Advancements of the KUCIM automated flexible manufacturing workstation

Incremental automation, i.e. adding capabilities over time, is an alternative for small mannfacturers to large scale automation projects as a method of achieving automated manufacturing. As an example of incremental automation, the University of Kansas Computer Integrated Manufacturing (KUCIM) workstation has developed over time into an unmanned flexible machining workstation. Presently, the workstation contains a Hurco three-axis milling machine, an American Robot six-axis robot, a Sun 4/260, a versatile fixturing system, an IBM PC-AT compatible computer, and an interface between the milling machine and PC. The control architecture is based on the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Automated Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) manufacturing control hierarchy. The workstation controller employs three software modules: the Supervisor, the Robot Foreman, and the Fixture/Machine Tool Foreman. At the equipment level, two modules are used: the Robot Command Interpreter and the Fixture/Machine Tool Command Interpreter. The three functions that the KUCIM workstation performs to produce parts are: processing an input file, performing tool zeroing and performing machining cycles.