Automatic work time evaluation based on a verification of disassemblability and assembly configuration

This paper presents a method of an automatic work time evaluation based on the verification of a disassemblability and assembly configuration. Even though a work time evaluation is an important field of concern for planning assembly lay-out, there are some limitations using cumbersome user query or approximated work time data without considering assembly condition. To overcome such restriction, this paper presents a method to mathematically verify assembly conditions based on the disassemblability, which is defined by the separability and stability cost. The separability cost represents a facility of the part disassembly operation, and the stability cost which represents a degree of the stability for the base assembly motion. Based upon the results, we propose a new approach of evaluating work time using neural networks. The proposed method provides an effective means of solving the work time evaluation problem and gives a design guidance of planning assembly lay-out in flexible manufacturing application. Example study is given to illustrate the concepts and procedure of the proposed schemes.