Hierarchical system modeling for an industrial gantry robot

In this contribution, guidelines and methods for the model based design of an industrial gantry robot using the hierarchical modeling approach are presented. Gantry robots can be used for the feeding and sampling of workpieces which are processed in machine tools. The aim of the modeling is to verify the deflection of the gantry arm in consideration of the robots whole system with all of its mechatronics influences. The goal of this investigation was the identification of the weak points of the structure, resulting in large deflections of the gantry arm. This builds the basis for a further structural improvement of the system. The first part of the paper provides an overview on the methods of the hierarchical modeling approach. After that, the models which were created for each component of the robot are explained and the simulation results are discussed. In the following chapter the creation and simulation of the behavior of the system model is shown step by step. At the end, conclusions and future prospects for the hierarchical modeling approach are made.