Flexible parts feeding for flexible assembly

A key obstacle to the economic application of flexible automation is parts feeding. Traditionally, dedicated devices such as vibratory bowl feeders have performed parts feeding. Such devices have a high cost, and are dedicated to a single component geometry and, consequently, the number of dedicated feeders required for a planned variety of products is equal to the number of distinct part types. This results in a high capital cost that can only be justified in a dedicated mass production environment, where there are long production runs and few product changes. Dedicated feeding methods are also usually too inflexible for robotic assembly systems where there is a wide range of component types in small batches being produced at lower rates. Flexible feeders capable of feeding many different part types are now commercially available but they are invariably large and costly. This paper describes a compact, low cost belt feeder prototype based on Pherson et al.'s (1983) concept but, which is capable of feeding complex geometries using modern sensor technology for part recognition, a standard non-active orientation blade, and a novel method for handling cylindrical parts.