The field of robotics is becoming increasingly more important and consequently, students need better tools to gain knowledge and experience with them. The University of Skövde was interested in developing a learning tool focused on a virtual simulation of mobile robots. Despite the fact that there are several programmes to create this tool, MATLAB was preferable because of its strong presence in educational institutions. The objectives were oriented towards testing different robot kinematics in an adjustable virtual 3D environment. Moreover, the simulation needed a part in which future users could design own algorithms in order to control the AGVs. Therefore, sensors such as LIDAR sensors were necessary to enable a possible interaction between the robot and the scenario created. This project was developed with a previous study and a comparison of some MATLAB projects and tools. After that, the scenario and the simulation were produced. As a result, a virtual simulation has been created emphasising that the user could modify and adapt multiple parameters such as the size of the AGV, the form of the virtual environment or the selection of forward or inverse kinematics in order to develop different types of algorithms. Other features can be adjusted manually such as the type or number of sensors as well as SLAM conditions. Finally, this thesis was conducted to give a basis about mobile robots and to be a first step for operating with real robots. The simulation also provides an easy to use interface in which students can keep working in it through the introduction of new applications related to image processing or more sophisticated algorithms and controllers.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate different control strategies on a differential drive vehicle. The vehicle should be able to drive in turns at high speed and slowly when it should park next to a charger. In both these cases, good precision in both orientation and distance to the path is important. A PID and an LQ controller have been implemented for this purpose. The two controllers were first implemented in a simulation environment. After implementing the controllers on the system itself, tests to evaluate the controllers were made to imitate real-life situations. This includes tests regarding driving with different speeds in different turns, tests with load distributions, and tests with stopping accuracy. The existing controller on the system was also tested and compared to the new controllers. After evaluating the controllers, it was stated that the existing controller was the most robust. It was not affected much by the load distribution compared to the new controllers. However, the LQ controller was slightly better in most cases, even though it was highly affected by the load distribution. The PID controller performed best regarding stopping accuracy but was the least robust controller by the three. Since the existing controller has a similar performance as the LQ controller but is more robust, the existing controller was chosen as the best one.

Over the last years, Infineon Dresden Technologies has continuously been working on offering innovative products and enhancing the productivity of their wafer fabrication areas by increasing fab capacities as well as increasing automation in their 200 and 300 mm wafer manufacturing plants to improve productivity. One of the most important success factors is use of powerful automated material handling systems (AMHS) combined with the digitization of core processes within the whole company. Digitization supports converting a highly automated fab into a “smart fab” by horizontal and vertical integration of the internal supply chains. Within this paper, the authors provide an overview of three use cases for continuous improvement of the manufacturing process through use of automation and digitization to enhance the profitability of the semiconductor manufacturing plant.

The Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a flexible, decentralized, peer-to-peer communication middle-ware. This thesis presents a performance analysis of the DDS usage in the Toyota Smartness platform that is used in Toyota’s Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The purpose is to find if DDS is suitable for internal communication between modules that reside within the Smartness platform and for external communication between AGVs that are connected in the same network. An introduction to the main concepts of DDS and the Toyota Smartness platform architecture is given together with a presentation of some earlier research that has been done in DDS. A number of different approaches of how DDS can be integrated to the Smartness platform are explored and a set of different configurations that DDS provides are evaluated. The tests that were performed in order to evaluate the usage of DDS are described in detail and the results that were collected are presented, compared and discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of using DDS are listed, and some ideas for future work are proposed.

Studien syftade till att utreda potentialen av att införa en AGV-lösning vid inleverans av artiklar. Dessa AGV:er transporterar gods till ankommen artikels lagergång så att en manuell truck sedan kan lagerlägga godset på korrekt lagerplats. Skillnaden i genomloppstid mellan nuläget och en AGV-lösning studerades för att se om en automatiserad inleverans bidrog till en minskad genomloppstid från att artikeln var färdigbehandlad på inleveransytan tills att den låg på lagerplats. Det första experimentet var att göra en förändring i resurser där manuella resurser byttes ut mot AGV:er. Det andra experimentet var att ändra antalet tillgängliga AGV:er på lagret, där dessa varierade mellan en och fem. Det sista experimentet var att öka inleveransflödet av pallar till PN Herstadberg med 20 procent. Resultaten av de två första experimenten visade att genomloppstiden minskade från när en artikel var färdigbehandlad på inleveransen tills den låg på lagerplats när tre eller fler AGV:er användes. Resultatet för det sista experimentet visade att genomloppstiden ökade både för manuella resurser och AGV:er när fler artiklar ankom till lagret. Dock stod samma resultat kvar som tidigare, att tre eller fler AGV:er minskar genomloppstiden i jämförelse med manuella resurser. Resultatet för studien var att genomsnittstiden i nuläget för skjutstativsgods var 98,83 minuter och 222,23 minuter för V12-gods. När tre AGV:er används minskar dessa genomsnittstider till 67,87 minuter för skjutstativsgods samt till 127,04 minuter för V12-gods. Ytterligare minskning sker vid användande av fyra och fem AGV:er men denna minskning är betydligt mindre. Efter att potentialen av en AGV-lösning utretts är slutsatsen att AGV:er kan minska genomloppstiden. Antalet AGV:er som implementeras avgör om automatiseringen förbättrar genomloppstiden i jämförelse med manuella resurser. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

Logistics 4.0 describes the profound paradigm shift driven by digital transformation that poses new challenges for the logistics industry. Working conditions change significantly as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) take over material handling tasks. However, Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) between AGVs and their users, and the requirements for the design of AGV user interfaces considering the challenges of Logistics 4.0 have not yet been researched in depth. This qualitative study in collaboration with the intralogistics company FlexQube explores the perceived usability of AGV user interfaces for their users, derives usability criteria and investigates how usability affects the HMI. Research subject is the company's own AGV line. The six exploratory user interviews conducted with both customers and internal employees show the relevance of Nielsen's usability heuristics and identify overlaps with existing propositions for Human-Robot Interaction. The findings also highlight the impact of user demographics on the perceived usability and on the use of the automated features of the AGV. Also, the impact of the challenges of Logistics 4.0 is discussed. Thus, the study proposes that these four main aspects should be considered in the design of AGV user interfaces and suggests further research on the influence of usability on technology acceptance of automation.

Driven by recent technical advances, vehicle-based transportation systems in intralogistics are currently shifting from automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Unlike AGVs, AMRs are not bound to a physical or virtual track and autonomously determine their movements. While the increase in freedom for routing leads to improvements in terms of system flexibility and scalability, it also poses new challenges in terms of coordination and thus the high-performance routing behavior of an entire fleet. Accepted and widely used algorithms in the AGV field are often barely applicable to large fleets of free-ranging AMRs, while typical algorithms from the field of mobile robotics usually focus on different objectives. This thesis presents a novel concept for determining global routes, the so-called lanemap, that enables the synchronized movements of multiple free-ranging vehicles in arbitrary layouts without increasing calculation effort during online operations. The basic idea consists in creating a lanemap offline that provides the AMRs with a set of suggested global lanes from various starting positions to different destinations. On the one hand, the application of a lanemap lowers each AMRs’ individual degree of freedom. However, coordinating lanes sensibly beforehand enables short travel distances as well as a low probability of routing conflicts, which improves the performance of the entire AMR fleet on the other hand. Since the lanemap only provides an offline calculated global route as suggestion, the concept can be combined with any established online approach, such as a local conflict avoidance/resolution approach, or with in-depth coordination of all vehicle movements. This thesis presents a theoretical mathematical model and a practically applicable heuristic approach for the creation of a lanemap. As proof of concept, simulation experiments show that the heuristic is generally capable of creating lanemaps for all different kinds of layouts. Furthermore, the concept allows for the determination of customized routes for a specific fleet size and an anticipated transportation demand. Therefore, once system requirements are known, a beneficial set of lanemaps for typical constellations can be calculated in advance and integrated into routing as needed.

一、研究目的：彈性製造系統（ＦＭＳ）是近年來相當受到重視的生產系統，但如欲 使其發揮有效的生產功能，必須配合靈活的控制決策，其中，加工機排程決策與物料 搬運系統的控制決策扮演了重要的角色。本文以這兩項決策為討論的重點，希望達成 下列的目的：１）探討影響ＦＭＳ績效的重要變數有那些；２）探討加工機排程法則 與自動搬運車（ＡＧＶ）分派法則間的交互關係；３）在考慮系統狀況及目標數值之 下，決定加工機排程法則與ＡＧＶ分派法則的最適組合。 二、文獻：根據近年來國內外相關文獻顯示，對於加工機排程法則與物料搬運系統之 研究，多數採取獨立探討的觀點，不考慮二者之間的交互關係；然而實務上，此二者 的決策間具有相當密切的關係。此外，在以往的研究中，系統績效的評估多以流程時 間（FLOW TIME ）為主，但依據美國學術界在１９８６年所作實際調查結果，業者最 關心的卻為工件之準時交貨。 三、研究方法：本文建立一個一般化的ＦＭＳ模式，並採取非連續事件模擬方法來模 據系統的運作情形，藉以比較出不同決策法則所達成的系統績效。此外，並以相關分 析法求取系統績效與若干系統變數間的相關係數，藉以探討系統績效與系統變數間的 交互關係。 四、研究結果：１）影響ＦＭＳ系統績效的主要變數大致分為五類－－ＡＧＶ系統變 數、彈性加工中心（ＰＭＣ）系統變數、工件加工條件、產品需求狀況及其他影響因 素；２）經由模據分析發現：ａ）在一定工件抵達頻率下，以明顯延誤成本（ＡＴＣ ）排程法則有最佳的績效表現；ｂ）工件抵達頻率不同，則加工機排程法則與ＡＧＶ 分派法則的最適組合也隨之不同。

Le veau nouveau-né possède un rumen peu développé et non fonctionnel. Au cours des premiers mois, les fonctions digestives s’établissent, avec l’implantation du microbiote composé majoritairement de bactéries, archées et protozoaires. Les objectifs de ce travail étaient doubles : i) caractériser et comprendre la séquence d’implantation taxonomique des microorganismes du rumen chez le veau par des techniques de biologie moléculaire et de dénombrement, ainsi que la séquence de mise en place des paramètres fermentaires (AGV et ammoniac) et des activités principales enzymatiques chez le veau en périodes pré- et post-sevrage, ii) étudier l’effet de l’addition de levures vivantes sur la mise en place de cet écosystème ruminal en périodes pré- et post-sevrage. D’une part, nos travaux ont permis de confirmer qu’à la naissance, le rumen chez le veau, est dépourvu de micro-organismes, d’AGV, d’activité xylanasique et amylasique, avec un pH proche de la neutralité et un Eh fortement positif. La colonisation du rumen se fait dès la naissance, pendant les 15 premiers jours de la vie de l’animal par un microbiote complexe prédominé par les bactéries (phyla Proteobacteria et Bacteroidetes) et comprenant aussi des archées (majoritairement Methanobrevibacter). En même temps, le Eh devient fortement négatif. Ces communautés entraînent la production de produits fermentaires grâce à leurs activités enzymatiques. Entre 15 jours et le sevrage, avec l’ingestion d’aliments solides, la composition du microbiote du rumen évolue pour se rapprocher de celle de ruminants adultes, sans atteindre pour autant la maturité en termes de densités et abondances relatives. A cette période, le phylum Bacteroidetes est majoritaire, avec le genre Prevotella. Après le sevrage de légers changements apparaissent sur certains paramètres fermentaires comme les AGV sans doute en raison d’une évolution du microbiote qui devient moins diversifié et plus adapté à la dégradation d’aliments solides. L’apparition, à partir de 90 jours, des protozoaires ciliés dans le rumen semble conditionnée par la présence d’animaux adultes à proximité. A 4 mois d’âge, l’écosystème ruminal tend à devenir proche de celui observé chez les animaux adultes en matière de paramètres fermentaires, activités enzymatiques et composition taxonomique du microbiote. D’autre part, nos travaux ont permis de conclure que, avant sevrage, une supplémentation en levures vivantes (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) diminue l’ingestion de concentrés, conduit à une apparition plus précoce de la communauté des protozoaires et une plus grande densité d’archées, mais a peu d'effets sur la densité et la diversité de la communauté bactérienne, à l'exception de variations d’abondances de quelques taxa mineurs. L’apport de levures entraîne une diminution de la protéolyse, une augmentation de la proportion d'acétate ruminal et une diminution de la proportion de propionate. Au cours de la période post-sevrage, les veaux supplémentés en levures consomment plus de foin et la densité en archées est plus importante alors qu’une réduction de la diversité et de la densité de la communauté bactérienne est observée, mais accompagnée d’une augmentation de l’abondance relative des bactéries dégradant l’amidon, les pectines, les protéines et majoritairement les parois cellulaires en fonction des substrats présents dans le rumen. Ces changements sont probablement à relier aux augmentations de l'activité xylanasique et de la proportion d'acétate. L’ensemble des résultats acquis dans ce travail de thèse a permis d’apporter un certain nombre de connaissances et une meilleure compréhension de la mise en place de l’écosystème ruminal chez le veau de race laitière en périodes pré- et post-sevrage, ainsi que quelques pistes pour orienter ou améliorer cette implantation pour une meilleure maîtrise de l’élevage des veaux d’élevage. / The newborn calf has a little and non-fonctional rumen. During the first months of life, digestive functions establish, in relationship with the colonization by a microbiota mainly composed of bacteria, archaea and protozoa. This study had two objectves: i) characterize and understand the sequence of establishment of ruminal microbiota in calves by molecular biology and counting techniques abd describe the appearance of fermentation parameters (VFA and ammonia) and enzyme activities during the pre- and post-weaning periods, ii) define the effect of yeast supplementation on the establishment of the ruminal ecosystem in pre-and post-weaning periods. On the one hand, our work confirmed that at birth, calf rumen is devoid of micro-organisms, AGV, xylanase and amylase activities, with a pH close to neutrality and a strongly positive Eh. From 2 to 15 days of age, the rumen is colonized by a complex microbiota dominated by bacteria (Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla) and also containing archaea (with mainly the Methanobrevibacter genus), and Eh becomes strongly negative. These communities result in the production of fermentation products due to their enzymatic activities. Between 15 days and weaning, with the ingestion of solid food, the composition of rumen microbiota changes to become closer to that of adult ruminants without reaching maturity in term of densities and relative abundances. At this time, the phylum Bacteroidetes is predominant with the Prevotella genus. After weaning, slight differences occurs on some fermentative parameters such as VFA, probably related to a change in the microbiota that becomes less diversified and more adapted to the degradation of solid food. From 90 days, the establishment of ciliated protozoa in the calf rumen seems conditioned by the proximity with adult animals. From 4 months of age, considering fermentation, enzymatic and taxonomic composition of the microbiota, the ruminal ecosystem tends to be similar to that observed in adult animals. On the other hand, our work showed that during the pre-weaning period, the supplementation with live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) results in a lower concentrate intake, an earlier establishment of ciliated protozoa and a higher archaeal community density, but poorly affects the density and diversity of the bacterial community, with the exception of changes in abundances of some minors taxa. Yeast supplementation reduces proteolysis, increases the proportion of acetate and decreases that of propionate. During the post-weaning period, yeast supplemented calves consumed more hay, had a higher archaeal density, but a lower diversity and density of the bacterial community with an increased relative abundance of fiber, protein, starch, pectine degrading bacteria compared to control according to the substrates present in the rumen. These changes are probably related to increases of the xylanolytic activity and the proportion of acetate. Taken together, results obtained in his thesis have improved knowledge and understanding of the establishment of the ruminal ecosystem in the dairy calf in pre- and post-weaning periods, and carried some possibilities to orientate or improve the ruminal establishment for better control of calves rearing.

Industri 4.0 är idag ett omtalat koncept inom industrin som innebär att fabriker ska digitaliseras och automatiseras för att kunna uppnå effektiva produktionsfördelar. Intern transport är ett av områdena som går att automatisera där man kan ersätta de traditionella truckarna med förarlösa truckar, så kallade Automated Guided Vehicles. Syftet med arbetet var att få en förståelse för vilka faktorer som är viktiga vid implementering av självkörande truckar. För att uppnå syftet använde studien sig av följande frågeställning: • Vilka viktiga faktorer behöver man ta hänsyn till vid implementering av självkörande truckar? Genom litteraturstudie, studiebesök, empiriskt material och ostrukturerade intervjuer kom studien fram till att följande huvudrubriker med tillhörande underrubriker är viktiga faktorer att ta hänsyn till vid implementering av självkörande truckar: System/IT Underhåll Batteri och laddning Support och service Förutsättningar i produktionen Övrigt Kostnader Målet med fallstudien var att ta fram en rekommendation angående vilken leverantör som är mest lämplig för applikationen utifrån specificerade krav och behov som möjliggör implementering av självkörande truckar i Electrolux’ produktion, med avseende på att förbättra arbetsmiljö och resurseffektivitet.