21/03/2024 Meeting Outcome and Progress

In this week's meeting with Mehnaz, I discussed my progress in the project. Beginning with my enhanced plant simulation model, displayed below, I successfully incorporated additional components to enhance its efficiency. For instance, I introduced a robotic arm to simulate its potential integration into the actual MPS system for picking up workpieces and transferring them to the dismantle station. Mehnaz highlighted an important observation regarding my use of buffers for both orders, which could lead to unrealistic scenarios where workpieces are retrieved after being placed in the orders' drain.

As a result, I plan to update the model by including one drain for each order to accurately depict the removal of collected orders. Additionally, I integrated a separate source for lids with a limited quantity, considering that the MPS system's slide accommodates only five lids. Lids separated from the workpieces are directed back to the lid source to be reused.

Moreover, I selected the IRB 1100 robot for simulation because it offers 35% faster cycle times, is space efficient, has enough reach, and has a 10% reduced carbon footprint. It is priced at approximately $30,000 with an annual operational cost of about $3,500. For the next stage of development, I plan to introduce a worker instead of the robotic arm and compare their cost efficiency and suitability for integration into the production line.

Figure: Improved Plant Simulation model with more components

Regarding my report, I have added a related works section where I mention Amazon's approach to efficiency, which involves integrating robots into their warehouses. I touched on the different types of robots they use and their functionalities. Furthermore, I mentioned how they use digital twin technology to identify bottlenecks and fix them.

After that, I created a new section talking about Siemens software that I will be using in this project, what they are used for, and which companies are utilizing them. I highlighted why they are a good choice among their competitors.

Counter to what I thought, Mehnaz urged me to start on my actual work on the project in my report. This means that now I will be focusing on mentioning my progress in NX, TiaPortal, and Plant Simulation in the report.

Overall, my supervisor was happy with my progress. However, she stated that I need to start mentioning my progress in the report because it was getting slightly late. A few more developments need to be done in my Plant Simulation model along with my Tia Portal code to bring me a step closer to my final, most optimized iteration.