Cognition-Enhanced, Self-optimizing Assembly Systems

Due to shorter product lifecycles and a rising demand for customization, flexibility and adaptability of assembly processes will become key elements in achieving sustainable success of industrial production in high-wage countries. Cognition-enhanced self-optimization as presented in this chapter has been identified as one major contributor to the enhancement of this flexibility and adaptability. The proposed approach to realize cognition-enhanced self-optimization for assembly systems in a broad range of application domains is to integrate dynamic behavior allowing reactions on disturbances and unforeseen events by dynamically adapting the target objectives of internal control loops. Unlike the approach of traditional closed control loops in which target objectives of an optimization process are determined in advance, this approach defines goal functions as dynamically adaptable throughout the process. The chapter concludes with two application examples—one dealing with the assembly of large-scale components (airplane structures) and the other with small component assembly (micro-optical elements)—presented to illustrate the industrial deployment of self-optimization for assembly tasks.