Cooperating Robots for Flexible Manufacturing

This book consolidates the current state of knowledge on implementing cooperating robot-based systems to increase the flexibility of manufacturing systems. It is based on the concrete experiences of experts, practitioners, and engineers in implementing cooperating robot systems for more flexible manufacturing systems. Thanks to the great variety of manufacturing systems that we had the opportunity to study, a remarkable collection of methods and tools has emerged. The aim of the book is to share this experience with academia and industry practitioners seeking to improve manufacturing practice. While there are various books on teaching principles for robotics, this book offers a unique opportunity to dive into the practical aspects of implementing complex real-world robotic applications.   

As it is used in this book, the term “cooperating robots” refers to robots that either cooperate with one another or with people. The book investigates various aspects of cooperation in the context of implementing flexible manufacturing systems. Accordingly, manufacturing systems are the main focus in the discussion on implementing such robotic systems. 

The book begins with a brief introduction to the concept of manufacturing systems, followed by a discussion of flexibility. Aspects of designing such systems, e.g. material flow, logistics, processing times, shop floor footprint, and design of flexible handling systems, are subsequently covered. In closing, the book addresses key issues in operating such systems, which concern e.g. decision-making, autonomy, cooperation, communication, task scheduling, motion generation, and distribution of control between different devices. 

Reviewing the state of the art and presenting the latest innovations, the book offers a valuable asset for a broad readership. 

Dr. Makris is the head of Robotics, Automation and Virtual reality in the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics at the University of Patras.  His research is oriented on cooperating robots for flexible manufacturing. 

He is an Associate Member of the International Academy for Production Research – CIRP, a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE, member of the  International Federation of Automatic Control - IFAC, member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, and Technical Chamber of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers. He served as the Vice-Chair of the CIRP Research Affiliates from 2008 to 2011.

He has coordinated significant industrial driven research projects in manufacturing in the context of the European Factories of the Future Research Association - EFFRA, well as the Partnership for Robotics in Europe - SPARC, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology for Manufacturing - EIT Manufacturing. He has participated in more than sixty funded research projects being the coordinator and senior researcher.

He has been the organizer of the 8th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technology and Systems as well as the organizer of the 2nd CIRP Global Web Conference while he acted as a co-organiser for a number of 45th CIRP conference namely CIRP conference on Manufacturing Systems and the 7th International Conference on Digital Enterprise Technology.  He has been organizer of a numerous of Workshops on robotics for manufacturing in Europe. He has delivered numerous speeches internationally on the topic of cooperating robots in manufacturing.

He has been acting as an Associate Editor for and for the Robotics and Computer Integrated manufacturing as well as for the International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing. He has been peer reviewing for numerous scientific journals and conferences.

Dr. Makris has published more than 130 publications in refereed international scientific journals national scientific journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings to his credit. 

He led a number of research teams to accomplish outstanding technical engineering achievements in manufacturing, mainly by investigating advanced control technology in manufacturing. Such achievements include advanced control of assembly cells, industrial applications with cooperating robots for flexible assembly, industrial robots and artificial intelligence methods for multi-robot systems cognition, sensor technology in robotic assembly for random mix manufacturing, and digital modeling of manufacturing systems with applications in numerous industrial sectors, namely automotive, aeronautics, white goods, electronics, maritime, and transport. 

He received his PhD in Manufacturing from the Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems & Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University ofPatras (2003) and a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, University of Patras, Greece (1998).