A Fundamental Study of Representing and Evaluating Exhaustively Enumerated Alternative Assembly-type Work with a Virtual Factory

Abstract

The authors have developed and published a method of converting the information on an existing work method into information on the exhaustive alternative methods for relatively simple hand assembly work. Further, this method enables them to enumerate all of the theoretically efficient and feasible work methods starting from the above information. The authors were searching for such a system that would enable them to visualize each alternative assembly process in 3-dimensional space and were successful in locating one. The system is called the Delimia simulation system and it can reproduce the human work process in a virtual factory-like manner when given specific work points and nature information. However, this system lacks the vital function of automatically generating work method information. Thus, there has been a considerable modification of the method's output information in order to fully utilize the system. The modification itself produced some additional utility of the method which is reported in this paper.