An Integrated Tool for the Virtual Commissioning of Flexible Robotic Cells

In the modern manufacturing industry, virtual models are normally used in machine and robot design for behavioral analysis and optimization. However, the literature reveals a notable gap in methodologies for simulating and conducting virtual commissioning multi-brand robotic systems with distributed control in a unified software environment before their physical installation. In this context, the present works leverages the open-source robotic libraries within the Robot Operating System (ROS) environment to extend the simulation capabilities of RoboDK software, aiming to support the validation and coordination of complex automated systems. This methodology is validated through procedures for conducting virtual commissioning of a robotic cell for an aircraft fuselage assembly whose process coordinator is defined in ROS. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed simulation framework.