Mare Island flexible manufacturing workstation

Abstract

The Mare Island flexible manufacturing workstation (MIFMW) is a fully automated flexible turning workstation being developed at the US National Bureau of Standards (NBS). It is designed to produce parts unattended, for extended periods of time. It has many capabilities and sophisticated features which include hierarchical control architecture, in-process gaging, tool setting, tool condition, monitoring, automated buffer storage of workplaces and supplies, robotic workpiece loading and unloading, and robotic changing of tools, chuck jaws, and gripper fingers. When completed, the MIFMW is expected to be one of the first small-batch flexible manufacturing systems in the US capable of running unattended for 24 hours a day, five days a week.<>