Implementing Swarm Production System with Multi-Robot Simulation

Abstract

Swarm Production is a novel paradigm promoting a high degree of flexibility in material flow and reconfigurability in shop floor layout, enabling high-mix production in manufacturing through the induction of autonomous robots. The conceptual description promises a leap within smart manufacturing and the Industry 4.0 domain. Implementing this theoretical concept becomes crucial to the self-organising production domain and gradually learning the relevant technological stack, optimisation methods, objective functions, and shop floor constraints needed for Swarm Production. This research paper addresses the challenges of the simulation of autonomous mobile robots in the production environment and concludes with an exemplified case simulation. A simulation testbed visually demonstrates the concept with planning, scheduling and control systems, providing their feasibility and reliability.