Enhancing Nut-Tightening Processes in the Automotive Industry: Integration of 3D Vision Systems with Collaborative Robots
This paper presents a method for position correction in collaborative robots, applied to a case study in an industrial environment. The case study is aligned with the GreenAuto project and aims to optimize industrial processes through the integration of various hardware elements. The case study focuses on tightening a specific number of nuts onto bolts located on a partition plate, referred to as “Cloison”, which is mounted on commercial vans produced by Stellantis, to secure the plate. The main challenge lies in deviations that may occur in the plate during its assembly process, leading to uncertainties in its fastening to the vehicles. To address this and optimize the process, a collaborative robot was integrated with a 3D vision system and a screwdriving system. By using the 3D vision system, it is possible to determine the bolts’ positions and adjust them within the robot’s frame of reference, enabling the screwdriving system to tighten the nuts accurately. Thus, the proposed method aims to integrate these different systems to tighten the nuts effectively, regardless of the deviations that may arise in the plate during assembly.
Authors
- E.D.C. Freitas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8235-3229)
- Francisco Cunha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6348-0342)
- N. M. Fonseca Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2204-6339)
- Fernanda Coutinho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9693-2966)
- F. Simões (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4983-9080)
- João Pedro F. Trovão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0795-0901)
- Patrícia Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7646-1474)
- Jorge Barreiros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5672-4468)
- David Lopes
- João Durães (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9697-9991)
- João Paulo Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0143-9421)
- Victor D. N. Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5441-4394)
- Fernando Carlos Lopes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3374-9857)
- Pedro Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8886-9082)
- Tiago Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2275-3508)
- André Gonçalves
Institutions
- Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (PT)
- Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers (PT)
- Research Center for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (PT)
- University of Coimbra (PT)
- Polytechnic Institute of Porto (PT)
- Universidade Lusófona (PT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Automation
- Published
- 2025-02-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/automation6010008
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Robot Manipulation and Learning
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.50