A Methodology to Support Concurrent Engineering in a Simulated Process Evaluation Environment (SPREE

This paper describes a methodology to support concurrent engineering in a simulated process evaluation environment (SPREE) for path- directed robot (PDR) applications, such as gas metal arc welding, spray painting, and adhesive applications. Such an environment makes it possible to program PDR applications off-line more accurately. The methodology includes consideration of the process variables and their constraints, design constraints, and robot specifications. SPREE allows the user to evaluate the process plan against process constraints and robot specifications, perform robot motion analysis, and evaluate the performance of the robot; thus, the user is able to complete the front-end preparations in SPREE, so that the off-line program for the selected robot can be generated in an environmental external to SPREE.