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This paper describes the development of an automated production system recently completed by the Martin Marietta Aerospace Division, Orlando, Florida, for the assembly, inspection and test of printed circuit boards. The project began in January 1981 with the purpose of increasing the then existing production capability and to create the building block for the total automation of the printed circuit board assembly area of the plant in Ocala, Florida. The system was implemented using a combination of off the shelf equipment modified and integrated to create a single production system. The system employs much of the new production philosophies tailored to meet the particular needs of Martin Marietta and to fulfill present production requirements as well as future production projections. During the development and implementation of this project, flexibility within the team was required to accommodate for the unforeseen problems which surfaced. The actual work required to perform this task far exceeded the expectations of the team and the company. This document covers all facets of this project, from inception to operation, and describes the problems encountered and lessons learned throughout the project.

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING / Includes bibliographical references. / by Michael P. Hennessey. / M.S.

This work develops optimal assembly sequences for modular building blocks. The underlying concept is that an automated device could take a virtual shape such as a CAD file, and automatically decide how to physically build the shape using simple, identical building blocks. This entails deciding where to place blocks inside the shape and generating an efficient assembly sequence that a robot could use to build the shape. The blocks are defined in a general, parameterized manner such that the model can be easily modified in the future. The primary focus of this work is the development of methods for generating assembly sequences in a time-feasible manner that ensure static stability at each step of the assembly. Most existing research focuses on complete enumeration of every possible assembly sequence and evaluation of many possible sequences. This, however, is not practical for systems with a large number of parts for two reasons: (1) the number of possible assembly sequences is exponential in the number of parts, and (2) each static stability test is very time-consuming. The approach proposed here is to develop a multi-hierarchical rule-based approach to assembly sequences. This is accomplished by formalizing and justifying both high-level and mid-level assembly rules based on static considerations. Application of these rules helps develop assembly sequences rapidly. The assembly sequence is developed in a time-feasible manner according to the geometry of the structure, rather than evaluating statics along the way. This work only evaluates the static stability of each step of the assembly once. The behavior of the various rules is observed both numerically and through theory, and guidelines are developed to suggest which rules to apply. A secondary focus of this work is to introduce methods by which the inside of the structure can be optimized. This structure optimization research is implemented by genetic algorithms that solve the multi-objective optimization problem in two dimensions, and can be extended to three dimensions.

Bibliography: leaves 172-184. / xx, 278 leaves : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / An analytical approach to the integrated problems of designing the dynamic cellular manufacturing systems layout concurrently with its material flow (handling) requirements, in such a manner that minimises the material handling within the system. The proposed strategy encourages the design of a dynamic layout to identify simultaneously the machine groups, economical machine distribution, and intracell and intercell layouts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001?

Bibliography: leaves 172-184. An analytical approach to the integrated problems of designing the dynamic cellular manufacturing systems layout concurrently with its material flow (handling) requirements, in such a manner that minimises the material handling within the system. The proposed strategy encourages the design of a dynamic layout to identify simultaneously the machine groups, economical machine distribution, and intracell and intercell layouts.