Arne Bilberg

University of Southern Denmark | SDU · Mads Clausen Institute

Connecting a physical mechatronic manufacturing machine with its virtual counterpart has been explored widely over the last decades. Going from simple datalogging to detailed virtual models of the machines. Digital representations of the machine have revealed how to quickly optimize the machines, meanwhile predicting errors and bottleneck. However,...

Shifting from a dedicated or flexible manufacturing system to a reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) requires a significant amount of time, money, and effort. Therefore, it is vital to verify beforehand that the potential reconfigurable solution will be able to achieve the organizational objectives. Discrete event simulation offers the opportu...

This book is for professionals working with the development of production systems. It provides guidance on how to design production systems capable of meeting uncertain market requirements in the future, whether these are fluctuations in demand volume, requirements for product variants, or introduction of completely new product families. - An intr...

The development of injection molding tools is an expensive, time-consuming, and resource-intensive process offering little to no flexibility to adapt to variations in product design. Metal additive manufacturing can be used to produce these tools in a cost-effective way. Nevertheless, in an industrial context, effective methods are missing for the...

Manufacturing organisations must compete with each other while adapting to the ever-changing conditions by building and strengthening their chains of competencies to survive. Therefore, companies are challenged to reform and reconstruct their product, process, and system models as well as to define new goals conforming to evolving complex and dynam...

Virtual prototyping (VP) technologies promise a viable solution to handle challenges in shorter product and production lifecycles and higher complexity. In this paper, we present the demonstration, and preliminary evaluation of the previously introduced digital twin (DT) based virtual factory (VF) concept for VP in the context of new product introd...

Designing, building, and testing new adaptable automation equipment for the discrete manufacturing industry is becoming a still more complex discipline where static Technical Product Specifications are no longer the situation in a dynamic and changing environment. Therefore, computer simulation tools at different abstraction levels become very impo...

This paper describes a framework for using 3D simulation as a safety assessment tool based on ISO/TS 15066:2016 guidelines for a cobot work cell. A human-robot collaboration-based work cell has been developed. The digital counterpart of this work cell is developed beforehand to perform several safety assessments based on ISO/TS 15066:2016. It is ob...

Shortening lifecycles and increasing complexity make product and production lifecycle processes more challenging than ever for manufacturing enterprises. Virtual Prototyping (VP) technologies promise a viable solution to handle such challenges in reducing time and physical builds as well as increasing quality. In previous studies, the Digital Twin...

Manufacturing organisations must compete with each other while adapting to the ever-changing conditions by building and strengthening their chains of competencies to survive. Therefore, companies are challenged to reform and reconstruct their product, process and system models as well as to define new goals conforming to evolving complex and dynami...

This paper elaborates on the role of computer simulations in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) collaborative robot (cobot) implementation process. The cobot implementation process of a Danish small-medium enterprise (SME) is studied and the challenges along the way are highlighted. The main challenges discovered are underutilization of the co...

Virtual prototyping (VP) technologies promise a viable solution to handle challenges in shorter product and production lifecycles and higher complexity. In this paper, we present the demonstration and preliminary evaluation of the previously introduced digital twin (DT) based virtual factory (VF) concept for VP in the context of new product introdu...

This is digital appendix for the paper titled "Demonstrating and Evaluating the Digital Twin Based Virtual Factory for Virtual Prototyping" submitted to The 8th Changeable, Agile, Reconfigurable, and Virtual Production Conference (CARV2021) is hosted by Aalborg University.

Smart manufacturing, tailored by the 4th industrial revolution and forces like innovation, competition, and changing demands, lies behind the concurrent evolution (also known as co-evolution) of products, processes and production systems. Manufacturing companies need to adapt to ever-changing environments by simultaneously reforming and regeneratin...

Smart manufacturing, tailored by the 4th industrial revolution and forces like innovation, competition, and changing demands, lies behind the concurrent evolution (also known as co-evolution) of products, processes and production systems. Manufacturing companies need to adapt to ever-changing environments by simultaneously reforming and regeneratin...

New automation equipment containing mechanics, electronics and ICT are often complex, where new digitalization tools can increase the development speed and quality. Here digital twins and virtual commissioning play an important role in the design, development and test phases. This paper introduces a structured approach for combining digital modelli...

The evolution of industries is constantly forcing enterprises to adapt to ever-changing market dynamics. Companies are challenged by remodelling their resources, processes, and competencies as well as to define new goals in accordance with evolving complex and dynamic environments. Virtual Factory as a dynamic, cognitive, open, and holistic system...

The evolution of industries is constantly forcing enterprises to adapt to ever-changing market dynamics. Companies are challenged by remodelling their resources, processes, competencies as well as to define new goals in accordance with evolving complex and dynamic environments. Virtual Factory as a dynamic, cognitive, open and holistic system promi...

Co-evolution problem, which is known as concurrent evolution of products, processes, and production systems along with increased complexity and shorter lifecycles of manufacturing operations makes modelling, simulation and evaluation of such operations challenging activities for industry players. This paper presents the concept of a digital twin-ba...

The co-evolution problem, which is known as the concurrent evolution of products, processes and production systems, along with increased complexity and shorter manufacturing operation lifecycles, makes modelling, simulation and evaluation of such operations challenging activities for industry players. This paper presents the concept of a digital tw...

The use of collaborative robots is on the rise for human-centered automation for developing flexible production systems. The deployment of collaborative robots and distribution of tasks between human and robot carries several challenges. One challenge is assessing the right level of human engagement with the fellow robot in the collaborative work w...

Over the past years, the concept of human-centered automation has received a lot of attention to achieve hybrid automation. A form of hybrid automation is taking benefit from the synergistic effect of human-robot collaboration. When used in the assembly, the requirement of flexibility, adaptability, and safety makes the design and redesign of human...

The paper explores the use of smart factory platforms for the new product development process. Physical prototypes are often required for test and validation of complex mechatronic products during the development phase. The research is aimed to develop a new product development (NPD) framework that integrates industry 4.0 technological enablers to...

Collaborative robots (or cobots) are getting attention in manufacturing for high-mix low-volume production by human-robot collaboration (HRC). When used in assembly, the HRC process needs to be balanced to avoid idle times and bottlenecks. It is different from conventional balancing problems given the fact that robots have varying speeds depending...

Human-robot collaboration can be used to share workload to form semi-automated production systems. Assembly operations are recognized with high potential to increase productivity by using the best skills of humans and robots in a combination. Components and parts to be assembled need to be structured and presented to the robot in a known location a...

The challenge of tasks allocation between human and robot is a known problem for industrial application of collaborative robots in assembly. This paper aims to describe a framework for a dynamic task distribution based on physical properties of the components, tasks characterization and collaborative workspace. The developed tasks-distribution is a...

This paper discusses an object-oriented event-driven simulation as a digital twin of a flexible assembly cell coordinated with a robot to perform assembly tasks alongside human. The digital twin extends the use of virtual simulation models developed in the design phase of a production system to operations for real-time control, dynamic skill-based...

Purpose – Over the past years, collaborative robots have been introduced as a new generation of industrial robotics working alongside humans to share the workload. These robots have the potential to enable human–robot collaboration (HRC) for flexible automation. However, the deployment of these robots in industrial environments, particularly in ass...

Empirical studies have documented skills that make humans superior to machines in various contexts while keeping them inferior in some others, nevertheless; humans are recognized as the most flexible element in a production system. This paper relates the theory of Lean automation with human-machine interaction; thereby taking benefits from the best...

Human-robot collaboration can be used to share workload to form semi-automated production systems. Assembly operations are recognized with high potential to increase productivity by using the best skills of humans and robots in a combination. Components and parts to be assembled need to be structured and presented to the robot in a known location a...

We present a phygital workspace where the digital and the physical world combine or intersect with each other to form a digital twin in the design phase of a system. The method combines the usefulness of dynamic discrete event simulations seamlessly connected with physical objects placed on a table to enable collaborative design. Physical objects a...

This paper aims to present a digital twin framework to support the design, build and control of human-machine cooperation. In this study, computer simulations are used to develop a digital counterpart of a human-robot collaborative work environment for assembly work. The digital counterpart remains updated during the life cycle of the production sy...

The recent proliferation of smart manufacturing technologies has emerged the concept of hybrid automation for assembly systems utilizing the best of humans and robots in a combination. Based on the ability to work alongside human-workers the next generation of industrial robots (or robotics 2.0) are referred to as collaborative robots or cobots. Th...

SMEs are in general highly flexible and agile in order to accommodate the customer demands in the paradigm of High Mix-Low Volume manufacturing. The flexibility and agility have mainly been enabled by manual labor, but as we are entering the technology and data driven fourth industrial revolution, where augmented operators and machines work in coop...

We investigate how a set of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can engage in business model development within a regional innovation ecosystem. Based on a case of Danish manufacturing SMEs that developed their local ecosystem in an innovative automation project, we find key drivers and challenges that these companies encountered while creati...

Purpose This paper aims to explore how maintenance tasks can be planned and executed in a smarter way and, consequently, how the operations and maintenance of offshore wind power installations can be improved through modularisation. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study of one of Europe’s leading offshore wind power operators with more...

Digital fabrication—including additive manufacturing (AM), rapid prototyping and 3D printing—has the potential to revolutionize the way in which products are produced and delivered to the customer. Therefore, it challenges companies to reinvent their business model—describing the logic of creating and capturing value. In this paper, we explore the...

To become profitable, the cost of offshore windfarms must be reduced. Optimization of the Operations & Maintenance process offers a great potential for cost reductions, especially for existing windfarm. As Continuous Improvement may deliver these cost reductions, this paper aims at fostering CI in the offshore wind industry. In order to identify wh...

Edema of the lower extremities, nerve damage and circulatory dysfunction, are common symptoms in diabetes and other chronic diseases. These symptoms must be addressed early in the disease process before permanent nerve damages occur. To provide a better understanding of such symptoms and to avoid unnecessary nerve damages, we aim at developing and...

Nowadays we live in a world, which a decade ago would only be described in the science fiction literature. More and more things become smart and both scientists and engineers strive for developing not only new and innovative devices, but also homes, factories, or even cities. Despite of continuous development, many of those concepts are still being...

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face the inherent tension of being dependent on external partners to complement their internal innovation activities while having only limited resources to manage such open innovation processes. This tension is augmented in the context of the larger ecosystem of complementary partners in which the SME is ac...

A new reconfigurable manufacturing system structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to balance the performance of productivity and flexibility. This paper shows an exploratory research on the (re)configuration procedure of the new RMS structure with the help of computer simulation, which is part o...

This exploratory study provides an overview over current state of manufacturing solutions in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in region of Southern Denmark. Building on manufacturing paradigms, this paper reveals relevant aspects for the development and implementation of improving SMEs’ automation processes. The paper presents an embedded...

In this paper, we investigate how small manufacturing companies can apply open innovation in the context of process innovation. We present a case study, with embedded action research elements, of a particular set of SMEs that implement a collaborative solution for manufacturing processes. We specifically examine how these SMEs collaborate with both...

Customization and flexible manufacturing are often considered as the main competitive advantage of SMEs. Implementing right automation concepts to increase productivity in manufacturing SMEs needs significantly more effort, due to their limited resources. That is why, it is strongly recommended for firms to interact through networks. The collaborat...

For both humans and robots, tactile sensing is important for interaction with the environment: it is the core sensing used for exploration and manipulation of objects. In this paper, we present a novel tactile-array sensor based on flexible piezoresistive rubber. We describe the design of the sensor and data acquisition system. We evaluate the sens...

In modern manufacturing industry, reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a promising concept in the research arena. A new RMS system structure has been recently designed by a large consumer goods manufacturer in Europe, aiming to improve its production efficiency. This paper shows an exploratory research on the (re)configuration procedure and...

Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) have been an increasing area of interest in the research arena. However, it seems that current literature is lacking application and implementation cases where RMS are simulated, tested, and evaluated as a feasible manufacturing concept. A Manufacturer of Consumer Goods identified the potential of the RMS...

Companies, cities, regions and ecosystems are facing increasing challenges due to issues as globalization, competitive pressures, and increased digitalization. At the same time, these issues give rise to an open innovation model that relies on the increased connectivity between various stakeholders to collectively develop better product, services,...

Fatigue is reported as the most common symptom by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The physiological and functional parameters related to fatigue in MS patients are currently not well established. A new wearable wireless body measurement system, named Fatigue Monitoring System (FAMOS), was developed to study fatigue in MS. It can continuously...

For both humans and robots, tactile sensing is important for interaction with the environment: it is the core sensing used for exploration and manipulation of objects. In this paper, we present a method for determining object texture by active exploration with a robotic fingertip equipped with a dynamic tactile transducer based on polyvinylidene fl...

High relapse rate is one of the most prominent problems in addiction treatment. Alcohol Resilience Treatment (ART), an alcohol addiction therapy, is based on Cue Exposure Treatment, which has shown promising results in preliminary studies. ART aims at optimizing the core area of relapse prevention, and intends to improve patients' capability to wit...

Purpose: To explore the difference between fatigued patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and matched healthy controls by applying a newly developed physiological and functional data recording system. Methods: A portable wireless measurement system, named FAtigue MOnitoring System (FAMOS), has been developed, which can continuously measure elect...

This paper presents an examination of Western European manufacturers‘ future challenges as can be predicted today. Some of the challenges analyzed in the paper are: globalization, individualism and customization and agility challenges. Hereafter, the paper presents a broad analysis on manufacturing concepts and technologies that are being developed...

In this paper, we present novel approaches for building tactile-array sensors for use in robotic grippers inspired from biology. We start by describing the sense of touch for humans and we continue by proposing different methods to build sensors that mimic this behaviour. For the static tactile sense we describe the principles of piezoresistive mat...

In this paper, we present a novel tactile-array sensor for use in robotic grippers based on flexible piezoresistive rubber. We start by describing the physical principles of piezoresistive materials, and continue by outlining how to build a flexible tactile-sensor array using conductive thread electrodes. A real-time acquisition system scans the da...

EMICAB (Embodied Motion Intelligence for Cognitive, Autonomous Robots) is an EU founded project where a consortium of 4 Universities is working together to integrate smart body mechanics and sensors with intelligent planning and motor behavior in order to make a holistic approach to artificial cognitive systems. This contribution provides informati...

Flexible grasping robots are needed for enabling automated, profitable and competitive production of small batch sizes including complex handling processes of often fragile objects. This development will create new conditions for value-adding activities in the production of the future world. The paper describes the related research work we have dev...

This paper presents our experience with developing a portable wireless medical sensor device. We use National Instruments (NI) devices and LabView for measurements studying fatigue of patients suffering multiple sclerosis (MS). Fatigue is a very frequent symptom perceived by MS patients, but the disease mechanism is poorly understood. Many efforts...

This paper presents a new concept of home diagnosis system, which is based on an electronic stethoscope and intelligent analyzing software. Heart signal analyzing algorithms as well as the whole developing processes are going to be discussed, which include electronic hardware, embedded system, USB communication, and new designs of the stethoscope....

The HANDYMAN project is a Southern Denmark government sponsored initiative that aims to help improve the automation capability of small businesses. This contribution provides the background and motivation behind a project developed by the Mads Clausen Institute within HANDYMAN which is currently investigating the development of new technology to im...

An industrial research project defines models and methods for design and implementation of computer based control and monitoring systems for production cells. This is primarily documented within automated robot welding cells in the shipbuilding industry. In order to support engineering of cell control systems by the use of enablers, a generic cell...

The transition from design to process planning and to the various stages of manufacturing is traditionally sequential. In many cases, practical problems associated with manufacturing cannot be resolved if only individual processes are examined. These problems can be overcome, however, by adopting the CALS approach. This approach requires global obs...

Productivity is important for all manufacturing companies, but even so many fail to utilize their resources due to poor management, organization, planning, layout etc.A study carried out at 10 Danish companies reveals that a large improvement potential exists. The paper will discuss the results of this studie and will present a systematic method fo...

The control facility plays a very important role in computer-integrated production. A new approach in the development of control software is presented and documented. The concept is based on a simulation package serving two functions—the simulation tool and the control facility.A prototype system called simulation control (SIMCON) is discussed. Adv...

For many production systems for example production cells and FMS there is a large demand for control systems that are tailored individually. This paper describes a systematic method for developing control system for a wide range of production systems and within each type of production the control can be setup individually and even after installatio...

The way we perceive CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) is described for giving the necessary insight and understanding of the complexity. It is generally accepted that simulation is a powerful tool in planning and design of manufacturing production systems. But simulation has even larger potentials as an integral part of the computerized facto...

"January 23, 1989." "Publication No. PI.89.02-A / AP.89.02." "This dissertation is one of the requirements to be fulfilled to acquire a Ph. D. degree at the Technical University of Denmark."--Verso t.p. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Technical University of Denmark, 1989. Includes bibliographical references. Includes index.