A proposed approach for reconfiguration of flexible assembly line systems by motion genes

Abstract

This paper applies motion genes to solve the problems of reconfiguring flexible assembly line systems to cope with ever changing production requirements. The main difficulties of reconfiguring such systems are described, and an approach of using motion genes to overcome them is proposed. It is demonstrated that conveyor components can be encoded and evolved by linear and angular conveying motions. Furthermore, genetic mating can be used to generate alternative conveyor system layouts that satisfy specific production requirements and the best can be selected, based on the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’. The proposed approach is exemplified by a test case, and it is found that the reconfiguration of flexible assembly line systems by motion genes is much easier to implement than current rule based methods.

Keywords:

• Motion genes
• Flexible assembly line
• Genetic algorithm
• System reconfiguration

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank his research assistant, Miss Tobby To, for her work on developing the GA software for the evaluation of the proposed approach. Assistance from Dr. Richard Whitfield in preparing this paper is gratefully acknowledged. The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 7001295).

Notes

Email: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J. K. L. Ho *

Email: [email protected]