Optimisation of Manufacturing Process Parameters for Variable Component Geometries using Reinforcement Learning

To facilitate the personalized smart manufacturing paradigm with cognitive automation capabilities, Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has attracted ever-increasing attention by offering an adaptive and flexible solution. DRL takes the advantages of both Deep Neural Networks (DNN) and Reinforcement Learning (RL), by embracing the power of representation learning, to make precise and fast decisions when facing dynamic and complex situations. Ever since the first paper of DRL was published in 2013, its applications have sprung up across the manufacturing field with exponential publication growth year by year. However, there still lacks any comprehensive review of the DRL in the field of smart manufacturing. To fill this gap, a systematic review process was conducted, with 261 relevant publications selected to date (20-Oct-2022), to gain a holistic understanding of the development, application, and challenges of DRL in smart manufacturing along the whole engineering lifecycle. First, the concept and development of DRL are summarized. Then, the typical DRL applications are analyzed in the four engineering lifecycle stages: design, manufacturing, distribution, and maintenance. Finally, the challenges and future directions are illustrated, especially emerging DRL-related technologies and solutions that can improve the manufacturing system’s deployment feasibility, cognitive capability, and learning efficiency, respectively. It is expected that this work can provide an insightful guide to the research of DRL in the smart manufacturing field and shed light on its future perspectives. 

Deep reinforcement learning in smart manufacturing: A review and prospects

Robotic manipulation refers to how robots intelligently interact with the objects in their surroundings, such as grasping and carrying an object from one place to another. Dexterous manipulating skills enable robots to assist humans in accomplishing various tasks that might be too dangerous or difficult to do. This requires robots to intelligently plan and control the actions of their hands and arms. Object manipulation is a vital skill in several robotic tasks. However, it poses a challenge to robotics. The motivation behind this review paper is to review and analyze the most relevant studies on learning-based object manipulation in clutter. Unlike other reviews, this review paper provides valuable insights into the manipulation of objects using deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) in dense clutter. Various studies are examined by surveying existing literature and investigating various aspects, namely, the intended applications, the techniques applied, the challenges faced by researchers, and the recommendations adopted to overcome these obstacles. In this review, we divide deep RL-based robotic manipulation tasks in cluttered environments into three categories, namely, object removal, assembly and rearrangement, and object retrieval and singulation tasks. We then discuss the challenges and potential prospects of object manipulation in clutter. The findings of this review are intended to assist in establishing important guidelines and directions for academics and researchers in the future.

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Review of Learning-Based Robotic Manipulation in Cluttered Environments

Wood identification is an important tool in many areas, from biology to cultural heritage. In the fight against illegal logging, it has a more necessary and impactful application. Identifying a wood sample to genus or species level is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, even when using the most recent methods, resulting in a growing need for a readily accessible and field-applicable method for scientific wood identification. Providing fast results and ease of use, computer vision-based technology is an economically accessible option currently applied to meet the demand for automated wood identification. However, despite the promising characteristics and accurate results of this method, it remains a niche research area in wood sciences and is little known in other fields of application such as cultural heritage. To share the results and applicability of computer vision-based wood identification, this paper reviews the most frequently cited and relevant published research based on computer vision and machine learning techniques, aiming to facilitate and promote the use of this technology in research and encourage its application among end-users who need quick and reliable results.

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/12/2041/pdf?version=1670484872

Computer Vision-Based Wood Identification: A Review

Recent advancement in Deep Learning-based Convolutional Neural Networks (D-CNNs) has led research to improve the efficiency and performance of barcode recognition in Supply Chain Management (SCM). D-CNNs required real-world images embedded with ground truth data, which is often not readily available in the case of SCM barcode recognition. This study introduces two invented barcode datasets: InventBar and ParcelBar. The datasets contain labeled barcode images with 527 consumer goods and 844 post boxes in the indoor environment. To explore the influential capability of the datasets that affect recognition process, five existing D-CNN algorithms were applied and compared over a set of recently available barcode datasets. To confirm the model’s performance and accuracy, runtime and Mean Average Precision (mAP) were examined based on different IoU thresholds and image transformation settings. The results show that YOLO v5 works best for the ParcelBar in terms of speed and accuracy. The situation is different for the InventBar since Faster R-CNN could allow the model to learn faster with a small drop in accuracy. It is proven that the proposed datasets can be practically utilized for the mainstream D-CNN frameworks. Both are available for developing barcode recognition models and positively affect comparative studies.

/pdf/1d-barcode-detection-novel-benchmark-datasets-and-23gq49cd.pdf

1D Barcode Detection: Novel Benchmark Datasets and Comprehensive Comparison of Deep Convolutional Neural Network Approaches

Shortening product development cycles and fully customisable products pose major challenges for production systems. These not only have to cope with an increased product diversity but also enable h...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00207543.2021.1973138

Marcel Panzer

Papers

Deep reinforcement learning in production systems: a systematic literature review

Neural agent-based production planning and control: An architectural review