Development of an operation library and proofs-of-concept for plug-in software within the framework of a new generation BIW assembly engineering tool

Nowadays, in the automotive industry, companies heavily rely on automated manufacturing systems: robotic lines allow to increase production rates and reduce costs of products, thus raising competitiveness by enhancing the low margin per product that characterizes the automotive sector. De facto, automation ensures high production volumes and quality, whilst avoiding human errors. Nevertheless, when employed by car-makers, automated solution providers have to face particularly structured engineering processes to deliver manufacturing lines that are up to the customer’s standards, which in turn leads to long development time and large expenses. In the sea of competitors, these disadvantages seriously hinder the capability of an automation company to win contract bids. In this context, the need has arisen for automatizing the engineering activities in order to lower the effort and costs of line development projects and boost competitiveness. In an attempt to satisfy this need, Comau S.p.A. is leading the development of a software, or System, that shall be able to accelerate engineering process times and bring down human efforts and costs. The project of this thesis specifically focuses on enabling the use of this tool, which is being developed by a third party, within Comau’s internal procedures. In particular, the thesis discusses how inputs should be correctly fed to the System and how its outputs could be manipulated so as to gain the maximum value with lowest effort.