AKTA - Automation of Kitting, Transport and Assembly
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | CHALMERS TEKNISKA HÖGSKOLA AKTIEBOLAG - Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 3 070 000 |
| Project duration | October 2016 - January 2019 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | The strategic innovation programme for Production2030 |
Purpose and goal
The project revolved around the following three research questions: 1) How should a suitable level of automation of material handling in kit preparation and transportation to assembly be identified? 2) Which technologies for cognitive and physical automation and which tools are suitable to use in order to make the material handling more efficient? 3) How should the material flows be planned, controlled and monitored to avoid sub-optimisations?
Expected results and effects
Several different technologies and system types were studied, including “Robotic Mobile Fulfilment Systems” and “Robot-Based Compact Storage and Retrieval Systems” for order picking, different information systems for kit preparation, and different AGV-solutions for in-plant transport. The project identified how these technologies and systems perform, considering the context. Different levels of automation were considered, as was the control of material flows based on automation. The project results can support the effective use of automation in material handling.
Planned approach and implementation
The project comprised three academic parties and six companies. The project companies were working actively with the project’s focus area of automation in material handling and the academic parties performed several studies, which resulted in a large number of research articles. The studies comprised case studies performed at, and together with, the participating companies, as well as studies in lab environment. In addition, several bachelor’s and master’s thesis projects were carried out, which generated further results.