Self-Reconfiguration for Smart Manufacturing Based on Artificial Intelligence: A Review and Case Study

Self-reconfiguration in manufacturing systems refers to the ability to autonomously execute changes in the production process to deal with variations in demand and production requirements while ensuring a high responsiveness level. Some advantages of these systems are their improved efficiency, flexibility, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness. Different approaches can be used for designing self-reconfigurable manufacturing systems, including computer simulation, data-driven methods, and artificial intelligence-based methods. To assess an artificial intelligence-based solution focused on self-reconfiguration of manufacturing enterprises, a pilot line was selected for implementing an automated machine learning method for finding and setting optimal parametrizations and a fuzzy system-inspired reconfigurator for improving the performance of the pilot line. Additionally, a deep learning segmentation model was integrated into the pilot line as part of a visual inspection module, enabling a more efficient management of the production line workflow. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of self-reconfigurable manufacturing systems to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of production processes.