Assembling system of vehicle body structure

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of industrial automation control, and discloses a vehicle body structure assembling system which comprises an automatic guide vehicle and a flexible island type workstation. A part carrying robot, a welding robot, a clamp carrying robot and a seven-axis carrying robot are arranged around the flexible island type work station. The automatic guide vehicle is used for conveying to-be-assembled parts; the component carrying robot is used for grabbing a to-be-assembled component and placing the to-be-assembled component on the first tool clamp of the flexible island type workstation; the welding robot is used for welding the to-be-assembled parts on the first tool clamp to obtain a welded assembly structure; the seven-axis transfer robot conveys the welding assembly structure on the flexible island type workstation to the next station; and under the condition that vehicle body structures of different models need to be produced, the clamp carrying robot switches the first tool clamp to the second tool clamp from the flexible island type workstation. The full-automatic production line assembling method has the beneficial effects that an unmanned full-automatic production line assembling method is realized, and the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of industrial automation control, and in particular to an assembly system for a vehicle body structure. Background Art

[0002] The joining station, also commonly referred to as the assembly station, is a key link in the automobile manufacturing process. At this station, the main parts of the car, such as the front and rear of the car body and large components such as the floor, are precisely assembled, welded or "joined" together to build a complete lower body frame. This step is crucial to ensure the structural integrity and safety of the car and is located at the very beginning of the entire lower body production line. Due to the large size of the parts to be processed and the need for precise alignment of many positioning points, this link has very strict requirements on precision. Therefore, the performance of the joining station will directly affect the flexibility of the production line, the diversity of car models that can be produced, and the overall production efficiency. However, in the relevant technology, this production and manufacturing link still has certain limitations, and the production efficiency of the lower body of the car needs to be improved. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application aims to solve at least one of the technical problems in the related art to a certain extent. To this end, the present application proposes an assembly system for a vehicle body structure. The main technical solutions adopted by the present application include:

[0004] The present application provides an assembly system for a vehicle body structure, the assembly system comprising:

[0005] Automatic guided vehicles and flexible island workstations; parts storage locations, parts handling robots, welding robots, fixture handling robots and seven-axis handling robots are set up around the flexible island workstations;

[0006] Automated guided vehicles, used to transport components to be assembled to the component storage location;

[0007] The component handling robot is used to grab the components to be assembled from the component storage position and place the components to be assembled on the first fixture of the flexible island workstation; wherein the first fixture clamps and positions the components to be assembled;

[0008] A welding robot is used to weld the components to be assembled on the first fixture to obtain a welded assembly structure;

[0009] The seven-axis handling robot is equipped with a first gripper, through which the welding assembly structure on the flexible island workstation is transported to the next station;

[0010] When different types of vehicle body structures need to be produced, the fixture handling robot switches the first tooling fixture to the second tooling fixture on the flexible island workstation.

[0011] Optionally, a fixture storage position is also provided around the flexible island workstation; the fixture handling robot removes the first tooling fixture from the flexible island workstation, places the first tooling fixture at the fixture storage position, grabs the second tooling fixture from the fixture storage position, and installs the second tooling fixture to the flexible island workstation.

[0012] Optionally, a gripper storage position and a gripper switching robot are also arranged around the flexible island workstation; when different types of body structures need to be produced, the gripper switching robot removes the first gripper from the seven-axis transport robot, places the first gripper at the gripper storage position, grabs the second gripper from the gripper storage position, and installs the second gripper on the seven-axis transport robot.

[0013] Optionally, cylinders are respectively provided at the component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position, which are used to fix the material frame and to hold any one of the components to be assembled, the tooling fixtures and the grippers; the automatic guided vehicle is also used to drag the empty material frame away from the component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position, and to drag the full material frame to the component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position.

[0014] Optionally, the fixture handling robot is installed on the mechanical transport platform; the fixture handling robot is driven to a position above the first work fixture by translating the mechanical transport platform, and the fixture handling robot is driven to the first work fixture by lowering the mechanical transport platform to unload and grab the first work fixture; the fixture handling robot is driven to a position above the fixture storage position by ascending the mechanical transport platform, and the fixture handling robot is driven to the fixture storage position by lowering the mechanical transport platform to place the first work fixture, and grab the second work fixture from the fixture storage position; the fixture handling robot is driven to a position above the flexible island workstation by translating the mechanical transport platform, and the fixture handling robot is driven to the flexible island workstation by lowering the mechanical transport platform to install the second work fixture.

[0015] Optionally, the component storage positions include a front body storage position, a rear underbody storage position and a front floor storage position; an automatic guided vehicle is used to transport the front body structure to the front body storage position, the rear underbody structure to the rear underbody storage position, and the front floor structure to the front floor storage position.

[0016] Optionally, the component handling robot includes a front body handling robot, a rear lower body handling robot and a front floor handling robot; the front body handling robot is used to grab the front body structure from the front body storage position; the rear lower body handling robot is used to grab the rear lower body structure from the rear lower body storage position; the front floor handling robot is used to grab the front floor structure from the front floor storage position.

[0017] Optionally, an automatic gluing bracket is arranged around the front floor storage position for gluing the front floor structure after the front floor handling robot grabs the front floor structure; the front floor handling robot is also used to place the glued front floor structure on the first tooling fixture.

[0018] Optionally, an automatic grinder and a component waiting position are also arranged around the flexible island workstation; the automatic grinder is used to automatically grind the welding robot; the component waiting position is used to store spare assembly components; and the automatic guided vehicle is used to transport the spare assembly components from the component waiting position to the component storage position.

[0019] Optionally, there are multiple automated guided vehicles; the assembly system also includes a production scheduling platform for overall scheduling of automated guided vehicles, component handling robots, welding robots, fixture handling robots and seven-axis handling robots based on a production line map.

[0020] In the above embodiment, the parts to be assembled are first transported to the parts storage position by an automatic guided vehicle, and then the parts to be assembled are grabbed from the parts storage position by a parts handling robot, and the parts to be assembled are placed on the first fixture of the flexible island workstation to complete the parts delivery and loading operations. Furthermore, a welding robot is used to weld the parts to be assembled on the first fixture to obtain the overall welded assembly structure of the lower body. Finally, a seven-axis handling robot is used to transport the welded assembly structure on the flexible island workstation to the next station for subsequent production processing. In addition, a fixture handling robot is also provided, which is used to switch the first fixture to the second fixture on the flexible island workstation when different models of body structures need to be produced. At this point, an unmanned fully automatic production line assembly method for delivering, picking up, welding and conveying is realized, which improves production efficiency and flexibility. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0022] Figure 1a A system block diagram of an assembly system of a vehicle body structure provided according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of components of a lower body welding assembly of a vehicle body structure provided according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2A system block diagram of an assembly system of a vehicle body structure provided according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3 A system block diagram of an assembly system of a vehicle body structure provided according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an automated guided vehicle towing a material frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 5 A system block diagram of an assembly system of a vehicle body structure provided according to yet another embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of visual inspection and glue classification according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a production line map provided according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0031] In the automotive industry manufacturing process, a crucial step is to accurately assemble large parts such as the front body, front floor and rear body of the car to build a complete body frame. This step is the first part of the body production line and needs to be carried out at the assembly station on the production line.

[0032] The assembly station, also commonly known as the assembly station, is the first station of the lower body and the starting point of the entire production line. Its efficiency and performance are directly related to the operation of the entire production line. First of all, the parts that need to be processed at the assembly station are very large, and many specific positioning points must be aligned very accurately. This process requires extremely high precision. Any slight error may lead to subsequent assembly problems, thus affecting the operating efficiency of the entire production line; secondly, the degree of automation of the station is crucial to improving production efficiency. Automation can not only reduce human errors, but also speed up production and improve overall production efficiency; further, the design and operation of the assembly station also determine the flexibility of the production line. A flexible assembly station can adapt to the assembly needs of various models, which is also extremely important for the modern automobile manufacturing industry to meet consumers' diverse requirements for models; in addition, due to the operation of large parts, the assembly station must also have strict safety measures to protect the safety of production workers.

[0033] However, in the relevant technologies, there are still the following limitations in the welding and assembly of the lower body of the automobile:

[0034] (1) The flexibility of the combined workstations is poor. Flexible production lines generally adopt an overall switching method, which limits the adaptability of the production line to different models and reduces production flexibility;

[0035] (2) The conveying method from the assembling station to the next station is mainly roller beds or reciprocating rods, which may become inefficient due to the weight and size limitations of the components, affecting the balance of the entire line;

[0036] (3) Rigid connections between workstations, multiple robot loading / welding equipment, difficult workstation layout and switching, limiting the flexibility and scalability of the production line;

[0037] (4) The parts at this workstation are large, and robots are used for picking up and welding. Manual delivery to the line or manual switching of the robot's handling gripper can easily lead to safety hazards, which not only affects efficiency but also affects the safety of production workers.

[0038] Based on the above content, according to an embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of an assembly system for a vehicle body structure is provided. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in an order different from that shown here.

[0039] In this embodiment, a vehicle body structure assembly system is provided. Figure 1a As shown, the assembly system 100 includes:

[0040] The automatic guided vehicle 101 and the flexible island workstation 110 , around which the flexible island workstation 110 are arranged a component storage position 111 , a component handling robot 113 , a welding robot 115 , a fixture handling robot 117 and a seven-axis handling robot 119 .

[0041] The automatic guided vehicle 101 may refer to an automated material handling device for transporting components to be assembled to the component storage location 111. For example, the automatic guided vehicle may be an unmanned AGV forklift equipped with a guide sensor, which is used to replace production personnel for unmanned material transportation.

[0042] The component storage location 111 may refer to an area for storing components to be assembled. The components to be assembled may refer to individual components or parts that have not been assembled or welded together during the assembly process of the vehicle body structure. For example, please refer to Figure 1b The components to be assembled may include at least one of the three large components: the front body welding assembly 102, the front floor welding assembly 104, and the rear lower body welding assembly 106. Specifically, the automatic guided vehicle receives the control instruction of the production scheduling platform, goes to the parts warehouse to take out the corresponding components to be assembled and transports them to the component storage position 111, so that the subsequent component handling robot can accurately grab the components to be assembled.

[0043] The flexible island workstation 110 may refer to a modular manufacturing workstation, which is surrounded by various robots and equipment and can be used to complete specific production tasks, such as handling, welding and conveying of components. For example, the lower body assembly station may be regarded as a flexible island workstation, and the fixtures designed thereon may be automatically switched by a fixture handling robot to achieve the purpose of flexible production of multiple models with different architectures.

[0044] The component handling robot 113 can be a machine device with a visual inspection function. It is understandable that since the component handling robot has a visual inspection function, it can be based on visual guidance for multifunctional composite applications. Exemplarily, when grabbing the components to be assembled, based on visual inspection, first check whether it is the correct component to be assembled. In the case where the components to be assembled are grabbed correctly, if the visual detection shows that the position of the components to be assembled deviates from the standard position recorded in the control system, then the component handling robot can complete the grabbing operation based on the actual position of the components to be assembled through correction. At the same time, the path of the standard position recorded in the control system is compensated and updated to improve the accuracy. Furthermore, after the component handling robot 113 grabs the components to be assembled from the component storage position 111, it can also place the components to be assembled on the first fixture of the flexible island workstation 110. Among them, the first fixture can refer to a special device used to fix and position the components to be assembled in the flexible island workstation 110. Specifically, the first fixture clamps and positions the components to be assembled, ensuring that the components to be assembled maintain a correct position and posture during the welding and assembly process, thereby ensuring the accuracy and quality of the welding and assembly.

[0045] The welding robot 115 may refer to an intelligent robot dedicated to welding work, which can automatically identify the parts to be assembled and weld them to form a welded assembly structure. Specifically, the welding robot 115 is used to weld the parts to be assembled on the first fixture of the assembly station to obtain the welded assembly structure of the three major parts of the lower body.

[0046] The seven-axis handling robot 119 may refer to a handling robot with seven degrees of freedom. Specifically, the seven-axis handling robot 119 is equipped with a first gripper. After the welding robot 115 completes the welding task, the welding assembly structure on the flexible island workstation 110 is transported to the next station 121 through the first gripper. It should be understood that compared with the use of roller bed / reciprocating rod to transport the welding assembly structure in the related art, the seven-axis handling robot 119 grabs the welding assembly structure and suspends it in the air. Therefore, at this time, the flexible island workstation is in an idle state and can immediately start the next cycle production plan. However, when the roller bed / reciprocating rod is used to transport the welding assembly structure to the next station, the roller bed / reciprocating rod conveying will follow the welding assembly structure to the next station. After the handling robot picks up the part, the roller bed / reciprocating rod conveying needs to return to the previous station before the next cycle production plan can be started.

[0047] The fixture handling robot 117 may refer to a robot that replaces or carries fixtures at different workstations. Specifically, when different types of vehicle body structures need to be produced, the fixture handling robot 117 switches the first fixture to the second fixture on the flexible island workstation 110 .

[0048] For example, if the production scheduling platform gives the operation instruction that model A needs to be assembled continuously, then the first fixture suitable for model A is installed on the flexible island workstation at this time, and the first fixture and the surrounding robots will check whether the parts to be assembled exist and whether the models of the parts to be assembled are correct during each assembly process. When the task of assembling the lower body welding assembly of model A is completed, the production scheduling platform will give the corresponding instruction to switch to assembling model B. At this time, the fixture handling robot will start the switching program according to the control instruction, remove the first fixture corresponding to model A from the flexible island workstation, and replace it with the second fixture corresponding to model B.

[0049] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the parts to be assembled are first transported to the parts storage position by an automatic guided vehicle, and then the parts to be assembled are grabbed from the parts storage position by a parts handling robot, and the parts to be assembled are placed on the first fixture of the flexible island workstation to complete the parts delivery and loading operations. Furthermore, a welding robot is used to weld the parts to be assembled on the first fixture to obtain the overall welded assembly structure of the lower body. Finally, a seven-axis handling robot is used to transport the welded assembly structure on the flexible island workstation to the next station for subsequent production processing. In addition, a fixture handling robot is also provided, which is used to switch the first fixture to the second fixture on the flexible island workstation when different models of body structures need to be produced. At this point, an unmanned fully automatic production line assembly method for delivering, picking up, welding and conveying is realized, which improves production efficiency and flexibility.

[0050] In some embodiments, please refer to the attached Figure 2 A fixture storage position 210 is also arranged around the flexible island workstation 110 .

[0051] The fixture storage position refers to an area specially set up around the flexible island workstation for storing and keeping temporarily unused fixtures. For example, since the fixtures on the combined workstation are heavy and large in size, the fixtures can be divided into three parts: front, middle and rear for switching, and the corresponding fixture storage positions can also include front fixture storage position, middle fixture storage position and rear fixture storage position.

[0052] Specifically, the fixture handling robot unloads the first fixture from the flexible island workstation, places the first fixture at the fixture storage position, grabs the second fixture from the fixture storage position, and installs the second fixture to the flexible island workstation.

[0053] Optionally, the switched tooling fixture can also be dragged to the fixture storage position by an automatic guided vehicle. Similarly, the tooling fixture that needs to be replaced can also be dragged from the corresponding fixture storage position to the flexible island workstation by an automatic guided vehicle, and the fixture handling robot can grab the corresponding tooling fixture and install it on the flexible island workstation.

[0054] In the above implementation, fixture storage locations are set around the flexible island workstation to effectively manage tooling fixtures, thereby ensuring that the production line can quickly respond to different production tasks and improve production efficiency and product quality. In addition, unlike the characteristics of rigid connection stations that are difficult to arrange and switch, by using a fixture handling robot to switch and position tooling, production tasks of multiple models that can be shared by robots, welding equipment, etc. can be achieved.

[0055] In some embodiments, please refer to the attached Figure 3 A gripper storage position 310 and a gripper switching robot 320 are also arranged around the flexible island workstation 110 .

[0056] It should be understood that in the assembly production process of the lower body structure, since different sizes of vehicles are involved, the end effectors of the handling robots used will also be different. In addition, different parts to be assembled also require different gripping methods, such as different shapes, sizes or weights, so it is necessary to replace the grippers of corresponding specifications to adapt to these differences.

[0057] Based on this, when it is necessary to produce different types of body structures, the gripper switching robot 320 removes the first gripper from the seven-axis transport robot 119, places the first gripper at the gripper storage position 310, grabs the second gripper from the gripper storage position 310, and installs the second gripper on the seven-axis transport robot 119.

[0058] The gripper switching robot 320 may be an intelligent robot for automatically replacing the end effector of the robot on the production line. The gripper storage location 310 may refer to an area specially set up around the flexible island workstation 110 for storing and keeping the grippers that are not in use temporarily.

[0059] In the above-mentioned embodiment, by combining the gripper storage position with the gripper switching robot, the flexible island workstation can flexibly adapt to changing production needs, thereby improving the automation level and production efficiency of the production line.

[0060] In some embodiments, cylinders are respectively provided at the component storage position 111, the fixture storage position 210 and the gripper storage position 310 for fixing the material frame for containing any one of the components to be assembled, the tooling fixtures and the grippers.

[0061] Among them, the cylinder can be a device that generates thrust or pull through air pressure to fix the material frame in a specified position to prevent it from moving or sliding during loading and unloading. Specifically, the cylinder can be installed at various storage locations on the ground. The material frame can be a container or frame used to hold parts to be assembled, fixtures or grippers for temporary storage and transportation. Exemplarily, the material frame can be made of metal, plastic or wood, and has sufficient strength and stability to ensure the safety and stability of the material during handling. For example, please refer to the attached Figure 4 When the automatic guided vehicle 410 drags the material frame 420 to a specified position and the control system detects that the material frame 420 is located at the specified position, the cylinder 430 on the ground level will lock the material frame 420 accordingly, thereby achieving accurate positioning of the material frame 420.

[0062] Furthermore, in the assembly system of the entire vehicle body structure, if various types of materials need to be transported, multiple automated guided vehicles can be used to carry them. That is, when the parts in the corresponding material frame are used up, an automated guided vehicle can drag the empty material frame away from the parts storage position, the fixture storage position, and the gripper storage position. Then another automated guided vehicle can drag the full material frame to the parts storage position, the fixture storage position, and the gripper storage position to improve the transportation efficiency.

[0063] Optionally, in the process of multiple automated guided vehicles transporting materials, the production scheduling platform can be used to coordinate the material transfer, vehicle transfer, parts delivery and vehicle switching in real time, making the entire line more efficient and intelligent, and facilitating production management and production line upgrades. For example, when multiple automated guided vehicles need to pass through a certain intersection at the same time, the production scheduling platform can use the preset traffic control principles to determine the order in which different automated guided vehicles pass.

[0064] Among them, the traffic control principle can be divided into different situations. For example, for AGVs in different directions, the outbound AGV is given priority, that is, if one AGV is dragging a full material frame to deliver materials to the storage location, and the other is dragging an empty material frame away from the storage location, the AGV that is delivering materials to the storage location is given priority. For AGVs in the same direction, the AGV that is farther from the target storage location is given priority, that is, if two AGVs are dragging full material frames to deliver materials to the storage location, but the target storage location of one of the AGVs is farther away, it is given priority.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the combination of the cylinder and the material frame can realize the automatic fixing, handling and storage of materials, thereby improving production efficiency and safety. The cylinder is used to fix the material frame to ensure the stability of the material during the handling process; the material frame is used to store and protect the material, which is convenient for the handling and operation of the automated equipment.

[0066] In some embodiments, the fixture handling robot is mounted on a robotic platform.

[0067] The mechanical transport platform may refer to a liftable mechanical transport platform device capable of installing or carrying robots and other devices. For example, the mechanical transport platform may be equipped with different robotic devices and move them horizontally or vertically to complete specific operation tasks.

[0068] Furthermore, the mechanical transport platform is equipped with a fixture handling robot to switch between different tooling fixtures. Specifically, the fixture handling robot is driven to the upper position of the first tooling fixture by translating the mechanical transport platform, and is driven to the first tooling fixture by lowering the mechanical transport platform to unload and grab the first tooling fixture; the fixture handling robot is driven to the upper position of the fixture storage position by ascending the mechanical transport platform, and is driven to the fixture storage position by lowering the mechanical transport platform to place the first tooling fixture, and grab the second tooling fixture from the fixture storage position; the fixture handling robot is driven to the upper position of the flexible island workstation by translating the mechanical transport platform, and is driven to the flexible island workstation by lowering the mechanical transport platform to install the second tooling fixture.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the fixture handling robot is installed on the mechanical transport platform, and the control system coordinates the translation and lifting actions of the mechanical transport platform, as well as the gripping and placement actions of the fixture handling robot, so as to realize the automatic replacement of the tooling fixture. This reduces manual intervention and improves production efficiency. At the same time, since the fixture handling robot is installed on the mechanical transport platform, there is no need to set up a gripper placement frame for the fixture handling robot, which reduces the investment in production line equipment.

[0070] In some embodiments, please refer to the attached Figure 5 The component storage position 111 includes a front vehicle body storage position 510 , a rear lower vehicle body storage position 520 , and a front floor storage position 530 .

[0071] It is understandable that since the components to be assembled may include three large components, namely, the front body welding assembly, the front floor welding assembly, and the rear lower body welding assembly, based on this, the component storage position 111 may include a front body storage position 510, a rear lower body storage position 520, and a front floor storage position 530, which are respectively used to store the three large components, namely, the front body welding assembly, the front floor welding assembly, and the rear lower body welding assembly.

[0072] Furthermore, the automatic guided vehicle 101 is also used to transport the front body structure to the front body storage position, the rear lower body structure to the rear lower body storage position, and the front floor structure to the front floor storage position. Specifically, after receiving the control instruction from the production scheduling platform, the automatic guided vehicle will go to the parts warehouse to take out the corresponding front body welding assembly and transport it to the front body storage position 510; take out the corresponding rear lower body welding assembly and transport it to the rear lower body storage position 520; take out the corresponding front floor welding assembly and transport it to the front floor storage position 530. This allows the subsequent component handling robot to accurately grab the components to be assembled.

[0073] In the above embodiment, by subdividing the component storage position 111 into the front body storage position 510, the rear lower body storage position 520 and the front floor storage position 530, different types of assembly components can be managed and stored more effectively, reducing confusion and errors between components and improving storage efficiency. Furthermore, by intelligently dispatching the automatic guided vehicle to transport each assembly component to each storage position, the production line can quickly respond to production changes and further optimize the production process and efficiency.

[0074] In some embodiments, please continue to refer to the attached Figure 5 The component transport robot 113 includes a front body transport robot 610 , a rear lower body transport robot 620 , and a front floor transport robot 630 .

[0075] Similarly, since the components to be assembled may include three large components, namely, the front body welding assembly, the front floor welding assembly, and the rear lower body welding assembly, the component handling robot 113 may include a front body handling robot 610, a rear lower body handling robot 620, and a front floor handling robot 630, which are respectively used to grab the three large components, namely, the front body welding assembly, the front floor welding assembly, and the rear lower body welding assembly, and place them on the flexible island workstation 110.

[0076] Specifically, the front body handling robot 610 is used to grab the front body structure from the front body storage position 510 and place it on the flexible island workstation 110; the rear lower body handling robot 620 is used to grab the rear lower body structure from the rear lower body storage position 520 and place it on the flexible island workstation 110; the front floor handling robot 630 is used to grab the front floor structure from the front floor storage position 530 and place it on the flexible island workstation 110.

[0077] In the above embodiment, the component handling robot 113 is subdivided into the front body handling robot 610, the rear lower body handling robot 620 and the front floor handling robot 630, that is, a dedicated handling robot is provided for each component structure. Therefore, three different handling robots can be used to work together to quickly adapt to changes in production needs, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the production line and improving the operating efficiency of the entire production line.

[0078] In some embodiments, an automatic gluing bracket is disposed around the front floor storage position for gluing the front floor structure after the front floor handling robot grabs the front floor structure.

[0079] Among them, the automatic gluing bracket can be a production line equipment dedicated to automatically applying adhesive during the handling and assembly of component structures. Exemplarily, the automatic gluing bracket is set around the storage position of the front floor. After the front floor handling robot grabs the front floor structure and places it at a certain moment before the flexible island workstation, the front floor structure is glued based on visual inspection technology. Specifically, first, multiple images of the front floor structure are taken by the onboard camera, and the acquired images are segmented based on the deep learning model to obtain the segmented images. Please refer to Figure 6 , perform colloid defect classification detection on the segmented image, and output the corresponding type of missing coating / glue breakage / glue deviation / too coarse / too fine or no defect. Finally, send the result to the production scheduling platform for subsequent processing. Exemplarily, if the output defect type is any of missing coating / glue breakage / glue deviation / too coarse / too fine, the automatic gluing bracket will re-perform the gluing operation. If the output result is no defect type, then further, the front floor handling robot is used to place the glued front floor structure on the first fixture.

[0080] In the above embodiment, an automatic gluing bracket is arranged around the front floor storage position to apply glue to the front floor structure after the front floor handling robot grabs the front floor structure. The glued front floor structure is then placed on the first fixture for subsequent assembly or welding. This automated gluing and handling process not only improves production efficiency, but also ensures the consistency of gluing quality through visual inspection technology, further ensuring the production quality of the lower body welding assembly.

[0081] In some embodiments, an automatic dresser and a component waiting position are also arranged around the flexible island workstation.

[0082] The automatic grinder can be a device for automatically grinding the electrode cap of the welding robot. Specifically, the automatic grinder is arranged around the welding robot and is used for automatically grinding the welding robot, thereby improving the welding quality.

[0083] The component waiting position can also refer to an area for storing components to be assembled, but unlike the component storage position, the component waiting position is an area for storing spare assembly components. Specifically, when the material frame on the component storage position is not empty, the automatic guided vehicle can be controlled to drag a material frame full of corresponding components to wait beside it, so that when the components in the component storage position are emptied, the automatic guided vehicle can immediately deliver the corresponding components from the component waiting position to the component storage position without interrupting the continuity of assembly production.

[0084] In the above embodiment, an automatic grinder is provided to ensure that the welding robot can work normally, thereby improving the welding quality. In addition, a component waiting position for storing spare assembly components is designed to quickly replace or replenish components on the production line, thereby ensuring the continuity of production, reducing the interruption time of the production line, and improving production efficiency.

[0085] In some embodiments, there are multiple automated guided vehicles. The assembly system also includes a production scheduling platform.

[0086] The production scheduling platform can be a software system for coordinating and managing various operations and processes on the production line. Specifically, the production scheduling platform can be used to perform overall scheduling of automatic guided vehicles, component handling robots, welding robots, fixture handling robots, and seven-axis handling robots based on the production line map. The production line map can be a global image information used to describe information such as production line layout, equipment location, and material flow path. For example, please refer to Figure 7 , which includes an automatic gluing bracket 1, a front floor storage position 2, a front floor component waiting position 3, a front floor handling robot 4, a welding robot 5, a front body storage position 6, a front body handling robot 7, a flexible island workstation (combination station) 8, a rear fixture storage position 9, a fixture handling robot 10, a middle fixture storage position 11, a front fixture storage position 12, a fixture handling robot 13, a next station 14, a seven-axis handling robot 15, a gripper storage position 16, a gripper switching robot 17, a welding robot 18, a rear lower body storage position 19, a rear lower body handling robot 20, an automatic grinder 21 and a front floor component waiting position 22.

[0087] Furthermore, based on the production line map, the production scheduling platform performs multi-path planning to ensure that there is no congestion, and provides a variety of processing mechanisms such as the shortest path, avoidance control and re-planning control to realize the path planning of the production line map. And through the task allocation algorithm, it supports the reasonable allocation of multiple tasks at the same time, considering various combination relationships and various robot real-time status factors, and assigns tasks to the robot that completes the task most reasonably. At the same time, dynamic task switching can also be performed. Furthermore, when the automatic guided vehicle transports materials, dynamic traffic management is adopted to dynamically manage the driving directions of various drivable roads, main roads and intersections in the production line map to avoid road congestion. And in terms of communication, the production scheduling platform will only send instructions through the interface provided by the scheduling software. For example, the production scheduling platform will only issue the task instruction of "transporting the front body assembly to the storage position of the front body", and there is no need to specifically assign which automatic guided vehicle to pass which route and other details to complete it. The specific implementation details are that the scheduling software automatically selects the most suitable automatic guided vehicle to perform the transportation task based on its built-in algorithms and rules, and returns the results of the task execution to the production scheduling platform. That is, the production scheduling platform only needs to consider its own business and does not need to pay attention to the detailed scheduling logic of automatic guided vehicles and various robots.

[0088] In the above implementation, a production scheduling platform is designed to schedule automatic guided vehicles and various robots to carry out material transportation and tooling switching, thereby ensuring the efficient operation of the assembly system, realizing unmanned production lines, reducing manual intervention, and improving production efficiency and flexibility.

[0089] It should be understood that, for the convenience of description, the above devices are described in various units according to their functions. Of course, when implementing the present application, the functions of each unit can be implemented in the same or multiple software and / or hardware.

[0090] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware.

[0091] The present application is described with reference to the flow chart and / or block diagram of the system according to the embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that each flow process and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, and the combination of the flow process and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram can be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processing machine or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for realizing the function specified in one flow chart or multiple flows and / or one box or multiple boxes of the block diagram.

[0092] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0093] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0094] It should also be noted that the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, commodity or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, commodity or device. In the absence of more restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, commodity or device including the elements.

[0095] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. Since it is basically similar to the method embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiment.

[0096] The above is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application may have various changes and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

[0097] Although the embodiments of the present application are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application, and such modifications and variations are all within the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An assembly system for a vehicle body structure, characterized in that: The assembly system includes: an automatic guided vehicle and a flexible island workstation; the flexible island workstation is surrounded by a component storage position, a component handling robot, a welding robot, a fixture handling robot and a seven-axis handling robot; The automatic guided vehicle is used to transport the components to be assembled to the component storage location; The component handling robot is used to grab the components to be assembled from the component storage position and place the components to be assembled on the first fixture of the flexible island workstation; wherein the first fixture clamps and positions the components to be assembled; The welding robot is used to weld the components to be assembled on the first fixture to obtain a welded assembly structure; The seven-axis handling robot is equipped with a first gripper, through which the welding assembly structure on the flexible island workstation is transported to the next workstation; In the case where different types of vehicle body structures need to be produced, the fixture handling robot switches the first tooling fixture to the second tooling fixture on the flexible island workstation.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that A fixture storage position is also provided around the flexible island workstation; The fixture handling robot unloads the first tooling fixture from the flexible island workstation, places the first tooling fixture at the fixture storage position, grabs the second tooling fixture from the fixture storage position, and installs the second tooling fixture to the flexible island workstation.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that The flexible island workstation is also provided with a gripper storage position and a gripper switching robot around it; When it is necessary to produce different types of body structures, the gripper switching robot removes the first gripper from the seven-axis transport robot, places the first gripper at the gripper storage position, grabs the second gripper from the gripper storage position, and installs the second gripper on the seven-axis transport robot.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position are respectively provided with cylinders for fixing the material frame and for containing any one of the components to be assembled, the fixtures and the grippers; The automatic guided vehicle is also used to tow an empty material frame away from the component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position, and to tow a full material frame to the component storage position, the fixture storage position and the gripper storage position.

5. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that The fixture handling robot is installed on the machine transport platform; The jig transport robot is driven to a position above the first fixture by translating the mechanical transport platform, and the jig transport robot is driven to the first fixture by descending the mechanical transport platform to unload and grab the first fixture; The jig handling robot is driven to a position above the jig storage position by raising the mechanical transport platform, and the jig handling robot is driven to the jig storage position by lowering the mechanical transport platform to place the first fixture, and grab the second fixture from the fixture storage position; The fixture handling robot is driven to the upper position of the flexible island workstation by translating the mechanical transport platform, and the fixture handling robot is driven to the flexible island workstation by lowering the mechanical transport platform to install the second tooling fixture.

6. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The component storage positions include a front body storage position, a rear underbody storage position, and a front floor storage position; The automatic guided vehicle is used to transport the front body structure to the front body storage position, transport the rear lower body structure to the rear lower body storage position, and transport the front floor structure to the front floor storage position.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The component handling robots include a front body handling robot, a rear lower body handling robot and a front floor handling robot; The front vehicle body handling robot is used to grab the front vehicle body structure from the front vehicle body storage position; The rear lower vehicle body handling robot is used to grab the rear lower vehicle body structure from the rear lower vehicle body storage position; The front floor transport robot is used to grab the front floor structure from the front floor storage position.

8. The system according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: An automatic gluing bracket is arranged around the front floor storage position, and is used to apply glue to the front floor structure after the front floor handling robot grabs the front floor structure; The front floor handling robot is also used to place the glue-coated front floor structure on the first fixture.

9. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: An automatic grinding device and a component waiting position are also arranged around the flexible island workstation; The automatic grinder is used to automatically grind the welding robot; The component waiting position is used to store spare assembly components; The automatic guided vehicle is used to transport the spare assembly parts from the part waiting position to the part storage position.

10. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The number of the automatic guided vehicles is multiple; the assembly system also includes a production scheduling platform; The production scheduling platform is used to perform overall scheduling of the automatic guided vehicle, the component handling robot, the welding robot, the fixture handling robot and the seven-axis handling robot based on the production line map.

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