Machining flexible workstation and machining method

Abstract

The invention provides a machining flexible workstation and a machining method. The flexible workstation comprises a storage workstation, a robot workstation and a machine tool workstation. The storage work station is provided with a material frame, a plurality of positioning steps at equal intervals are arranged on the material frame, and materials and tools can be integrally stored in the material frame. The material rack is provided with a plurality of equidistant positioning steps, so that the robot workstation can dynamically allocate optimal positions according to the equidistant positioning steps, the storage condition of the material rack and the conditions of the trays, more materials and tools are stored in a limited space, some trays are provided with replaceable grid plates, and the material rack is more convenient to use. The robot work station can select the tray provided with the appropriate grid plate according to the information of the materials, the grid plate on the tray can be manually replaced, and therefore the storage work station can manage more kinds of objects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technical field of the present invention is the field of mechanical automation, and in particular, relates to a mechanical processing flexible workstation and a processing method. Background Art

[0002] In the field of mechanical automation, in the existing mechanical automation production lines, the automation of material grabbing and material processing have been realized. However, in the layout of related workstations, the existing mechanical automation production lines occupy a large area, and the storage layout of materials and related tooling is unreasonable, so that in actual production, when the robot workstation faces a large variety of materials and tooling, the storage of materials and the placement of tooling are unreasonable, which makes the work efficiency of the workstation not very high in actual production. Secondly, for materials of different shapes and sizes, the existing technology is more cumbersome for the storage of these materials.

[0003] For example, a flexible automated workstation for product processing raw material identification and its identification system are disclosed. The patent application number of the system is 202110557897.8. For materials of different shapes and sizes, the technical solution adopted by the patent is to replace the partitions on which the materials are placed. If there are fewer materials of a specific shape and size, the space for placing the partitions will be wasted. If there are more materials, many partitions will be needed. For some extra materials, another partition will be used to place them, which will waste storage space on the rack. In addition, in this patent, the structural design of the rack is relatively simple, and in the technical solution of this patent, the materials to be stored will not be dynamically selected according to the storage conditions of the rack, and the optimal location will not be selected for storage. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to improve the problem of large site area in existing workstations, and on this basis, optimize the storage management of existing materials and tooling, so that more different types of materials and tooling can be managed in limited space by optimizing storage management. On the basis of storage management, the design on the pallet enables the pallet to stably hold materials of different shapes and sizes. And through storage management, different tooling is installed on the material rack, so that the robot workstation can select different tooling according to different task scheduling, so that the workstation involved in the present invention can adapt to more application scenarios.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: The flexible workstation includes a storage workstation, a robot workstation or a machine tool workstation. The storage workstation is provided with a material rack, the material rack is provided with equidistant positioning steps, the material rack is integrated to store materials or tooling or a tray, and the tray is provided with a replaceable positioning grid plate. The robot workstation replaces tooling according to different tasks.

[0006] Preferably, the positioning grid plate is provided with a plurality of unit grids, and the unit grids have different shapes and sizes.

[0007] The flexible workstation can set tasks, including: warehousing tasks, which are to place materials in the material tray on the pallet, and the robot workstation selects a suitable positioning step for storage. Outbound tasks, which are based on the pallet information of the outbound materials, and the machine workstation takes the pallet out of the material rack of the storage workstation according to the position information. Processing tasks, which automatically pick up and place workpieces and tooling, and control the machine tool workstation to switch programs and complete processing.

[0008] Preferably, when placing the pallet, the robot workstation selects the optimal positioning step for storage according to the storage situation of the rack, so that the rack has the largest storage space and the most positioning steps after placing the pallet.

[0009] Preferably, the robot workstation selects a pallet with a suitable grid plate according to the size and shape of the material. The minimum circumscribed rectangle of the material's projection shape in a certain direction is compared with the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell shape, and whether the pallet with the grid plate matches the material is determined based on the comparison result.

[0010] Preferably, when processing materials, the machine tool workstation can replace the material positioning frame according to the size and shape of different materials, and the robot workstation can replace the tooling according to the size and shape of the materials and the processed materials.

[0011] Preferably, in the process of executing the warehousing task, the relevant information of the materials is input into the flexible workstation through software, and the robot workstation in the flexible workstation selects and takes out the stored pallet according to the relevant information of the input materials and the information of the grid plate connected to the stored pallet, and places the materials on the pallet after taking them out. After placement, a suitable positioning step is selected for storage according to the relevant information of the materials and the pallet.

[0012] Preferably, in the process of executing the outbound task, the robot workstation takes out the positioning step position containing the material pallet as needed and takes out the pallet from the material rack of the storage workstation to complete the outbound operation.

[0013] Preferably, in the process of executing the processing task, the robot workstation takes out the pallet from the material rack of the storage workstation according to the positioning step position of the pallet where the material to be processed is located. After this operation is completed, the robot workstation changes the tooling according to the size and shape of the material and the processed material, selects appropriate tooling to place the material in the machine tool workstation, and the machine tool workstation changes the material positioning rack according to the size and shape of the material. After this operation is completed, the machine tool workstation is controlled to process the material.

[0014] Preferably, the flexible workstation is provided with a log system, which can view the operation details and warning related information during the operation. The flexible workstation is provided with data monitoring, which can view the relevant information of the system and equipment and the operation status. The robot workstation is provided with a mechanical arm speed adjustment, which can adjust the speed of the mechanical arm of the robot workstation according to the relevant parameters set by the relevant operations performed by the flexible workstation.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: by integrating materials and tooling in the storage workstation, and the compact design of the robot workstation and the machine tool workstation makes the flexible workstation occupy a relatively small area, so that in a certain area, the flexible workstation involved in the present invention can be deployed more in the area, reducing production costs and improving production efficiency. Another beneficial effect of the present invention is that by optimizing the storage management of materials and tooling, more different types of materials and tooling can be managed in the limited space of the material rack of the storage workstation, and the equidistant positioning steps are set so that when placing other objects such as trays, it is possible to more flexibly select the optimal position for storage according to the storage situation to save the storage space of the storage workstation. Another beneficial effect of the present invention is that the appropriate grid plate can be selected according to the shape of the material and the X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size information. On the basis of storage management optimization, the storage workstation can manage more different types of materials and further optimize the storage space of the material rack. Another beneficial effect of the present invention is that it can adapt to more application scenarios. The robot workstation will change the tooling according to the type of task performed by the workstation, and can adapt to different production tasks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the flexible workstation of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 The present invention provides a method for using the flexible workstation.

[0018] Figure 3The present invention provides a method for using the flexible workstation.

[0019] exist Figure 1 In the figure, 1 is a storage workstation, 2 is a robot workstation, 3 is a pallet, 21 is a robot arm, 11 is a material rack, and 111 is a positioning step. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to illustrate the technical features of the present invention in detail, some embodiments are described in detail below.

[0021] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses a mechanical processing flexible workstation and related use methods. Figure 1 The flexible workstation of the present invention is shown in the schematic diagram, the flexible workstation includes a storage workstation 1, a robot workstation and a machine tool workstation. The storage workstation 1 is provided with a plurality of equidistant positioning steps 111, the positioning steps 111 can be used to place a pallet, the pallet can also be equipped with a material box, a grid plate and a tooling carrier, the material box can be used to load materials.

[0022] The pallet is provided with a grid plate, and the related information of the grid plate includes the size information of the unit grid provided on the grid plate, the size information of the unit grid provided on the grid plate, the depth of the unit grid provided on the grid plate, and the interval of the unit grid provided on the grid. At the same time, the pallet is divided into three types of pallets, one is a pallet with a material box, one is a pallet with a grid plate, and the other is a pallet with a tooling body. The related information of the tooling body pallet 3, the pallet 3 with a material box, and the pallet 3 with a grid plate may be different, so when storing these pallets 3, the related information of the pallets 3 needs to be recorded and stored.

[0023] The relevant information of the pallet 3 loaded with the material box includes the load capacity of the material box and the size of the material box. The size of the material box includes the X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material box. The load capacity of the material box is the weight of the material box and the material loaded therein.

[0024] The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers includes the type of fixture, which is the type of fixture of the robot gripper in the robot workstation 2. The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers also includes the clamp height of the fixture, which is the clamp height of the fixture of the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2. The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers also includes the clamp depth of the fixture, which is the clamp depth of the fixture of the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2. The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers also includes the size of the fixture, which is the size of the fixture of the gripper of the robot workstation 2. The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers also includes the shape of the hand grip, which is the shape of the gripper fixture of the robot workstation 2. The relevant information of the pallet 3 with work carriers also includes the size of the hand grip, which is the size of the hand grip of the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2.

[0025] It needs to be further explained here that the clamp is used to interact with the pallet 3, and sockets are provided on both sides of one side of the pallet 3, so that the plug plates provided on both sides of the clamp can enter the two sockets of the pallet 3. For the different pallets 3, according to the materials loaded, the material box loaded with materials and the pallet 3 loaded with workpieces, the spacing and depth of the sockets of the pallet 3 are not equal. At this time, it is necessary to select a suitable clamp to interact with the pallet 3 according to the spacing and depth of the two sockets in the pallet 3 loaded with materials, the pallet 3 loaded with material boxes and the pallet 3 loaded with workpieces, and then according to the size of the clamp on the material rack 11, the clamp's clamp depth and the clamp's clamp height. The hand gripper can be used to grab materials. In the actual production process, the shape and size of the materials to be grabbed will change. If in a certain production task, it is necessary to grab several grids of materials of different shapes and sizes, if the gripper is not replaced at this time, the shape and size of the hand gripper may cause damage to the materials during the grabbing process. The damaged materials may cause the quality of the processed parts to decline after being processed by the machine tool workstation, thereby reducing the yield rate in the production process.

[0026] It is also possible that materials of specific shapes and sizes cannot be grasped well, and cannot be stably placed in the machine tool workstation during the grasping process. This may also cause the material to fall during the process of being placed on the material positioning rack of the machine tool workstation, making the machine tool workstation unable to process the material and possibly causing damage to the material.

[0027] Therefore, when the gripper provided on the mechanical gripper of the robot workstation 2 processes the material, it is necessary to select a suitable gripper to grab the material according to the shape of the material, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size, and then according to the shape and size of the gripper of the storage workstation 1. It should also be noted that the process of selecting the gripper by the robot workstation 2 is automatic and does not require manual operation.

[0028] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses how the robot workstation 2 stores pallets. The robot workstation 2 is provided with a mechanical arm 21 with a replaceable fixture and a replaceable hand gripper. During the warehousing task performed by the flexible workstation, the robot workstation 2 selects a suitable pallet 3 with a grid plate according to the shape of the material to be stored and the X-axis size, the Y-axis size and the Z-axis size. According to the depth of the unit grid of the grid plate, the shape of the unit grid of the grid plate, the size of the unit grid of the grid plate and the interval of the unit grid of the grid plate, a pallet 3 with a suitable grid plate is selected to load the material. The flexible workstation selects the optimal positioning step 111 from a number of equidistant positioning steps 111 according to the storage situation of the storage workstation 1, the height of the pallet 3 after transferring the material, and the safety distance after the pallet 3 transfers the material, and places the pallet 3 loaded with the material on the optimal step.

[0029] The basis for determining the optimal step is to maximize the remaining placement space while ensuring that the pallet 3 can be stored in the rack 11 and that a safe distance is maintained for the pallet 3 .

[0030] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses a method for selecting tooling by a robot workstation. The robot workstation 2, in the process of taking out the article and placing the taken out article in the machine tool workstation for processing, selects a suitable fixture according to the spacing of the slots of the tray 3 storing the material, the depth of the tray 3 and the weight of the material in the tray 3, and takes out the tray 3. After the tray 3 is taken out, a suitable gripper is selected according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material and the size and shape of the gripper in the storage workstation 1, so that the selected gripper can well grasp the material to be processed, place it on the material positioning frame in the machine tool workstation, and control the machine tool to process the material. It should be further explained here that the machine tool workstation will select a suitable material positioning frame according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material to ensure that the processed material will not be separated from the material positioning frame during the processing, so as to ensure the stability during the processing of the material.

[0031] The following is a more detailed description of these working methods.

[0032] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses a process for storing materials. Figure 2 A method of using the flexible workstation of the present invention is shown, as Figure 2 As shown, the process is as follows: Step 1: Input relevant information of the material to be loaded on the pallet 3 into the system of the flexible workstation.

[0033] Step 2: According to the shape information, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the input material, find the matching tray 3 containing the material on the material rack 11. It should be noted here that the main search range is the tray 3 containing the material box, and the tray 3 containing the material box corresponds to the shape information, X-axis size information, Y-axis size information and Z-axis size information of the material, as well as the total weight of the material and the tray 3. If the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the input material do not match the material stored on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, the process ends and no operation is performed after the end.

[0034] Step three: call the robot workstation 2 and execute the task of clamping the pallet 3. If the call to the robot workstation 2 fails, that is, there is no response to the call to the robot workstation 2, the relevant data of the robot workstation 2 will be uploaded to the log system to facilitate subsequent relevant operators or the system to find out the cause of the failure of the robot workstation 2 based on the relevant information.

[0035] If the robot workstation 2 can be called normally, the successful call event is uploaded to the log system. After the operation is completed, step 4 is executed. Step 4 is as follows: Step 4: Find a pallet 3 with a suitable grid plate according to the shape of the material and the X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material. The purpose of finding a suitable pallet 3 is to make the grid plate on the pallet 3 with a grid plate load the material more stably, so that the material can be placed more stably on the pallet 3 during the transfer process. If there is no completely matching pallet 3 on the rack 11, select the pallet 3 with the highest degree of matching according to the needs of the relevant operator. If the pallet 3 with the highest degree of matching is not selected, the process ends. If the pallet 3 with the highest degree of matching is selected, step 5 is executed.

[0036] If there is a pallet 3 with the highest matching degree, the robot workstation 2 also executes step five.

[0037] It should be noted here that the grid plate on the pallet 3 can be disassembled and loaded, that is, the grid plate on the pallet 3 can be replaced. If there is no suitable grid plate on the material rack 11, the relevant operator can select the grid plate that best matches the material. During the loading process, the grid plate set on the pallet 3 can also be replaced with a grid plate that matches the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material, so that the replaced grid plate can better load the material to ensure that the material can be stably placed on the pallet 3 during the material transfer process.

[0038] Step 5: If there is a matching pallet 3, at this time, it is necessary to find the position of the matching pallet 3 according to the storage situation of the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1. After finding the position of the pallet 3, if at this time the clamp on the mechanical arm 21 in the robot workstation 2 matches the depth of the socket of the matching pallet 3 and the interval between the two sockets, then the mechanical arm 21 in the robot workstation 2 does not need to replace the clamp. If the clamp on the mechanical arm 21 in the robot workstation 2 does not match the depth of the socket of the matching pallet 3 and the interval between the two sockets very well, then the clamp on the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 needs to be replaced.

[0039] The replacement process is that the robot workstation 2 searches from the pallet 3 equipped with the work carrier. The information of the pallet 3 equipped with the work carrier includes the clamp depth of the fixture installed on the pallet 3, the type of fixture installed on the pallet 3, the clamp height of the fixture installed on the pallet 3 and the clamp depth of the fixture installed on the pallet 3. According to this information, a suitable fixture is found to interact with the pallet 3. After the fixture of the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 is replaced with a suitable fixture, the two side plug plates of the fixture are inserted into the socket of the matching pallet 3, so that the mechanical arm 21 in the robot workstation 2 can place the pallet 3 with a grid plate in the assembly area. The storage workstation 1 is also provided with a material placement area, and the robot workstation 2 places the pallet 3 with a material box in the material placement area.

[0040] It should be further explained here that, in the above process, the handling process of two kinds of pallets 3 is involved, one is a pallet 3 with a grid plate, and the other is a pallet 3 with a material box. During the handling process, if the depths of the sockets of the two pallets 3 and the intervals between the sockets are different, at this time, if in the process of carrying the two pallets 3, for example: if after carrying the pallet 3 with the material box, according to the interval between the sockets of the material box pallet 3 with a grid plate, and the relevant information of the depth of the sockets, it is concluded that the clamp on the robot arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 is not suitable for the device When the pallet 3 with a grid plate interacts, the robot arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 needs to replace the fixture. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the width information of the pallet 3 socket during the placement of the pallet 3 and the storage of the pallet 3. In this way, the robot workstation 2 can select a suitable fixture based on the depth of the socket of the pallet 3 with a material box and a grid plate to be transported, the width of the socket of the pallet 3 with a material box and a grid plate to be transported, and the depth of the socket of the pallet 3 with a material box and a grid plate to be transported, so as to ensure the stability of the pallet 3 during the transportation process.

[0041] Step six: According to the storage situation of the storage workstation 1, the height of the pallet 3 loaded with materials and the safety distance of the pallet 3 loaded with materials, the robot workstation 2 dynamically places the pallet 3 in the optimal storage position based on this information, that is, on the positioning step 111 at the optimal position. An example is given below to illustrate this.

[0042] In some embodiments, if there are these storable positioning steps 111, positioning step 1, positioning step 2, positioning step 3, positioning step 4, positioning step 5, positioning step 6, positioning step 7 and positioning step 8 are set, assuming that these positioning steps are distributed in a straight line, the storable height of positioning step 1 is 2 units, the storable height of positioning step 2 is 4 units, the storable height of positioning step 3 is 6 units, the storable height of positioning step 4 is 8 units, the storable height of positioning step 5 is 10 units, the storable height of positioning step 6 is 12 units, the storable height of positioning step 7 is 14 units and the storable height of positioning step 8 is 16 units, and positioning step 3 is equipped with a pallet 3, and the pallet 3 is equipped with materials, the height of the material and the pallet 3 is 4, and the safety distance is 2. Positioning step 6 is equipped with a pallet 3, the pallet 3 is equipped with materials, and the height of the pallet 3 equipped with materials is 3.8, and the set safety height is 2.

[0043] It can be seen from the material station storage in the storage workstation 1 that at this time, positioning step one, positioning step two, positioning step three, positioning step four, positioning step five and positioning step six cannot be used to place pallet 3. In the storage workstation 1, only positioning step seven and positioning step eight are available for storage. If the height of the pallet 3 loaded with materials to be placed is 2.2, and the safety distance is 1.3, the robot arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 places the pallet 3 on positioning step eight according to the height of the pallet 3 loaded with materials and the safety distance.

[0044] It should also be noted here that in order to complete the above steps, the robot workstation 2 has to perform tasks including outbound and inbound tasks. The setting for the outbound task is to set the pallet 3 containing the material box for outbound operation. It should be noted here that the shape of the material contained in the pallet 3 containing the material box, the X-axis dimension, the Y-axis dimension and the Z-axis dimension are set to set the outbound task for the corresponding pallet 3. As for the outbound setting of the pallet 3 with a grid plate, when performing the outbound setting of the pallet 3 with a grid plate, it is first necessary to select the pallet 3 with a suitable grid plate from the material rack 11 of the workstation to perform the outbound task. After these operations are completed, wait for the assembly process to end, and then perform the inbound task for the pallet 3 with assembled materials.

[0045] That is, to complete the above steps, what needs to be set is, first, the shape and size of the material, and secondly, the outbound task of the material box containing the material of the shape and size. According to the shape and size of the material, a pallet 3 with a suitable grid plate is selected, and the outbound task is performed on the pallet 3. Furthermore, after waiting for the assembly process, the warehousing task needs to be set according to the height and safety distance of the pallet 3 containing the material. In the process of performing the warehousing task, the robot workstation 2 selects the optimal position of the positioning step 111 for placement according to the height and safety distance of the pallet 3 containing the material.

[0046] It should also be noted that the matching process of the material and the grid plate is as follows: First, for the bottom of the material, if the material is a rectangular bottom with a square shape, and the X-axis size and Y-axis size are 0.1, the Z-axis size is 0.5, and the number is 50, then it is necessary to select a grid plate with an X-axis slightly larger than 0.1 and a Y-axis slightly larger than 0.1 and a certain depth according to the X-axis and Y-axis size and shape of the bottom of the material. By selecting a matching grid plate and the number of unit grids is 50, the grid plate can better load the material.

[0047] If the material has a special shape, that is, the material is spherical and the radius of the material is 0.1, then the directions corresponding to the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis are set first, and the shape of the Z-axis projection is used as the reference, that is, the shape of the sphere projected in the Z-axis direction is a circle. At this time, it is necessary to select a unit grid on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1 that is circular and has a radius slightly larger than 0.1, and it is necessary to select a suitable depth according to the Z-axis size of the material so that the grid plate can stably load the material.

[0048] If there is no grid plate matching the material on the shelf 11 of the storage workstation 1 at this time, the following operations may be performed: One operation is to manually replace the grid plate, that is, when the robot arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 places the grid plate in the material assembly area, the relevant operator can manually replace the grid plate set on the pallet 3 according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material to be assembled. The purpose of this is that if the most suitable grid plate on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1 cannot assemble the material well, manually replacing the grid plate at this time is equivalent to taking out a layer of insurance to reduce the probability of accidents during the production process.

[0049] The other operation is to calculate the minimum circumscribed rectangle based on the projection shape and size of the material in the Z-axis direction. The system will also calculate the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit grid of the grid plate provided on the tray 3 of the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1 based on the shape and size of the unit grid, and screen according to the size of the X-axis size and Y-axis size of the circumscribed rectangle of the material. The screening criteria are: The grid plate is selected according to the X-axis size and Y-axis size of the circumscribed rectangle of the material. It should be noted here that the X-axis size of the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell of the grid plate must be larger than the X-axis size of the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the bottom of the material, and the Y-axis size of the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell of the grid plate must be larger than the Y-axis size of the circumscribed rectangle of the bottom of the material. If there is no grid plate that meets the conditions at this time, the system will notify the relevant operator to replace the grid plate. If there is only one grid plate after screening according to this condition at this time, the grid plate selection process is terminated. If the number of screened grid plates is greater than 1, the following judgment can be performed according to the actual situation.

[0050] The specific process of this determination is as follows: On this basis, if there is no matching grid plate in the current production environment, a threshold value can be set for the difference between the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the bottom of the material and the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell of the grid plate. Specifically, the difference between the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell of the selected grid plate and the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the bottom of the material should be less than the threshold value. If the number of grid plates screened out according to this condition is one, the screening process is terminated and the screened grid plate is used. If the number of screened grid plates is greater than 1, the grid plate whose difference with the minimum circumscribed rectangle area of ​​the bottom of the material is closest to the threshold value is selected. If the number of screened grid plates is 0, the grid plate whose difference with the minimum circumscribed rectangle area of ​​the bottom of the material is closest to the threshold value is selected.

[0051] Through the above operations, the flexible workstation involved in the present invention can be made more flexible in the actual material loading process. There is no need to specially customize the grid plate according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of all materials, and the shape and size of the unit grid on the grid plate are also considered. The production situation of the customized grid plate is also taken into account, which has a lower production cost than the traditional workstation.

[0052] In some embodiments, the present implementation discloses a material processing flow. Figure 3 A method of using the flexible workstation of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 3 As shown, the process is as follows: Step 1: Set the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the processed material according to the process to be executed, and input the information of related tasks such as the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the processed material into the system in the flexible work.

[0053] Step 2: Search for the material to be processed on the rack 11 in the storage workstation 1 according to the input information, and search for the corresponding pallet 3 according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material to be processed and the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material loaded on the tray 3 with a grid plate. If the corresponding pallet 3 containing the material is not found on the rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, the whole process is terminated. If there is a pallet 3 containing the corresponding material on the rack 11, execute step 3. Step 3 is as follows.

[0054] Step three: call the robot workstation 2 to move the pallet 3. If the call to the machine workstation fails, the relevant data of the robot workstation 2 will be recorded in the log system of the flexible workstation. After executing this operation, the whole process ends.

[0055] If the robot workstation 2 is successfully called, a suitable fixture is selected according to the depth, spacing and width of the socket of the tray 3 containing the corresponding material. After the operation is completed, the event is recorded in the log system, and the tray 3 containing the corresponding material is placed in the pre-processing area. After the above steps are completed, step 4 is executed. Step 4 is as follows: Step 4: Select a suitable clamp or gripper according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the input material and the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the processed material. If there is a suitable clamp or gripper on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, execute step 5.

[0056] If there are no suitable clamps or grippers on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, the system will notify the relevant operators to supplement the clamps or grippers of the robot's working arm 21 on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, and then execute the process of finding suitable clamps and grippers. If there are suitable grippers or clamps, execute step five. If the system still believes that there are no suitable grippers and clamps, the system will again execute the operation of notifying the relevant operators to replace the clamps or grippers for replenishment.

[0057] Step 5: After step 4 is completed, the machine tool workstation is called. The purpose of the call is to process the material to be processed. If the call to the machine tool workstation fails, the entire process is terminated, and the relevant data of the machine tool is recorded in the log system of the flexible workstation to facilitate relevant operators to troubleshoot the machine tool workstation based on this information to facilitate the maintenance of machine tool equipment.

[0058] If the machine tool is called successfully, the machine tool workstation selects a suitable material positioning frame according to the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material to be processed to ensure the stability of the position of the processed material during the material processing. If a suitable material positioning frame is not selected during the processing, the position of the material may not be fixed during the processing, resulting in a change in the position of the processed material. At this time, the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the processed material will have a larger error than the shape, X-axis size, Y-axis size and Z-axis size of the material after the frame is set, which reduces the yield rate of the processed material, increases the production cost and reduces the production efficiency to a certain extent.

[0059] Step six: After the machine tool workstation completes processing of the materials to be processed, the robot workstation 2 places the processed materials on a pallet 3 provided with a grid plate. After all materials are processed and placed on the pallet 3, the robotic arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 replaces the fixture or gripper and selects a suitable fixture so that the robotic arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 can carry the pallet 3 containing the processed materials. After the operation is completed, the insert plates on both sides of the fixture on the robotic arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 enter into both sides of the pallet 3. At this time, the robotic arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 lifts up the pallet 3 containing the processed materials, and according to the storage situation of the storage workstation 1, the height of the pallet 3 containing the processed materials, and the safety distance of the pallet 3, the system automatically selects the optimal positioning step 111 and places the pallet 3 on the optimal positioning step 111.

[0060] It should be noted here that if in step 4, if the clamp or hand gripper is not selected according to the material to be processed and the shape of the processed material, the X-axis size, the Y-axis size and the Z-axis size, but the gripper or hand gripper is selected only according to the shape of the material to be processed, the X-axis size, the Y-axis size and the Z-axis size, then when the robot workstation 2 places the processed material on the machine tool workstation, the installed gripper or clamp can well grasp the material to be processed and place it in the machine tool workstation. After the machine tool workstation completes the material processing, the robot workstation 2 needs to place the processed material on the tray 3. If the hand gripper or clamp of the robot workstation 2 cannot grasp the processed material well at this time, it is necessary to reselect the hand gripper or clamp according to the processed material. However, the number of materials processed by the machine tool is limited. If the number of processed materials is large, the robot workstation 2 needs to frequently replace the hand gripper or clamp. In this case, the processing time will be longer and the efficiency will be lower. It will also reduce the life of the replacement end of the mechanical arm 21 of the robot workstation 2 and increase the maintenance cost.

[0061] If a suitable fixture or gripper is selected according to the material to be processed and the shape of the processed material, the X-axis size, the Y-axis size and the Z-axis size, in this process, the robot workstation 2 places the material to be processed in the machine tool workstation and processes it. After the operation is completed, the robot workstation 2 places the processed material on the tray 3 without changing the fixture or gripper. Compared with the above example, the time spent on producing the same batch of materials is less, the efficiency is higher, the consumption of the robot workstation 2 is relatively small, and the probability of a failure event is lower.

[0062] It is also necessary to further explain that in the execution of the above process, the outbound task of the pallet 3 containing the materials to be processed is mainly set. It should be noted that the pallet 3 is a pallet 3 provided with a grid plate. The processing task of the materials to be processed is also set. The main content of the processing task is to place the materials to be processed in the machine tool workstation for processing. Before the processed materials are placed in the machine tool workstation, it is necessary to select a suitable material positioning frame according to the selection of the materials to be processed, the X-axis size, the Y-axis size and the Z-axis size. The task of processed materials is also set. After the materials to be processed are processed and all the processed materials are placed on the pallet 3 provided with a grid plate, the robot workstation 2 replaces the appropriate fixture according to the type of task to be performed, and places the pallet 3 containing the processed materials on the optimal position step according to the storage situation of the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1.

[0063] During the placement process, it is necessary not only to consider the maximum storage space on the material rack 11 after the set tasks are completed, but also to consider the maximum number of positioning steps 111 that can be stored, and to consider the minimum gravitational potential energy of the pallet 3 containing materials after each task is executed. In actual production, there will be many production tasks waiting to be executed in a workstation. In this case, the pallet 3 of each production task should be placed on the optimal position step according to the weight of the pallet 3 containing materials of each production task, the height of the pallet 3 containing materials, and the safe distance of the pallet 3 containing materials, so as to ensure that the positioning steps 111 after the overall placement are maximized, the remaining storage space is maximized, and the gravitational potential energy of the pallet 3 is minimized.

[0064] For the optimization goal of maximizing the available storage space, if the height and safety distance of the pallet 3 loaded with materials are to be stored, assuming that the height of the objects to be stored is h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, and the safety distance is d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, and there are several steps that can be stored, and the information of the storage height of each step is known, then the problem can be abstracted into a dynamic programming problem, that is, satisfying the maximization of the function F(a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6) and the maximization of G(a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6), where F is the storage space after the pallets a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6 are placed, and G is the pallets 3a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6 The number of storable positioning steps 111 after storage, these functions satisfy the optimal substructure, that is, the optimal solutions to the two problems can be obtained by obtaining the optimal solutions to the subproblems. If the placement order is a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, first find the storable height corresponding to the storable positioning step 111 that is closest to the sum of the height and safety distance of the pallet 3a1 according to the height and safety distance of the pallet 3a1, or it is compactly arranged with the stored pallet 3. It should be noted that the storable height of the storable positioning step 111 found must be greater than the sum of the height and safety distance of the pallet a1. After satisfying this condition, F(a1) and G(a1) are optimal, that is, the optimal substructure of F can be expressed as max F(a1,a2,a3,a4,a5,a6)=max F(a1)+max F(a2,a3,a4,a5,a6). That is, the optimal substructure of G can be expressed as max G(a1,a2,a3,a4,a5,a6)=max G(a1)+max G(a2,a3,a4,a5,a6). Therefore, each time a pallet is placed, it is only necessary to find a pallet that can store a positioning step 111 and has a storage height greater than the sum of the height and the safety distance of the pallet 3 and the sum of the height and the safety distance, and that is closest to the sum of the height and the safety distance of the pallet 3. That is, the difference between the storage height of the positioning step 111 and the sum of the height and the safety distance of the pallet 3 is the smallest.

[0065] From the above description, it can be seen that when the pallets 3 are arranged in a compact arrangement or the difference between the storage height of the positioning step 111 and the sum of the height of the pallet 3 and the safety distance is minimized, the optimality of F and G is satisfied and has nothing to do with the order of sorting. At this time, if on this basis, the total gravitational potential energy of the stored pallets 3 is considered to be minimized, the explanation is as follows.

[0066] For the optimization goal of minimizing the gravitational potential energy of the placed tray 3, there is no optimal substructure. Because the placement order is a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, and the weight relationship is a1 < a2 < a3 < a4 < a5 < a6. If a1 is placed first to minimize the gravitational potential energy, then a1 will be placed on the lowest available storage positioning step 111. After this placement, the tray a2 will be placed on the second lowest available storage positioning step 111, and so on. Finally, a6 will be placed on the highest available storage positioning step 111.

[0067] From the rearrangement inequality, it can be known that at this time, the total gravitational potential energy of the tray 3 is the largest, and the robot workstation 2 will consume more energy during the handling process.

[0068] According to the rearrangement inequality, if for a set of numbers b1, b2, b3, b4,....., bn, and for a set of numbers a1, a2, a3, a4,....., an, and the magnitudes of these numbers increase in sequence, then the minimum value of the function T(b1, b2, b3, b4,....., bn, a1, a2, a3, a4,....., an) is T = a1*b n + a2*b n-1 + a3*b n-2 +....+ a n *b1 (it should be noted that T = ∑ i，j a i *b j , when the range of i is only from 1 to 2, T = a1*b2 + a2*b1 or T = a2*b2 + a1*b1), that is, the tray 3 with a larger weight is placed at a lower position, and the tray 3 with a smaller weight is placed at a higher position. If arranged from high to low in this way, because as long as the trays 3 can be arranged compactly with each other, then the optimality of the above functions F and G can be satisfied. On this basis, the positioning step 111 with a higher height places the tray 3 with a smaller weight, and the positioning step 111 with a lower height places the tray 3 with a larger weight, then the optimality of the function T can be satisfied, that is, to achieve the optimality of the three objective functions F, G, and T, only two points need to be considered during the placement process. The first point is that the placed trays 3 should be arranged compactly. The second point is that the positioning step 111 with a higher height places the tray 3 with a smaller weight, and the positioning step 111 with a lower height places the tray 3 with a larger weight. Considering these two points can make the three objectives optimal, that is, the storage space after placement is the largest, the number of positioning steps 111 after placement is the largest, and the total gravitational potential energy of the tray 3 after placement is the smallest. The following is illustrated by an example.

[0069] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses how to optimize the storage of materials according to multiple set tasks. The system is provided with production task one, production task two, production task three, production task four, production task five, production task six, production task seven and production task eight, wherein the pallet 3 corresponding to production task one has a height of 2.1, a safety distance of 0.8, and a weight of 50 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task two has a height of 5.1, a safety distance of 1.1, and a weight of 60 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task three has a height of 6.3, a safety distance of 1.6, and a weight of 38 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task four has a height of 2.7, a safety distance of 1.15, and a weight of 65 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task four has a height of 2.1, a safety distance of 1.7, and a weight of 80 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task five has a height of 3.2, a safety distance of 2.1, and a weight of 90 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task six has a height of 1.9, a safety distance of 0.3, and a weight of 75 units. The height of pallet 3 corresponding to production task seven is 3.7, the safety distance is 1.3, and the weight is 40 units. The height of pallet 3 corresponding to production task eight is 4.1, the safety distance is 1.4, and the weight is 45. There are three columns of storage space on the material rack 11 in the storage workstation 1, namely the first column storage space, the second column storage space and the third column storage space, wherein the first column storage space has 50 equidistant positioning steps 111, and the starting height is 50, and the height difference between each adjacent positioning step 111 is 2. The second column storage space has 75 equidistant positioning steps 111, the starting height is 30, and the height difference between each adjacent positioning step 111 is 2. The third column storage space has 50 equidistant positioning steps 111, and the starting height is 50. It should also be noted here that the serial number of each column of steps is counted from low to high. For example, taking the first column of steps as an example, the positioning step 111 at the lowest position is taken as the starting point, and its number is 1. The highest position is taken as the end point, which is numbered 25, and the highest point in each column can store a height of 2.

[0070] And the storage situation of the first column storage space is that the positioning step 23 stores a pallet 3 with a height of 3.7 and a safety distance of 1.9, and the positioning step 19 stores a pallet 3 with a height of 6.1 and a safety distance of 1.3. The positioning step 17 stores a pallet 3 with a height of 2.3 and a safety distance of 1. The positioning step 1 stores a pallet 3 with a height of 5.1 and a safety distance of 1.7. According to the above situation, it can be known that at this time, the positioning steps 41 to 4 of the first column storage space can be stored, and the maximum height is 132 and the minimum height is 58.

[0071] The storage situation of the second column of storage space is that positioning step 72 stores pallets 3 with a height of 6.3 and a safety distance of 1.4. Positioning step 71 stores pallets 3 with a height of 0.7 and a safety distance of 1.2. Positioning step 67 stores pallets 3 with a height of 6.7 and a safety distance of 1.1. Positioning step 63 stores pallets 3 with a height of 5.7 and a safety distance of 1.7. Positioning step 1 stores pallets 3 with a height of 2.1 and a safety distance of 1.5. Positioning step 3 stores pallets 3 with a height of 7.1 and a safety distance of 2.7. Positioning step 8 stores pallets 3 with a height of 2.3 and a safety distance of 1.1. Based on the above situation, it can be known that positioning steps 62 to 10 can store pallets, and the maximum height is 154 and the minimum height is 50.

[0072] The storage space situation in the third column is that positioning step 47 stores pallets 3 with a height of 5 and a safety distance of 1.9. Positioning step 45 stores pallets 3 with a height of 1.7 and a safety distance of 1.5. Positioning step 40 stores pallets 3 with a height of 6.4 and a safety distance of 2.6. Positioning step 37 stores pallets 3 with a height of 3.9 and a safety distance of 1.1. Positioning step 1 stores pallets 3 with a height of 6.2 and a safety distance of 1.7. Positioning step 5 stores pallets 3 with a height of 3.1 and a safety distance of 2.5. Positioning step 8 stores pallets 3 with a height of 4.9 and a safety distance of 1.6. According to the above storage situation, positioning steps 36 to 11 can store pallets, and the maximum height is 122 and the minimum height is 72.

[0073] And because the system sets the following production tasks one to eight, and the pallet 3 corresponding to production task one has a height of 2.1, a safety distance of 0.8, and a weight of 50 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task two has a height of 5.1, a safety distance of 1.1, and a weight of 60 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task three has a height of 6.3, a safety distance of 1.6, and a weight of 38 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task four has a height of 2.7, a safety distance of 1.15, and a weight of 65 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task four has a height of 2.1, a safety distance of 1.7, and a weight of 80 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task five has a height of 3.2, a safety distance of 2.1, and a weight of 90 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task six has a height of 1.9, a safety distance of 0.3, and a weight of 75 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task seven has a height of 3.7, a safety distance of 1.3, and a weight of 40 units. The pallet 3 corresponding to production task eight has a height of 4.1, a safety distance of 1.4, and a weight of 45.

[0074] From the above information, it can be known that if the pallets 3 corresponding to the production tasks are arranged from small to large according to their weight, and the optimal position positioning step is selected starting from the production task corresponding to the pallet 3 with the smallest weight, and the optimal position step is selected to end with the pallet 3 with the largest weight, and the optimal position is selected according to the height of the positioning step and the storage space, and the pallets 3 placed are arranged compactly, and the positioning step with the lowest height is selected each time from large to small weight, so that the above three optimization objectives F, G, and T functions can be guaranteed to be optimal. The order of production tasks according to the weight of pallet 3 from small to large is: pallet 3 corresponding to production task three, pallet 3 corresponding to production task seven, pallet 3 corresponding to production task eight, the weight of pallet 3 corresponding to production task one, the weight of pallet 3 corresponding to production task two, the weight of pallet 3 corresponding to production task six, the weight of pallet 3 corresponding to production task four, and the weight of pallet 3 corresponding to production task five. The process of the system assigning the optimal position to the pallet 3 of the production task is as follows: First, consider production task five. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task three is 6.3, the safety distance is 1.6, and the weight is 90. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 58, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 4. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 154, the minimum height is 50, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 10. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is the positioning step 10 in the second column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task five is stored on the positioning step 10 in the second column storage space.

[0075] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the second column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 154, the minimum height is 58, and the positioning steps 62 to 14 can be stored. The storage situation of the first column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0076] Next, consider production task four. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task four is 2.1, the safety distance is 1.7, and the weight is 80. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 58, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 4. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 154, the minimum height is 28, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 14. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is the positioning step 14 in the second column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task four is stored on the positioning step 14 in the second column storage space.

[0077] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the second column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 154, the minimum height is 62, and the positioning steps 62 to 16 can be stored. The storage situation of the first column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0078] Next, consider production task six. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task six is ​​1.9, the safety distance is 0.3, and the weight is 75. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 58, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 4. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 154, the minimum height is 62, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 16. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 4 in the first column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task five is stored on the positioning step 4 in the first column storage space.

[0079] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the first column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 132, the minimum height is 62, and positioning steps 41 to 6 can be stored. The storage situation of the second column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0080] Next, consider production task 2. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task 2 is 5.1, the safety distance is 1.1, and the weight is 60. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 62, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 6. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 124, the minimum height is 62, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 16. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 6 in the first column storage space, so the pallet 3 of production task 2 is stored on the positioning step 6 in the first column storage space.

[0081] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the first column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 132, the minimum height is 70, and the positioning steps 41 to 10 can be stored. The storage situation of the second column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0082] Next, consider production task one. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task one is 2.1, the safety distance is 0.8, and the weight is 50. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 70, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 10. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 124, the minimum height is 62, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 16. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 16 in the second column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task one is stored on the positioning step 16 in the second column storage space.

[0083] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the second column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 154, the minimum height is 66, and the positioning steps 62 to 18 can be stored. The storage situation of the first column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0084] Next, consider production task eight. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task eight is 4.1, the safety distance is 1.4, and the weight is 45. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 70, and the number of steps that can be stored is 41 to 10. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 124, the minimum height is 66, and the number of steps that can be stored is 62 to 18. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the number of steps that can be stored is 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 18 in the second column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task eight is stored on the positioning step 18 in the second column storage space.

[0085] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the second column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 154, the minimum height is 72, and the positioning steps 62 to 21 can be stored. The storage situation of the first column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0086] Next, consider production task seven. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task seven is 3.7, the safety distance is 1.3, and the weight is 40. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 70, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 10. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 124, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 21. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 10 in the first column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task seven is stored on the positioning step 10 in the first column storage space.

[0087] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the first column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 132, the minimum height is 76, and the positioning steps 41 to 13 can be stored. The storage situation of the second column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0088] Next, consider production task three. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task three is 6.3, the safety distance is 1.6, and the weight is 38. From the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 76, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 13. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 124, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 21. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. According to the above storage situation, the minimum height is on the positioning step 11 in the third column storage space, so the pallet 3 of the production task seven is stored on the positioning step 11 in the first column storage space.

[0089] After the operation is completed, the storage situation of the third column storage space changes, that is, the maximum height is 122, the minimum height is 80, and the positioning steps 36 to 15 can be stored. The storage situation of the second column storage space and the third column storage space remains unchanged.

[0090] The above process is a system of a flexible workstation involved in the present invention, in which a dynamic position allocation process is provided for several production tasks. In the process of dynamic position allocation, the storage space after the material rack 11 of the flexible workstation involved in the present invention is placed, the maximization of the number of positioning steps and the minimization of gravitational potential energy are taken into consideration. By optimizing these three goals, the production efficiency of the flexible workstation involved in the present invention is higher.

[0091] If the weight difference of pallets 3 between the production tasks set by the system is not very large, then during the handling process, only the difference between the storage height of the positionable step and the sum of the height of the pallet 3 and the safety distance is considered, that is, during each handling of the pallet 3, the step at the optimal position is found to meet the following conditions: The storage height of the tray 3 is greater than the sum of the height of the tray 3 and the safety distance.

[0092] The value of the storage height of the pallet 3 minus the sum of the height of the pallet 3 and the safety distance is the smallest.

[0093] After selecting this location, the storage space of the storage space is maximized.

[0094] Take pallet 3 corresponding to production task 5 as an example: In some embodiments, the present embodiment discloses a method for storing materials with the minimum gravitational potential energy. The height of the pallet 3 corresponding to production task five is 6.3, the safety distance is 1.6, and the weight is 90. Taking the above data as an example, from the storage situation of the first column storage space, the maximum height of the first column storage space is 132, the minimum height is 58, and the steps that can be stored are 41 to 4. From the storage situation of the second column storage space, the maximum height of the second column storage space is 154, the minimum height is 50, and the steps that can be stored are 62 to 10. From the storage situation of the third column storage space, the maximum height of the third column storage space is 122, the minimum height is 72, and the steps that can be stored are 36 to 11. Therefore, the storage height of the positioning step 37 in the first column storage space, the positioning step 58 in the second column storage space, and the positioning step 32 in the third column storage space are all 8, which is closest to the sum of the height of the pallet 3 and the safety distance. If the positioning step 37 in the first column storage space is selected, the remaining height is 66. If the positioning step 58 is selected in the second column storage space, the remaining height is 96. If the positioning step 32 is selected in the third column storage space, the remaining height is 42. Therefore, the system selects the positionable step 58 as the optimal position positioning step for storage, and the storage of the trays 3 of other production tasks is similar.

[0095] In some embodiments, this embodiment discloses how the robot workstation 2 adjusts the speed of the robot arm 21 and the monitoring system according to the task. The robot workstation 2 will also adjust the speed of the robot arm 21 according to the type of task. For example, in the task of carrying fragile items or precision parts, the robot arm 21 will operate at a slower speed to avoid damage to the workpiece. In some rapid disassembly or assembly tasks, the robot arm 21 can complete the action at a faster speed, thereby shortening the cycle time of the entire manufacturing process. In addition, the robot workstation 2 can also intelligently adjust the speed of the arm according to the weight, size and other characteristics of the workpiece. For heavier or larger workpieces, the robot arm 21 will slow down appropriately to ensure the stability and safety of the handling. Secondly, the flexible workstation is equipped with a monitoring system, which can be used to monitor the operation of the storage workstation 1, the robot workstation 2 and the machine tool workstation. The system can also be viewed. This monitoring system can monitor the operation status of each key link such as the storage workstation 1, the robot workstation 2 and the machine tool workstation in real time. Operators can view key indicators such as operating parameters, equipment status, product quality, etc. of each workstation through the monitoring system interface, and promptly detect and handle abnormal situations.

[0096] At the same time, the monitoring system can also provide overall system status data, allowing managers to fully understand the operation of the production line. Based on this data, they can optimize production plans, resource allocation, etc., and continuously improve the efficiency and flexibility of the manufacturing process.

[0097] The present invention deeply explains its purpose, technical scheme and beneficial effects through specific embodiments, but these embodiments are only used as examples to show the application mode of the invention and do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present invention. We explicitly point out that any reasonable modification, equivalent substitution or technical improvement under the guidance of the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. This means that as long as these changes do not deviate from the core idea and basic function of the invention, they should be protected by patent rights. The scope of protection of the present invention should be broad, including all direct and obvious variants and non-obvious innovations that technical experts can reasonably deduce based on the disclosure of the present invention. This broad protection is intended to promote further research and development based on the present invention, while ensuring that its innovation and practicality are fully protected by law.

Claims

1. A flexible machining workstation, characterized in that: The flexible workstation comprises a storage workstation (1) or a robot workstation (2) or a machine tool workstation; the storage workstation (1) is provided with a material rack (11), the material rack (11) is provided with equidistant positioning steps (111), the material rack (11) is integrated with storage materials or tooling or a tray (3), and the tray (3) is provided with a replaceable positioning grid plate; the robot workstation (2) replaces tooling according to different tasks.

2. A mechanical processing flexible workstation according to claim 1, characterized in that: The positioning grid plate is provided with a plurality of unit grids, and the unit grids have different shapes and sizes.

3. A machining method for a flexible workstation, characterized in that: The flexible workstation can set tasks, and the set tasks include: warehousing tasks, wherein the warehousing tasks are to place materials in a material tray on a pallet (3), and the robot workstation (2) selects a suitable positioning step (111) for storage; outbound tasks, wherein the outbound tasks are based on the pallet (3) information of the outbound materials, and the machine workstation (2) takes the pallet (3) out of the material rack (11) of the storage workstation according to the position information; and processing tasks, wherein the processing tasks automatically pick up and place workpieces and tooling, and control the machine tool workstation to switch programs and complete processing.

4. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to claim 3, characterized in that: When placing the pallet (3), the robot workstation (2) selects the optimal positioning step (111) for storage according to the storage conditions of the material rack (11), so that the material rack (11) after placing the pallet (3) has the largest storage space and the largest number of positioning steps (111).

5. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The robot workstation (2) selects a tray (3) provided with a suitable grid plate according to the size and shape of the material; compares the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the projection shape of the material in a certain direction with the minimum circumscribed rectangle of the unit cell shape, and determines whether the tray (3) provided with the grid plate matches the material according to the comparison result.

6. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: When processing materials, the machine tool workstation can replace the material positioning frame according to the size and shape of different materials, and the robot workstation (2) can replace the tooling according to the size and shape of the material and the processed material.

7. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: In the process of executing the warehousing task, the relevant information of the material is input into the flexible workstation through software, and the robot workstation (2) in the flexible workstation selects and takes out the stored pallet (3) according to the relevant information of the input material and the information of the grid plate connected to the stored pallet (3), and places the material on the pallet (3) after taking it out. After the placement is completed, a suitable positioning step (111) is selected for storage according to the relevant information of the material and the pallet (3).

8. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: In the process of executing the outbound task, the robot workstation takes out the positioning step (111) containing the material tray (3) as required and takes out the tray (3) from the material rack (11) of the storage workstation (1) to complete the outbound operation.

9. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: In the process of executing the processing task, the robot workstation (2) takes out the tray (3) from the material rack of the storage workstation according to the position of the positioning step (111) of the tray where the material to be processed is located. After this operation is completed, the robot workstation (2) changes the tooling according to the size and shape of the material and the processed material, selects a suitable tooling to place the material in the machine tool workstation, and the machine tool workstation changes the material positioning rack according to the size and shape of the material. After this operation is completed, the machine tool workstation is controlled to process the material.

10. A machining flexible workstation processing method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: The flexible workstation is provided with a log system, which is capable of viewing operation details and warning-related information during the execution of the operation; the flexible workstation is provided with data monitoring, which is capable of viewing relevant information about the system and equipment as well as the operating status; the robot workstation (2) is provided with a mechanical arm (21) speed adjustment, and the mechanical arm (21) speed adjustment is capable of adjusting the speed of the mechanical arm (21) of the robot workstation (2) according to relevant parameters set for the relevant operations performed by the flexible workstation.

Images