELMIA AUTOMATION

3.9.1 SFC CODES

After having defined the I/O’s it is possible to define the internal logic and the

behavior of the resource either by SFC or FBD language structure in DA. The

explanatory text as how to use SFC to incorporate the I/O’s can be found in

appendix A

3.9.2 HMI

Once the robot task is defined by using one of the two programming languages it

is possible to deploy Human Machine Interface. The guide lines for using and

implementing HMI can be found in the appendix A


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3.9.3 PLC

Once internal logic of the robot and HMI are linked it is possible to control the

workcell simulation by virtual PLC.

3.10 SEQUENCE OF OPERATIONS (SOP)

There are a lot of advantages when planning the sequences of operations with

sequence planner. One of them is to design the process plan according to the

operations view or resource view. The approach that it is mostly used to plan the

sequences of operations is Resource based which is straight forward and it does

not need to consider the product design and process planning. Its hierarchical

sequence and simple structure makes it easier to use for PLC. The pre and post

conditions added in the operations make the modeling flexible with the possibility

of optimization.(12)

Figure 35. Working with Supremica


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Supremica software has been used to verify that the sequence does not have

collisions or mistakes and as it can be seen in the figure bellow, the result was that

the system was nonblocking.

Figure 36. Verification of SOP using Supremica

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Chapter 4. METHODOLOGY

Figure 37. Methodology of the Final Term Project

The figure above highlights the milestones within this Final Term Project. The

course of action was to start by creating template in DPM and then to add

kinematics to the workcell. In the mean while look for the gaps in information

from models in CATIA to DELMIA. Outline them and try to overcome that by

either expressing the information in a different manner or to add what is missing.

Create the SOP and verify that they are non-blocking by using supremica. If

blocking, look for the problem and make them in such a way so as they become

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non-blocking. Once you are satisfied with the SOP and it is non-blocking as well,

the next step is to take it to DA from where a working PLC code will be generated

according to the specification defined. Test this PLC code with a virtual PLC

connected through HMI control panel. Evaluation and validation of the simulated

model controlled through virtual PLC with the originally created workcell comes

will be done and conclusions will be incurred out of the findings.

The first milestone in this Final term Project was to create the virtual model of the

station under observation. The work started off at VTC at Gropegårdsgatan.

Station Y within Main Line X at Umeå production facility at Volvo Trucks was

decided. ABB is responsible for the execution and implementation of the plant

atomization.

VTC has the virtual model of the station Y in DELMIA provided by ABB. There

is no simulation defined on the virtual station. The ABB model was discussed

with VTC personnel and studied in detail. ABB is working to build the simulation

virtual model. The intended date of delivery of the virtual simulation model is not

known. It is still not sure whether the simulation model will be verified against a

virtual PLC after generating the PLC code or not.

After fully understanding the ABB model it was decided to build a template

similar to the one ABB has made. The necessary files needed to build the working

station were gathered and a template of the working station was made using those

files. There were few files which were missing when comparing the files received

with the files in the ABB template. The collaboration with Volvo contact person

helped in providing the missing files. To create a workcell with four robot units

was a task more ruffled than difficult. The reason being; the number of files

related in the project. To tackle this, files were arranged in a similar pattern as

they should appear in the template within DPM.

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Chapter 5. RESULTS

5.1 CREATING THE WORK CELL

In this section the different results that have been obtained are explained. The step

by step guide as how to create a cell is explained above in the Template section.

The detailed steps as how to define kinematics add logics towards simulating the

robot task are attached in appendix A.

First of all, as it has been said before in the report, this work focuses on the

DELMIA solutions towards Digital Manufacturing. After analysis and

investigations a template at VTC was created with the data provided. The work

continues on the same lines as it is explained in the Analysis section and it comes

up with a complete work cell along with Assembly Product and Fasteners

assigned to it. The fasteners were assigned through ENOVIA on to the product

under the supervision of VTC professionals.

The Product Flow Diagram made in the Gantt chart view of DELMIA was very

different to the actual flow that ABB made for Volvo principally because of two

reasons. Firstly, the notations and language used in the PFD was not friendly and

secondly, the PFD was incomplete. A trip to Umeå to critically analyze the actual

flow of sequences the robot units have in the station Y was made. The visit

fulfilled its purpose and any doubts about how the production cell operates got

cleared. Later, the PFD was translated for Planning the Sequence of Operations in

Sequence Planner which is explained in the following section.

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5.2 PLANNING THE SOP

The sequence of operations for the robot station was created in Sequence Planner.

The figure shows each robot unit within are the SOP. The SOP’s namely Robot A

till Robot D represents the four robot units inside the station Y of Station X. The

constituents of the robot unit have been explained earlier in the report. The

remaining two SOP’s are for the fixture and for the transferring conveyor. The

transferring conveyor is responsible for bringing the floor in to the station. It also

carries the assembled cab out of the station. The states IN & OUT signifies the

start and the finish of the cycle respectively. The robots wait until they get the IN

signal from the transferring conveyor. The robots then start their sequence.

The complete sequence of the robot units, fixture and transferring conveyor are

attached in the appendix A.

Figure 38. SOP for Station Y

5.3 KINEMATICS

Station Y was created with the parts that Volvo and ABB offered. These parts,

geogrippers, stands, the fixure, etc. have not mechanisms defined in it. CATIA V5

was used to make this kinematics as it will be explained later in “last simulation”.

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5.4 SMALL WORKCELL EXAMPLE

Firstly,a small workcell was made using the file based system. That was the time

when some problems with manufacturing hub license appeared. The idea was to

start investigating the gaps among DELMIA and DELMIA Automation. This is

discussed in detail here. To outline, there are three necessary steps:

1. Define Kinematics

2. Create Robot Tags and Tasks

3. Create logic, HMI & Control Panel

Now an analysis of each of them will be done and it would be explained what

modules or software plat is used to execute them.

This small work cell consists of an ABB robot, a weld gun and a conveyor as it is

shown in the figure below.

Figure 39. Small workcell (File based System)

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5.4.1 DEFINE KINEMATICS

In this small workcell it is not necessary to define kinematics in CATIA. The

robot and the weld gun have kinematics that are already defined in them. A robot

from the ABB library available in DELMIA was used. The robots that will be

used in the real template will be of this type too.

5.4.2 CREATE ROBOT TAGS & TASKS

Once the kinematics are defined, the next step is to take the workcell with the

resources having the kinematics defined inside them to DELMIA in order to

create the required tags and then a robot task to perform those actions.

This is the same as described in Appendix A under “Task Definition section”.

5.4.3 CREATE LOGIC, HMI & CONTROL PANEL

When the robot task is the desired one, it is possible to open the workcell in DA

and define the logic here. DA works in a way that the user needs to define the

Internal Logic (IL) for the resources with kinematics. Here it is possible to link

the mechanism with the logic.

After IL’s are defined, it is necessary to define the ports as required. Usually start

task and finish task are enough. Give type as Boolean and direction as IN/OUT.

Then double click on behavior and structure the SFC logic code keeping the

sequences and other necessary things regarding robot task.

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Figure 40. SFC code of the small workcell

Once everything is fine with the SFC LOGIC, define the same ports inside HMI

as well. Note that the ports should be exactly the same everywhere i.e. in robot, in

weld gun, in geo gripper, in HMI etc. There is no need to define the behavior of

HMI. To create the panel, move to HMI Control Panel design module and create

panel with the desired buttons. If there is a button and a light, it is important not to

forget to link the button with the light. Test the panel to check if it is working as

desired or not. Check the behavior tab as well and see if it is fixed or not fixed.

This explains the behavior of the button.

Go to “CSM Module and Block Editor” to create a new module within the robot

unit. This control module will act as a virtual PLC and it will be talking to the

robot unit through HMI. Inside the module it is necessary to create a block which

will be its internal logic. Create the same ports here too.

Now it is needed to link this virtual machine with the HMI so that the workcell

can be controlled through HMI. For this, an asynchronous external block which

will act as a bridge between HMI and Control Panel needs to be created. While

still in “Module and Block Editor” workbench click on Create asynchronous

block from external product tab, a dialogue box will be opened then click on the

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control logic and then select the HMI control panel. Do not forget to check the

AUTOMATIC start in the end. This will launch the HMI automatically when the

control logic simulation runs.

Figure 41. HMI in the small workcell example

The last step is to create the execution environment under the station but outside

the robot unit. The robot station must have a robot unit (.catproduct) and

execution environments tab if they all collapse. Click on open connection editor

and click on “executionenv tab”. A new window will open with all the .catproduct

files with IL and ports. Connect the ports correctly and close the editor.

Run the simulation by clicking the execute button and then selecting the

“executionenv tab”.

5.5 FINAL SIMULATION

In the final simulation are discussed in detail, like in “the small workcell”, all the

steps from CATIA to the final PLC using the template. The template contains the

Robot unit A in Main Line X that it was described before.

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To outline, there are four steps complete in this point, they are:

1. Defining the template

2. Defining Kinematics

3. Create Robot Tags and Tasks

4. Create logic, HMI & Control Panel

5.5.1 DEFINING THE TEMPLATE

Templates are created in DPE inside the project and they are saved in

Manufacturing Hub. When the project is opened in DELMIA environment, it can

be used the “Instantiate from template” button to populate the project with the

resources defined in the template.

To create the template and opening the project in DELMIA refer to “3.3.2 How to

Make Template in DELMIA Process Engineer” and “3.3.3 Selecting a Project

from the Manufacturing Hub”.

5.5.2 DEFINING KINEMATICS

Once the template has been made, CATIA has been used to define the kinematics.

To use the template, it was created in the work computer due to its difficulty when

export. In the project it has focused the CATIA work in the gripper of Robot A

and the fixture. Both have a lot of clamps that at the beginning were static,

without joints.

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Figure 42. Geogripper where it has needed define kinematics

It has been explained how to define kinematics in the gripper and later it will be

done the same in the fixture. The first step is to open the CATproduct, from ABB,

that it contains all the parts. The problem that it has been found is that the parts

have a bad assemblance. The clamp it is only one CATpart so it is necessary to

separate the piece that it will move and the fixed piece in two different parts. To

separate this it is necessary to open one of the complete clamps in CATproduct in

a new window as it can be seen below.

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Figure 43. Complete clamp opened in a new window

This CATproduct is separated in many parts. One of these parts is the clamp

where it is necessary to define the mechanism. This CATpart can be seen below.

Figure 44. The part of the clamp when it necessary to define the revolute joint

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The pink piece is the part that will have a revolute joint around the green part. To

separate the pink piece and the fixed part it two new CATparts have been created.

Inside each CATpart, the pieces have been copied. In this work the two different

parts are like in the next figures.

Figure 45. Part with revolute joint inside the clamp

Figure 46. Fix part inside the clamp

Now, it is the time to replace the new two parts instead of the old part that has

been modified before in the full clamp. This is a CATproduct file where it will be

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proceeded to define the joints. It has been necessary to be very careful with the

coordination due it is possible that have different global axis. To define the joint it

is necessary to create a new mechanism. Later, one part must be fixed, the green

part in this project. And finally the joints must be put. It has been put in the clamp

a revolute joint and later a lot of rigid joints so all the moving parts can move

around the green part altogether.

Figure 47. Making rigid joints with the pink part to move all together

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Figure 48. Making the simulation to verificate the behaviur of one complete clamp

The last step when defining the kinematics is to define the travel limits and the

home positions. It has been considered that each clamp can be opened 120º. It has

been defined this position as “open home position” and 0º as “close home

position”.

Once this has been made with one clamp, the same steps must be done in the

others clamps in the gripper and the fixture.

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Figure 49. Geogripper after define the kinematics in clamps

Figure 50. In fixture have been defined the kinematics in clamps

5.5.3 CREATE ROBOT TAGS & TASKS

Once the kinematics have been defined in the CAD parts and a template is built

and the steps that were explained earlier have been completed, like linking the

MA (Manufacturing Assembly) to the assembly line and loading fasteners on the

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products. The next step is to create the robot tasks. The robot tasks are created in

accordance to the sequence that the robot unit will follow. This part strictly

created on the actual choice and need for that particular workcell or unit.

The “Teach Device” or tags can be used to create the robot tasks. Activities like

tool pick, tool drop, pick part and spot weld can also be used according to the

need.

Figure 51. Creating Tags & Tasks

Once the robot tasks are done, run the simulation by pressing “Robot Task

Simulation” button. If satisfied, proceed with DA towards PLC code and defining

logics by using ports.

5.5.4 CREATE LOGIC, HMI & CONTROL PANEL

In order to develop a manufacturing automation system, it is necessary to

understand the manufacturing operations and their relationship. It is also very

important the sequence of operations, which is the basis for control logic design.

The operations have preconditions that are defined when they are allowed to start

executing, which also defines the sequence relations among them. It has been

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created, as it can be seen in the picture below, this sequence using “Sequence

Planner” program.

Figure 52. Sequence of Robot A by using Sequence Planner

When the sequence was finished, it was verified using “Supremica”. The result

was that the sequence of operation was nonblocking. This means that there were

not collisions or mistakes between the operations, so it was possible to continue

creating the logic.

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Figure 53. Non blocking in Supremica software

After the SOP was created and verified, the GRAFCET of the Robot A unit was

created in a paper, as it is shown in the next figure.

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Figure 54. GRAFCET of robot A unit

An internal logic in DELMIA Automation was created when the idea was clear.

The module “CLM Device Logic Design” that is inside “Logic Design” was used.

Later, the internal logic was defined in SFC code. Clicking two times in behavior

a new window to work in SFC opens. The ports and its characteristics were

defined as it is possible to see in the picture below.

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Figure 55. Defining ports

Finally, the SFC was created based on the tasks and operations that have been

defined before.

Figure 56. SFC code of robot unit A

When the SFC code has finished, it is necessary to verify and optimize it using the

simulation tool before creating and linking the HMI.

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Figure 57. Simulating the SFC code in DELMIA

Once planning and sequencing in DELMIA has been done, shift to product view

instead of process as DA works with product and not with process. The complete

explanation of working with DA is explained in Appendix A.

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Figure 58. Connecting Ports

After the IL’s are defined completely, it is time to connect the ports with HMI and

the virtual PLC. This should be done with intense care and keeping the logic

defined in the SFC in mind. To create connections go to CSM Device Control

Connection module and click on “open connection editor” button, a new window

with the environment as shown in figure 56 will open. The devices with IL along

with their ports appear in this view. Also, HMI and Control Panel (virtual PLC)

are available along with the ports for the connection.

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Figure 59. Control of Work cell vitual PLC through HMI

When all the connections are connected properly check the simulation by pressing

the “execute” button. When the play button on simulation tab is pressed, the HMI

panel pops up. There is a start button and a green light that glows when the button

is pressed. The big red button is an emergency stop button and it is used if

something goes wrong. It stops all the operations at once. So when the start button

is pressed, the workcell should start its expected operation as defined.

During the simulation, observe carefully the status of the ports sending and

receiving signals. Critically analyze them during simulation to verify the

correctness of the simulation and SFC code.

5.6 BRIDGE GAPS

To bridge the gap between the design or pure mechanical engineering and the

control or process engineering is not a cinch. A lot of literature study, interviews,

self experience and knowledge are required in order to be able to be in the

position where it is possible to identify the gaps and set the necessary standards

for reusing the information, once defined.

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Due to CATIA & DELMIA are from the same company the information loss is

quite less. However, there is a need of stating the capabilities of them and the

discrepancies among them.

Roughly speaking, gaps are of two types, some are those that can be reused in

DELMIA from CATIA and others are those which cannot. So, if the design

person is defining the equipment in CATIA in one particular way which cannot be

used by the control engineer in DELMIA then there is no point of having the same

practice over and over again. The industry thus demands today, due to the tight

tolerances and lesser lead times, to have the preparatory work instructions

concise, clear and robust without having the risk of any short falls or rework.

If the .CATPARTS have been changed, it is necessary to make the

.CATPRODUCT again because it does not update automatically. All the parts

from Volvo are without kinematics. These parts have a bad subassembly too. The

little parts inside one part are badly defined so first of all it is necessary to

separate these parts in CATIA. This was like this due to the parts from Volvo

could not be simulated. Some parts are in .cgr due to the fact that by converting a

.CATpart file into a .cgr file the storage memory may decrease to a tenth the

original value with the consequence that more files will be able to fit in storage

and that process simulation will become smoother. It is preferred to wait with the

conversion into .cgr files until the model provides the results expected and no

more changes are going to be made.

The softwares that were used during the course of this work CATIA & DELMIA

sometimes crashed. The time lost due to such unexpected flaws was enormous.

For example if it was tried to define a rigid joint between a robot with a .CATpart

or .CATproduct file the program crashed. It is not possible to combine two

products having kinematics through a rigid joint.

To define a joint it is necessary to do it between two parts at the same level inside

the product in the PPR tree. Thus it can change the structure of the tree or in the

case of this project, in the template.

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Process is separated from logic behavior. It is necessary to work according to the

tasks in DA rather than the process which defines the assembly operations. Thus

there can be a big gap between simulation of the virtual station and its simulation

based upon the logical expressions.

While using the clamping, picking activity it is not possible to execute all of the

clamps of gripper or fixture at once. This is different from the reality where all of

the different sensors senses the part at once and execute almost simultaneously.

Conclusions

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Chapter 6. CONCLUSIONS

This work therefore has been an effort to help Volvo Trucks to define in a better

way what they require from their design suppliers and what they can offer to their

process control engineers.

The conclusions have been achieved by answering the research questions. It has

been investigated and shown that it is possible to simulate a virtual workcell

following the Volvo PTS using DELMIA Solutions. It has been found that

working with PPR hub is very useful, as the information can be updated and

reused efficiently among CATIA and DELMIA. It is also shown in this Final

Term Project that it is possible to control a virtual workcell from HMI connected

with the virtual PLC.

The Final Term Project aims at the virtual preparation of Automation Station by

using DELMIA V5 platform. The main conclusion is that it is possible to do the

design, production planning and virtual commissioning of the Station, which are

the tree major steps with in digital manufacturing. Once everything has been

defined, it is possible to use and reuse what it has been done. DA (DELMIA

Automation) provides the necessary tools to create, edit, debug, and validate

control logic and it allows the user to create and reuse the predefined control logic

blocks.

Another conclusion is that the information, the geometry and the kinematics can

be read and they can be reused into DELMIA from CATIA. It has also been

explained that the kinematics must be made in CATIA although it is possible to

create them in DELMIA as well. Manufacturing hub is compatible to be used

while working with DA. This can be a great advantage for the automotive industry

as it would be easier and quicker to communicate, handle and update the data

through the manufacturing hub. This means that it is possible to transfer the data

from design engineer to the control or simulation engineer by using a single

Conclusions

95



manufacturing hub interface. Then all of the logic defined can be sent back to the

customer like VTC for final verification and implementation. This can lead the

industry to use DA along with DELMIA with the manufacturing hub.

Future work

96



Chapter 7. FUTURE WORK

It has been demonstrated that it is possible to do a virtual simulation of the

workcell. This research it has focused on the work in the Station Y inside Main

Line X. This work could be extended to the whole Main Line X.

It has also been shown that it is possible to control the virtual station by using

HMI and a virtual PLC. Future work could be done in order to implement this in

the real PLC so it could be used in the real Main Line X. Once the virtual PLC

program has been downloaded to the real PLC using the correct DELMIA

Automation PLC Setup, the controlled system simulator can be used to link the

real PLC and the virtual equipment using open connectivity. The user can define

the simulation environment, as previously described, and perform the production

system analysis and reporting. Operations can be created with the real HMI

connected to the real PLC. The DELMIA Automation Control System Simulator

can be used for virtual startup, virtual commissioning with the final user, and

operation training.

As it was mentioned before, cycle times have been taken into account slightly,

without been optimized during this research work as they were not provided by

VTC. So in the future it will be interesting to see the simulation and control of the

work cell with actual cycle times added to it.

This work that has been done with Volvo could be reused in other companies in

order to simulate other production stations. Working guides have been attached in

the appendix A of this Final Term Project in order to outline, as a tutorial, the

different steps that need to be followed to achieve virtual automation stations by

using DELMIA solutions.

Bibliography

97



Chapter 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Systèmes, Dassault. DELMIA Version 5 Release 19 User's Documentation.

2008.

2. Trucks, Volvo. Volvo Trucks Home. Volvo Trucks Home. [Online]

http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/global/en-gb/Pages/home.aspx.

3. Systèmes, Dassault. About Dassault Systèmes - Dassault Systèmes. PLM

Solutions, 3D CAD & simulation software - Dassault Systèmes. [Online]

http://www.3ds.com/company/about-dassault-systemes/our-vision/.

4. ARC, Advisory Group. DELMIA V5 Automation Platform: Merging Digital

Manufacturing with Automation. 2006.

5. Samir Dalili, Marcus Persson. Development of an Event Bases Robotics

Simulation Implemented in Process Simulate. Göteborg, Sweden : CHALMERS

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2009.

6. P. Glimvert, E. Hartwig, A. Larsson, E. Lindskog, L. Lundh, and A.

Ohldin. Virtuell utveckling och idrifttagning av tillverkningscell med 3d-

simulering. s.l. : page 8, 5 2009.

7. Dassault Systèmes. DELMIA V5 AUTOMATION. Såo Paulo, Brazil : s.n.

8. Joakim Davidson & Tobias Sennö. Interactive Control of a Virtual Machine.

Lund, Sweden : Department of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation

Lund University, 2005.

9. Galicia, Juan Carlos Fernandez Padron - CIS. TECNOLOGIA E DESENO.

Galicia, Spain : s.n.

10. Knut Åkesson, Martin Fabian and Hugo Flordal. Supremica in a Nutshell

– Draft. 2007.

11. Supremica. Supremica. Supremica. [Online] http://www.supremica.org/.

Bibliography

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12. Mohammad Reza Shoaei, Gizem Akkan. Verification, Optimization and

Synthesis of sequences of operations. 2009.

13. www.mitecnologico.es. Controladores Lógicos Programables.

http://www.mitecnologico.com/Main/ControladoresLogicosProgramablesPlc.

[Online]

14. J.Eck, David. Asynchronous Events: Polling Loops and Interrupts.

http://www.faqs.org/docs/javap/c1/s2.html. [Online]

15. Manual, PLC. http://www.plcmanual.com/plc-history. [Online]

16. Fernandez, Jose Manuel. INTRODUCTION TO NORM IEC 1131-3.

http://www.internet.ve/asic/iec1131-3.html. [Online] 2008.

17. VINNOVA. Research and innovation for sustainable growth. Research and

innovation for sustainable growth. [Online] http://www.vinnova.se/en/FFI-

English/About-FFI/.

18. FFI. STRATEGIC VEHICLE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION.

19. Dassault Systemés. DELMIA Virtual Production for Production

Performance. [Online] http://www.3ds.com/products/delmia/portfolio/delmia-

v5/all-

products/domain/Digital_Manufacturing_Foundations/product/PRM/?cHash=2a7c

a0ca5c8613f6652bc2b63d37b39c.

20. Systèmes, Dassault. Virtual construction, validation and simulation. 2005.

21. Systèmes, Dassault. Delmia LCM Studio Presentation.

List of Abbreviations

99



Chapter 9. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DELMIA Digital Enterprise Lean Manufacturing Interactive

Application

CATIA Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application

PLC Programmable Logic Controllers

BiW Body in White

I/O Inputs and Outputs

CAD Computer Aided Design

FFI Fordonsstrategisk Forskning och Innovation

DA DELMIA Automation

PLM Product Lifecycle Management

SFC Sequential Function Chart

STEP Standard for Exchange of Product model data, neutral file format

in CAD-software

VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language, neutral file format in CAD-

software

DOF Degrees Of Freedom

3D 3 Dimensions

CAM Computer Aided Manufacturing

CAE Computer Aided Engineering

KBE Knowledge-based Engineering

PDM Product Development Management

HMI Human-machine interface

CAA Computer Aided Architecture

VINNOVA Swedish government agency

List of Abbreviations

100



SOP Sequence of Operations

FKG Fordonskomponentgruppen

DPM Digital Process Manufacturing

PPR Product, Process and Resources

MA Manufacturing Assembly

AST Assembly Specification tree

MSD Manufacturing System Design

FBD Function Block Diagram

IC Integrated Circuit

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission

IEEE Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

IL Instruction List

LD Ladder Diagram

MSE Mechanical Simulation Engine

R&D Research and Development

SFC Sequential Flow Chart

SRS Software Requirement Specification

VTC Volvo Truck Corporation

PFD Product Flow Diagram

PLM Product Lifecycle Managment

ABS Absolute value

FB Function block

Appendices

101



Chapter 10. APPENDICES

10.1 APPENDIX A

10.1.1 BUILD LAYOUT (ROBOT UNIT)

Open DPM Right Click New Create Process & Resource View

Similarly, create Area, Line and then create Station within the line.

Instantiate from template button.

Click on this button. It is a library from where we can pick items (parts) .CGR &

.CADPART files etc.

Create robot unit under station.

Put robot, weld gun, cabinet, rail, fasteners, with in this robot unit.

Create one extra level of safety fences under station level.

Use type “resource” .name fence (this will be surrounding equipment).

Appendices

102



10.1.2 MOVES TO .CGR FILES

The steps followed to give moves to the differents parts of the cell with files in cgr

format are normally the next:

1. Start -> Resource Detailing -> Device building

2. Insert -> Existing component… (Press product for open document

files)

Ej. V5 -> 432067 ->23->02-> Part1 & Part2

3. For .cgr is not possible to use joints and the process is the next (for create

a movement):

4. Take 1 part and create “Frames of interest”

5. The same with others parts

6. Select 1 frame of interest and put the “frame tip” that you need.

7. The same with others parts

8. Add a “new mechanism”

9. If you want fix one part with “fixed part”

10. Use “joint from axis” and selected the axis that you want and select

the “Joint type” in the box that was open. (click check in “angle driven”

for use in the simulation later)

11. Finally, make the simulation -> press “Jog mechanism”

a. If you want it is possible to use “travel limits” for defined some limits

of move

b. Define the “home positions” for part the initials conditions.

Appendices

103



10.1.3 TASK DEFINITION

When the workcell has all the kinematics normally made in CATIA it is possible

to start with logic. This guideline is a help to do simulation and the logic in

DELMIA.

Open “Device Task Definition” (Process) module:

Insert existing products

Insert the robots

In the example, the small work cell was done with one robot, one

weldgun and some part to make the spot welding process.

Open “Device Building” (Product) module:

Define the “frames of interest”

Create the tool tags

Open “Device Task Definition” module again:

Create the “Tag Group”

Define the tags linking with the tool tags defined before

Define “New Task”

Add more Tags with “Add Task” if you need more task in the

process

Click, first “Robot Task”

Click the axis for the Tag.

Was created “Operation 1”

You can check in “Robot Simulation”

Put the correct times

Check if there are some collision

Appendices

104



When the user is satisfied with the tags and operations he/she can go to “Work

cell Sequence” for I/O sequencing and multi resource simulation.

Now it is necessary to define I/Os and it would be easily created as

follows. It is important to pay attention because some robots and

device have the I/Os created in them.

New I/Os

Modify I/Os

Wait I/Os State

If the user wants to see the robots simulation, he/she can click in

“multi resource simulation” button. and click “Play”

Figure 60. Process Simulation Menu bar(1)

The I/Os in the Logic will be made in CLM (Ports), in the “small workcell”

example, that will be explain later in other guide line.

Appendices

105



10.1.4 INTERNAL LOGIC AND HMI

Now the process and the sequence have been created, it is necessary to start with

the logic such as follows:

Open “CLM Device Logic Design”

“Add Internal Logic”

In DELMIA it is possible to work in SFC+ and FBD.

Normally it is used SFC+.

Define now the ports

Double Click in ports

All of these things are created like a Resource.

In the example of this project there are two tasks,

“task_start” and “task_finish”.

Double Click in “behavior” in the PPR tree, inside the “Internal Logic”

Now the window has been opened to work in SFC+ blocks

“Add steps”

“Add Transitions” according to link the steps

Write the conditions in transitions propierty

Put the actions in the block

“Start Task Action”

“End Task Transition”

Add Actions

Right Click

Ports

You can simulate clicking “Simulate and Debug”

Finally, it is necessary to create the HMI. To do this open “HMI Control Panel

Design”

Appendices

106



“Create Panel Set”

“Create Panel”

“Edit Panel”

The panel can be easily checked in “Test Panel”

Appendices

107



10.1.5 DELMIA AUTOMATION LCM STUDIO

LCM Studio is composed of the following workbenches.

The goal is to give the user the capability of creating the Control program from

scratch, to create the HMI and to validate it.

Figure 61. Workbenches in LCM

In LCM Editor it is possible to create the blocks to structure the project and to be

able to re-use several times the same block (the main block is represented with a

star *).

Appendices

108



Figure 62. Creating blocks

For each block, different signals have to be defined or declared. The mapping of

blocks I/Os enables the communication between the blocks which have an

interface. The internals signals are only used inside the block, their value is not a

sent to another block.

Figure 63. Interface Block Manager

Appendices

109



LCM Editor provides all of the tools required to perform PLC programming for it

offers four bars with their respective buttons.

1. Normal steps: append step, add step after, add step before, add branch and

add final step.

2. Parallel steps: add parallel step after, add parallel step before, add parallel

branch and restore convergence.

3. Actions: add data flow action (i.e. modify a signal value), add macro

action: creates a sub-program directly inside the block, it can’t be re-used,

add call action: runs the called instance and freeze action.

4. Transitions

To compile the PLC program LCM compiler has been used. It detects the syntax

and semantic errors, instantaneous loops and causality errors. It has a perform to

code optimization, to produce an intermediate code (LCMO) and translate in C

language.

There are two ways to test the PLC program; by forcing the signals values or by

using the control panel after mapping the signals of the panel and the program.

Appendices

110



Figure 64. Behavior of the program visible n SFC+ view

In HMI Control Panel Design it is possible to create a realistic Control Panel with

all real details using:

1. Pre-defined gadgets; IOs effecting (push button, emergency button,

selector/switch, slider), IOs effected (light, text display, value display,

gauge) or passive gadgets (image, label)

Figure 65. Pre-defined gadgets

2. Gadgets signals automatically generated.

Appendices

111



3. Gadgets format and customization; general properties: name and position,

Behavior properties: icons, fixed/not fixed, Value/graduation management

and Background color, text properties.

Figure 66. 2 values: closed and opened

4. Panel formats have got similar tools as in PowerPoint, align, layout <->

distribute, resize tools, front/back <-> Order, group/ungroup, etc.

5. Ability to test the control panel by forcing the signals values and

visualizing the results in the graphical view

Figure 67. Signal Monitoring, testing its behavior

LCM has as well added values that make this program in a concise, explicit and

rigorous way to design a control logic:

1. LCM Studio: high level editor to design the control logic of automated

systems

Appendices

112



2. LCM Is a High Level Formal Language, independent of the

implementation (opposite to IEC61131-3).

3. LCM is based on a generative graphical tool with automatic generation of

graphical layout.

4. Complete identity between the simulated and the target executed

program.(21)

Appendices

113



10.2 APPENDIX B

Figure 68. Sequence for Robot C

Appendices

114



Figure 69.Sequence for robots unit A,B and D

Figure 70. Sequence for fixture and conveyor

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