Multi-process and multi-device automatic production line scheduling method

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-process and multi-device automatic production line scheduling method. The method comprises the following steps: S1, receiving a scheduling task; s2, confirming whether a posture conversion station for switching between manipulators exists in the scheduling task, if yes, executing, and if not, entering the step S3; s3, priorities are established for different devices in the production line according to the part machining time of the devices; s4, establishing priorities for the production processes according to a first-in first-out principle; s5, establishing priorities for different orders according to the emergency conditions of the orders; s6, obtaining a request list with the highest equipment priority, the highest process priority and the highest order priority, and sorting the request lists according to time; and S7, executing a scheduling instruction on the request with the best priority according to the time sequence. By means of the method, the part machining efficiency in the production line machining process can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of parts processing, and more specifically, to a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method. Background Art

[0002] The automated production line is a technology that uses automatic control technology and sensor technology to drive machine tools, manipulators, testing equipment and other actuators to automatically produce products. Its purpose is to improve production efficiency and reduce operating costs. As the technology of automated production lines becomes increasingly mature, the original automatic loading and unloading system with a single device and a single function has gradually developed into a complex automated production line with multiple devices, multiple processes and multiple functions. The number of processing steps completed by the workpiece in the automated production line has increased accordingly. When the scheduling logic is unreasonable, it is easy for multiple workpieces to queue up and wait for a certain processing equipment, causing production congestion, resulting in low production line utilization, long workpiece waiting time and quality risks caused by changes in processing status.

[0003] Prior art CN110738413A discloses a multi-constraint production scheduling calculation method for an automated production line for aviation parts processing, including: obtaining process information and order task information of parts to be processed on the automated production line; determining the priority of each process task in the order task information; sorting each process task according to the priority of each process task under the premise of satisfying multiple constraints; simulating the actual operation process of the automated production line in the early stage of satisfying multiple constraints to obtain a production scheduling calculation result, the production scheduling calculation result including the estimated start and end time of each process task and a task list of the equipment.

[0004] The technical solution disclosed in the prior art prioritizes process and order information to effectively improve equipment utilization and reduce task delay time. However, it does not take equipment priority into consideration. In the actual production process, there is also the problem of workpieces queuing up to wait for a certain processing equipment, causing production congestion. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method which can ensure high efficiency of parts processing during the processing of a complex production line.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method is disclosed, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0008] S1: Receive scheduling tasks;

[0009] S2: confirm whether there is a posture conversion station for transfer between manipulators in the scheduling task, if yes, execute it, if not, go to step S3;

[0010] S3: Establish priorities for different equipment in the production line based on how long it takes the equipment to process parts;

[0011] S4: Establish priorities for production processes based on the first-in, first-out principle;

[0012] S5: Establish priorities for different orders based on their urgency;

[0013] S6: Get the request list with the highest equipment priority, process priority and order priority, and sort them by time;

[0014] S7: Execute the scheduling instruction for the request with the highest priority in chronological order.

[0015] Preferably, in step S3, the equipment priorities are sorted according to the average occupancy time of each equipment required for parts processing, and the equipment with the longest occupancy time is set to the highest priority.

[0016] Preferably, when the production line includes N processing equipment responsible for processing the same process, the time it takes for the production line to process the process is: the time it takes for a single equipment to process the process divided by the number N.

[0017] Preferably, when a processing device on a production line undertakes multiple processes for a workpiece, the priority of the processing device is evaluated by calculating the sum of the time required for the multiple processes.

[0018] Preferably, the calculation formula for the average occupancy time T of the processing equipment that undertakes multiple process steps of the workpiece is:

[0019]

[0020] TI is the time required for a single device to complete a certain process, N is the process required to be processed by the device, and M is the number of devices in the automated production line.

[0021] Preferably, in step S3, among all the equipment on the production line, when there are material cache equipment and material placement equipment for material storage, the priority of the material cache equipment and the material placement equipment is lower than the priority of other processing equipment, and the priority of the material cache equipment is higher than the priority of the material placement equipment.

[0022] Preferably, in step S4, according to the sequence of processing procedures of the parts on the production line, the priority of the last procedure is defined as the highest, and the priority decreases from the last to the front.

[0023] Preferably, the process includes multiple steps, and when each step needs to be transferred between different devices, the priority of the last step is set to the highest, and the priority decreases from the back to the front.

[0024] Preferably, in step S5, when a part in the previous order has started processing but has not been completed, and an urgent order is added to the production line and the production line has entered the processing state, the process priority corresponding to the part is set to be higher than the priority of the urgent order.

[0025] Preferably, the scheduling method further comprises step S8: the intelligent robot executes the scheduling instruction for the request with the highest priority in chronological order.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] 1. By prioritizing the equipment, we can ensure that the automated production line can process parts efficiently, smoothly and reasonably. At the same time, we prioritize the processes according to the first-in-first-out principle, so that the parts can complete all the processes in the shortest time. And according to the urgency of the order, we can establish order priorities and arrange production orders reasonably to ensure the production plan scheduling, and ultimately improve the utilization rate of equipment and the operation and processing efficiency of the production line.

[0028] 2. For newly added urgent orders, the status of the current processing orders of the production line is judged, and the parts currently being processed of the current processing orders are completed first before switching to urgent orders. This effectively avoids the risks in quality and other aspects caused by long waiting times in the production line due to the unfinished parts of the previous order being processed halfway when switching between different orders. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a simplified flow chart of a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 A detailed flow chart of a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 It is a framework diagram of a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to clearly illustrate the technical features of the present solution, the present invention is described in detail below through specific implementation methods and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0033] In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0034] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0035] In this application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0036] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature "above" or "below" a second feature may be that the first and second features are in direct contact, or the first and second features are in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. 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 an appropriate manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0037] Example 1

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method is disclosed, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0039] S1: Receive scheduling tasks;

[0040] S2: confirm whether there is a posture conversion station for transfer between manipulators in the scheduling task, if yes, execute it, if not, go to step S3;

[0041] S3: Establish priorities for different equipment in the production line based on how long it takes the equipment to process parts;

[0042] S4: Establish priorities for production processes based on the first-in, first-out principle;

[0043] S5: Establish priorities for different orders based on their urgency;

[0044] S6: Get the request list with the highest equipment priority, process priority and order priority, and sort them by time;

[0045] S7: Scheduling instructions are executed for the requests with the highest priority in chronological order.

[0046] In this embodiment, the central control system serves as the control end of the production line, and the scheduling tasks are directly issued to the central control system, which operates the production line to complete automatic processing operations.

[0047] After receiving the scheduling task, the central control system first needs to determine whether there is a posture conversion station in order to improve the operating efficiency of the production line. If there is a posture conversion station for transfer between robots in the production line, in order to prevent the smooth transfer of parts between robots, the priority of such equipment is set to the highest. Setting the priority of this equipment to the highest ensures that the posture conversion station is not blocked and the parts run smoothly.

[0048] After confirmation, according to the scheduling task, confirm the processing equipment that needs to be started on the production line to complete the scheduling task. When different processing equipment processes parts in different processes, the processing time varies.

[0049] Therefore, in order to ensure that the automated production line can process parts efficiently, smoothly and reasonably, the priority is divided into equipment priority and process priority in the automated production line with multiple processes and multiple equipment. The priority of the equipment is based on the length of time it takes the equipment to process parts. The equipment with a long processing time has a higher priority than the equipment with a short processing time.

[0050] To ensure the quality of product processing, parts in the production line should complete all processing steps within the shortest processing time to reduce the impact of changes in the environment and equipment status on part processing and testing. Therefore, the first-in-first-out principle (FIFO) must be met. Correspondingly, the priority of the last process is set to the highest, and the priority decreases from the back to the front, so that the first-in-first-out of parts can be achieved. When the process contains multiple steps, and each step needs to flow between different equipment, the priority of the last step is set to the highest, and the priority decreases from the back to the front.

[0051] At the same time, the scheduling task may include multiple production tasks, and the delivery time of different production tasks is also different, that is, the urgency of the order is different. Therefore, the priority of different orders is established according to the urgency of the order.

[0052] Therefore, a list of requests with the highest equipment priority, process priority, and order priority is obtained and sorted by time. Finally, the scheduling instructions are executed for the requests with the highest priority in order of time.

[0053] This method combines equipment, processes, and order urgency to ensure the efficiency, rationality, and safety of parts processing scheduling during automated production line processing, thereby fully ensuring the utilization of bottleneck equipment in the production line and improving production line operation and processing efficiency.

[0054] Example 2

[0055] A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method is disclosed, which specifically includes the following steps:

[0056] S1: Receive scheduling tasks;

[0057] S2: confirm whether there is a posture conversion station for transfer between manipulators in the scheduling task, if yes, execute it, if not, go to step S3;

[0058] S3: Establish priorities for different equipment in the production line based on how long it takes the equipment to process parts;

[0059] S4: Establish priorities for production processes based on the first-in, first-out principle;

[0060] S5: Establish priorities for different orders based on their urgency;

[0061] S6: Get the request list with the highest equipment priority, process priority and order priority, and sort them by time;

[0062] S7: Scheduling instructions are executed for the requests with the highest priority in chronological order.

[0063] The difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 is that in order to ensure efficient, smooth and reasonable processing of parts in the automated production line, in an automated production line with multiple processes and multiple equipments, the priority is divided into equipment priority and process priority.

[0064] The equipment priority is set according to the resource shortage level of the equipment in the production line, and is sorted by the average occupancy time of each equipment required for part processing. For example, there are 3 Class A equipment in the production line, responsible for process one processing. The processing time of process one of a single part and a single equipment is 30 minutes. The cycle time of the production line when processing this process is 30 minutes / 3 = 10 minutes / piece. When this type of equipment needs to undertake multiple processes of the workpiece, the time required for all processes must be summed. The calculation formula for the average occupancy time T of the equipment in the production line is as follows:

[0065]

[0066] Among them, TI is the time required for a single device to process a certain process, N is the process required to be processed by the device, and M is the number of devices in the automated production line.

[0067] After sorting by equipment occupancy time T, the equipment with the longest occupancy time is set to the highest priority. For example, if there are three types of equipment, A, B, and C, in the production line, where the occupancy time of equipment A is 10 minutes, the occupancy time of equipment B is 8 minutes, and the occupancy time of equipment C is 9 minutes, then the priority of A, B, and C is A>C>B.

[0068] If there are posture conversion stations for transfer between robots in the production line, the priority of such equipment is set to the highest to prevent poor transfer of parts between robots.

[0069] Among all the equipment on the production line, the material buffer equipment (cache station) and material placement equipment (material warehouse) are only used for material storage, so their priority is set to the lowest. The cache station has a higher priority than the material warehouse. The material buffer equipment is specifically a device for temporarily placing materials, and the material placement equipment is a device for centrally placing materials for a long time.

[0070] The final priority of production line equipment is: posture conversion station > various processing and testing equipment > buffer station > material warehouse.

[0071] The formula is used to calculate the time that equipment needs to occupy in the automated production line, and the equipment priority is set based on the length of time the equipment needs to occupy, fully ensuring the utilization rate of bottleneck equipment in the production line, thereby achieving the highest production line operation efficiency.

[0072] When an automated production line involves processing multiple orders, you can set priorities for the orders and increase the priority of urgent orders. In this case, urgent orders will be processed first.

[0073] When there is an unfinished previous order and an urgent order is added to the production line, the production line has already entered the processing state for a part of the previous order. If the part in the previous order is directly processed after the current process is completed and then stopped, the time interval between the first and last processes of the part is too long, and changes in the machine tool status, environmental conditions, etc. are likely to cause fluctuations in part processing. At this time, setting the process priority corresponding to the part of the previous order to be higher than the order priority can ensure that the parts that have already started processing in the previous order complete all processes before processing the urgent order. Setting the process priority of the previous order before the urgent order priority ensures that the parts that have already started processing in the previous order are processed after completion before processing the high-priority urgent order, avoiding quality and other risks caused by long waiting times in the production line during part processing.

[0074] Example 3

[0075] The difference between this embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the specific scheduling of the production line is disclosed.

[0076] In the automated production line, each device sends a request for loading and unloading materials to the central control system after completing the processing. Figure 1 The logic shown calls the robot to execute material transfer instructions.

[0077] The central control system receives scheduling requests from various devices;

[0078] Determine whether it is a scheduling request sent by a robot posture conversion device. If it is a scheduling request of this type of device, the robot will execute it directly; (This judgment is not required when there are not multiple robots or no robot transfer) If it is not a posture conversion device, enter the priority judgment;

[0079] Determine whether the device priority is the highest. Filter out the scheduling request with the highest device priority among all requests and proceed to the next priority determination. If the device priority is not the highest, the request will be queued;

[0080] Get the request with the highest device priority among all requests;

[0081] Determine whether the process priority is the highest. Filter out the request with the highest process priority from the requests with the highest equipment priority and enter the next priority level judgment. If the process priority is not the highest, wait in line;

[0082] Get the request with the highest equipment and process priority among all requests;

[0083] Determine whether the work step priority is the highest. Filter out the requests with the highest priority of the equipment and process and enter the next priority judgment. If the work step priority is not the highest, wait in line; (If there is no need for the robot to transfer parts between work steps in the same process, this judgment is not required)

[0084] Get the request with the highest priority in equipment, process and step among all requests;

[0085] Determine whether the order priority is the highest. Filter out the request with the highest order priority among the requests with the highest equipment, process and step priorities. If not, wait in queue.

[0086] Get a list of requests with the highest equipment priority, process priority, and order priority, sorted by time;

[0087] The robot executes the scheduling instructions for the highest priority requests in chronological order.

[0088] When sending a scheduling request to the central control system, the scheduling request field must contain the following information: 1. Whether the robot posture changes the workstation; 2. Equipment priority; 3. Process priority; 4. Work step priority; 5. Order priority. The judgment order is 1>2>3>4>5.

[0089] Obviously, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for clearly illustrating the present invention, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other different forms of changes or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is not necessary and impossible to list all the embodiments here. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method, characterized in that: The specific steps include: S1: Receive scheduling tasks; S2: confirm whether there is a posture conversion station for transfer between manipulators in the scheduling task, if yes, execute it, if not, go to step S3; S3: Establish priorities for different equipment in the production line based on how long it takes the equipment to process parts; S4: Establish priorities for production processes based on the first-in, first-out principle; S5: Establish priorities for different orders based on their urgency; S6: Get the request list with the highest equipment priority, process priority and order priority, and sort them by time; S7: Execute the scheduling instruction for the request with the highest priority in chronological order.

2. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, the equipment priority is sorted according to the average occupancy time of each equipment required for parts processing, and the equipment with the longest occupancy time is set to the highest priority.

3. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the production line includes N processing equipment responsible for processing the same process, the time it takes for the production line to process the process is: the time it takes for a single equipment to process the process divided by the number N.

4. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When a processing device on a production line undertakes multiple processes for a workpiece, the priority of the processing device is evaluated by calculating the total time required for the multiple processes.

5. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The calculation formula for the average occupancy time T of the processing equipment that undertakes multiple processing steps of the workpiece is: TI is the time required for a single device to complete a certain process, N is the process required to be processed by the device, and M is the number of devices in the automated production line.

6. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, among all the equipment on the production line, when there are material cache equipment and material placement equipment for material storage, the priority of the material cache equipment and the material placement equipment is lower than the priority of other processing equipment, and the priority of the material cache equipment is higher than the priority of the material placement equipment.

7. The method for scheduling a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S4, according to the sequence of the processing procedures of the parts on the production line, the priority of the last procedure is defined as the highest, and the priority decreases from the last to the front.

8. A multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line scheduling method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The process includes multiple steps, and when each step needs to be transferred between different devices, the priority of the last step is set to the highest, and the priority decreases from the back to the front.

9. The method for scheduling a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S5, when a part in the previous order has been processed but not completed, and an urgent order is added to the production line and the production line has entered the processing state, the process priority corresponding to the part is set to be higher than the priority of the urgent order.

10. The method for scheduling a multi-process, multi-equipment automated production line according to claim 1, characterized in that: The scheduling method further includes step S8: the intelligent robot executes the scheduling instruction for the request with the highest priority in chronological order.

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