This paper focuses on the design, implementation and testing of a Digital Twin (DT) application for a assembly/disassembly (A/D) flexible robotic cell (FRC) assisted by ABB robotic manipulator (RM). A 3D virtual model is implemented in Siemens NX Mechatronics Concept Designer (MCD). S7-1200 PLC is programmed in Siemens TIA Portal, for both FRC and virtual model control, the last one based on inverse kinematics computation. A centralized architecture is applied for virtual FRC implementation and validation, to enable product simulation and for the automation control of the A/D manufacturing process. As part of the DT technology, Virtual Commissioning (VC) concept is used, to increase the production and performance, by optimizing tasks and to improve the traceability, by monitoring, analyzing and tracking every aspect of all manufacturing system. Moreover, VC significantly reduces potential human risks, delays and costs associated with the real on-site commissioning. To connect the FRC's PLC controllers with the NX MCD virtual plant model and for controlling the virtual model, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) configuration and simulation strategy is adopted. Therefore Soft Commissioning approach is implemented and performed, by testing the designed PLC software and the behavior of the system using the real physical PLC. A SCADA application is also implemented, acting as a DT operator panel for process monitoring, data acquisition, analysis and visualization of the entire mechatronic system.

In the context of Industry 5.0, the attention on the manufacturing systems is shifted from an entire economic profitability to a more eco-friendly and socially integrated manufacturing environment. In achieving the sustainability necessary in Industry 5.0 an important step can be represented by reusing existing equipment. Usually, in developing new products, new equipment and systems are developed to meet the production requirements, replacing the existing equipment. In applying the sustainability paradigm, existing equipment should be repurposed and integrated in new manufacturing systems. Integration of existing equipment presents different design challenges. This integration can be applied in cases where the proposed products variety closely resemble existent manufactured products, if not include them. In this context the adaptation of a laboratory manufacturing system to a flexible manufacturing system is presented. The capabilities of the initial manufacturing system, to assemble a personalized product, are upgraded to the possibility of manufacturing an extended product variety. This is achieved by integrating in the existing manufacturing system several new equipment and capabilities. The transformation of the manufacturing system was made in two stages. First stage was concentrated on the sustainability concept and manufacturing of the new products. The second stage concentrated on the resilience of the manufacturing system developed. Resulted a flexible manufacturing system, with two production flows, capable of manufacturing a total of five derived products, each with personalizing capabilities.

Modeling, monitoring and control of a multilevel architecture for an assembly/disassembly technology (A/DT) assisted by an autonomous cyber-physical system (ACPS). The hardware architecture consists of six workstations (6-WS), A/D mechatronics line (A/DML) connected to an A/D flexible cell (A/DFC) equipped with a 6-DOF industrial robotic manipulator (IRM). ACPS has in its structure two driving wheels and one free wheel (2DW/1FW)-wheeled mobile robot (WMR) equipped with a 7-DOF robotic manipulator (RM). A mobile visual servoing system (MVSS) is mounted on the end effector of the RM. A/DT assembles two different workpieces (WP1 and WP2), while disassembly only covers products that do not meet the quality test and component recovery through ACPS. ACPS takes the components from the disassembly locations and stores them in the appropriate warehouses for reuse. Synchronized Petri nets (SPN), for assembly, and synchronized hybrid Petri nets (SHPN), for disassembly, are used for modeling and simulation. Discrete-time trajectory-tracking sliding-mode control (DT-TTSMC), for WMR displacement, inverse kinematic (IKC) for 7-DOF RM control, and image moments for MVSS positioning are used to control ACPS subsystems. The design of the A/DT served by ACPS, was subordinated to the concept of Digital twin, by integrating, interfacing and synchronizing the simulation results of the SPN and SHPN models, with real-time management in a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system located on a Remote PC (RPC). The design and real-time control of A/DT served by ACPS were made in the vision of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0.

The aim of this paper is to propose a planning techniques for the longitudinal and angular velocity profile for autonomous robot or car. This paper addresses this problem proposing a new approach that consists of introducing a velocity planning in the trajectory planner. The angular and longitudinal acceleration limits are imposed due to anti slipping constraints.

This paper presents an outdoor guidepath navigation system for autonomous mobile robots (AMR) that use permanent magnetic markers embedded in the ground. The odometric data provided by the wheel encoders is fused with the data from magnetic markers. The extended Kalman filter (EKF) was chosen for the fusion process. The AMR is equipped with a magnetic sensing ruler (MSR) developed at ISR-UC that is able to perform a robust detection of magnetic markers. The detection is based on a 3-D algorithm that includes longitudinal-fitting detection (LFD), and cross-fitting detection (CFD). Both, the LFD and the CFD are based on the least squares fitting (LSF) of the measurement data with the 3-D model of the vertical magnetic field. The experimental results with Robchair (intelligent wheelchair being developed at ISR-UC) primarily show that the detection system is robust, since it is able to detect true magnetic markers, and to eliminate noisy magnetic distortions and false markers. The design, and implementation of the navigation algorithm in the Robchair were carried out, and results are presented.