The REMODEL main objective is to enable new production environments, where the manufacturing of complex products composed of multiple wires and cables by means of robots is not only possible, but fully integrated with the product design chain. Wires, cables, wiring harnesses, laces and flexible tubes have a transversal application in many manufacturing processes, where these technologies could lean the scale for a total automation, decreasing the production costs and improving the worker conditions. On the other hand, wires and cables handling is full of uncertainties and it has complex behaviour during manipulation. Advance simulation in the materials and the forces involved during manipulation and handling should be integrated. A holistic approach supported by physics and experimental data is needed in order to cope with real time manipulation.
The REMODEL project aims to develop low-cost and affordable hardware and software tools as well as innovative methodologies enabling the implementation of manufacturing activities involving the manipulation of complex deformable objects in industrial automated production lines. REMODEL main target is the robotic handling of Deformable Linear Objects (DLOs) and the routing of multiple DLOs to create wiring harnesses, by deeply understanding their complex behaviour, including elasticity and plasticity, and embedding this knowledge, together with proper manipulation skills and perception, based on vision and tactile sensing, into a bimanual robotic system. In WIRES, where three of the REMODEL consortium partners were involved, the basic tools to enable the routing of electric wires and their fitting into standard electromechanical components by means of a conventional industrial manipulator with fixed base have been investigated and developed. REMODEL will extend the applicability of these robotic technologies to other domains, by introducing bimanual coordinated dual-arm manipulators and making them able to manipulate long cables as well as complex wiring harness made of multiple cables and with several branches and connectors at each end. Moreover, the presence of obstacles, multiple contact points along the cable path will be taken into account, allowing the usage of the developed technologies in the field of aerospace and automotive manufacturing. Aiming at showing the applicability of the REMODEL outcomes to other fields, the handling of silicon hoses for medical usage and its inspection for quality check will be also considered.
REMODEL aims to promote EU 2020 targets of a smart and inclusive economy, fostering socially sustainable, safe and attractive workplaces by creating high-tech companies involved in innovative manufacturing. This will increase EU industrial competitiveness and sustainability in a global world through R&I activities for the timely development of new knowledge-based production, technologies and systems, competitive and sustainable production plants, industrial automation, machinery and robotics.