The University of Western Ontario

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

MME 4452/MME 9520—Robotics and Manufacturing Automation

Assignment 1
Due: January 31, 2020

Evaluation
• This assignment is to be completed as an individual effort. No group work is allowed. Students who fail
to follow this guideline will receive a grade of zero (0) for the assignment.
• Marks will be assigned on the basis of correctness of solution and thoroughness and clarity of presentation.
All sketches must be properly labelled.
• Late submissions will be penalized by 2n+1 %, where n is the number of days past the set due date. Week-
ends count as a single day.

Problems
1. For each of the following products, identify the most suitable form of automation that may be employed
in its production (including none) and briefly justify your choice.
a) Licorice sticks
b) Little league trophies
c) Custom-branded athletic socks
d) Mandolins
e) Zippers
2. An assembly is press fit together by two opposing pneumatic cylinders, A and C. A pushes the base assem-
bly out, while C press fits a component into the base assembly. As soon as both of these cylinders return
to their original position (retracted), another cylinder (B) pushes the completed assembly onto a transfer
conveyor. With the return of the transfer cylinder (B), the first operation is repeated for the next assembly.
The required sequence is A+ C+ C- A- B+ B-. The basic arrangement of the cylinders is outlined in Figure 1
(note that, at the start of the cycle, all cylinders are retracted, i.e., A- B- C-). Construct a suitable pneumatic
circuit diagram for the control of the cylinders. The circuit must include all valve actuators and a means
for starting and stopping the assembly operation manually. Preference is given to cascade control over
sequential operation.

b0

b1

a0 a1 c1 c0
A C

Figure 1: Cylinder arrangement for assembly operation considered in Problem 2.

MME 4452/MME 9520 A SSIGNMENT 1 — 2020 2

3. Consider a typical Programmable Logic Controller (PLC):

a) Draw the rung(s) required to implement the following logic: X = (A AND (B OR NOT(C))) OR NOT(D)
b) In under 100 words, describe why the rung order is significant when executing ladder logic on a PLC.
4. A buffer used in a particular workcell can hold up to 3 parts. Parts enter the buffer on a conveyor controlled
by output C1. Each part entering the buffer triggers an input sensor S1; similarly, as parts are removed from
the buffer another sensor S2 is triggered. Write a ladder logic program to stop the conveyor when the buffer
is full, and automatically restart it when there are fewer than 3 parts remaining in the buffer. Be sure to
include a start and stop button to enable/disable the system.

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