Multiple fault diagnosis for sheet metal fixtures using designated component analysis

This paper presents a new approach to multiple fault diagnosis for sheet metal fixtures using designated component analysis (DCA). DCA first defines a set of patterns based on product/process information, then finds the significance of these patterns from the measurement data and maps them to a particular set of faults. Existing diagnostics methods has been mainly developed for rigid-body-based 3-2-1 locating scheme. Here an N-2-1 locating scheme is considered since sheet metal parts are compliant. The proposed methodology integrates on-line measurement data, part geometry, fixture layout and sensor layout in detecting simultaneous multiple fixture faults. A diagnosability discussion for the different type of faults is presented. Finally, an application of the proposed method is presented through a computer simulation.