07/04/2024 Progress

Initially, I had a very basic and simple Gantt Chart. However, as I progressed with my project, I realized that I was doing way more than what I had initially planned. Therefore, during the past week, I edited my Gantt Chart to ensure it includes everything I have done for this project, including the report, research, NX, TIA Portal, Plant Simulation, and different testing phases. I then updated it on my website, as shown in Figure 1. Additionally, I populated the literature review section of my website to include all references I have used in my literature review/report, along with a short paragraph explaining the purpose of each reference.

Figure 1: Updated Gantt Chart

Apart from updating my website to make it fully up-to-date, I have looked into different recycling and reusing initiatives to implement into my Plant simulation. I went through different testing phases in which I:

1. Reduced time delays to investigate a different approach.

2. Improved model resemblance of MPS System and added a collection spot for each order (drain).

3. Implemented a robotic arm to place excess products into the dismantling station where the objects are separated and can later be recycled.

4. Implemented a robotic arm to send objects to be separated and later be reused in the same production line to compare both recycling and reusing initiatives.

5. Implemented a paid worker to move products from the excess order collection zone to the dismantling station to allow products to be reused in the production line. This was to compare the use of a worker to the use of a robotic arm and determine which one is cheaper to implement.

Moreover, I have been looking into ways to improve the physical/CAD model of the MPS system itself. The ideas that came to my mind were: extending the lid slide to accommodate more lids than it currently does, adding a container at the end of the conveyor line that will serve as the extra workpieces slide while keeping the three slides for orders (increasing the amount of orders that can be produced), and adding a lid sensor to identify whether a workpiece has a lid or not (this can be used to determine which workpieces go into which slide).