An embedded prototype for a distributed and automated line heating system

Abstract

Automated line heating systems have been developed based on stand-alone operation with no consideration of the extensibility and maintainability. In the line heating shop, many of the line heating works are performed simultaneously; therefore, a collaborative and simultaneous automated line heating system is needed. In order to develop such a new line heating system, the current line heating process was analyzed, and then a distributed and automated process was determined, and the parts to be distributed and automated were identified to propose a distributed and automated line heating system based on modularization and network. Information and data flow from production design to robot control have been analyzed and integrated in the system. The system has two main processes: the calculation of the line heating information and execution of a working unit without calculation. A prototype of the system has been developed to study the feasibility of the system. Tests were carried out by using real production design data of a middle-sized Korean shipyard.