Background
This project aimed to automate wire harnessing through the development of a system that can hold, position, and guide the wire harness while being installed in an enclosure. The system also ensures that connections are made in the correct order by pointing to connectors/wires and their corresponding terminals. The resulting system enables a wilder range of wire harness installation conditions, additionally, the system will have a workforce component that will allow for training of inexperienced workers to occur 10% faster.
Objective
Complete initial wire harness installation 10% faster. Complete any required rework activities 10% faster. Train unskilled or inexperienced workers 10% faster.
Technical Approach
This project aimed to develop a robot-assisted wire harness installation system that augments human cognitive and physical abilities to improve accuracy, reduce risk of injury, and lower overall production cost. The project outputs included:
- Control algorithms
- Findings related to the mechanics and control of highly non-linear harnesses
- Characteristics documented of man-robot interactions
- Mechanisms developed to support identification and marking systems used for robot-assisted harness installation
Participants
QinetiQ North America (Principal Investigator), MIT, Raytheon, MassRobotics, GE Global Research