Toward a science of flexible feeding

Flexible parts feeding techniques have begun to gain industry acceptance. However, one barrier to effective flexible feeding solutions is a lack of knowledge of the underlying dynamics at work in flexible part feeders. The paper begins to address this topic. First, we discuss statistical modeling of the feeders' sub-systems and the fed parts themselves. For each feeding situation, we construct a generalized semi-Markov process model of the system that is built from these constituent models. Such models allow for a compact description of the complete feeder system and are amenable to high-level simulation and analysis. They can be used to answer questions regarding: the overall system throughput for a variety of parts, control strategies that may be employed to maximize throughput, and the trade-offs between different physical designs of the feeder versus the class of parts being fed. The paper closes with a discussion of future work that is required to mature our understanding of the control and modeling of flexible feeders.