Previous algorithms for slicing, path planning or trajectory planning of additive manufacturing cannot be used consistently for multidirectional additive manufacturing with pure object manipulation in wire-arc additive manufacturing. This work presents a novel path planning approach that directly takes robot kinematics into account and thus ensures the reachability of all critical path poses. In an additional step, the planned path segments are smoothed so that joint velocity limits are respected. It is shown that the implemented path planner generates executable robot paths and at the same time maintains the process quality (in this case, sufficient coverage of the slice area). While the introduced method enables the generation of reachable printing paths, the smoothing algorithm allows for the execution of the path with respect to the robot’s velocity limits and at the same time improves the slice coverage. Future experiments will show the realization of the real robot setup presented.

The turbulent transition in the automotive industry towards electric vehicles is highly challenging, both in product development and in production. Conventional, linear assembly lines struggle to meet the flexibility requirements imposed by this market development. Thispaper presents the first mixed-integer programming (MIP) model which is tailor-made for the scheduling of modular body-in-white (BIW)production systems. The main novelty of the presented approach lies in using precedence graphs for modelling the joining steps of the BIW production and allowing for different capabilities at each workstation of the production system. Thus, the presented approach captures the characteristics of BIW production systems in more detail than comparable models available in the literature. The application of the presented approach to an exemplary production scenario with five jobs and 22 operations underlines the strengths of the proposed model but also indicates potential for future improvements.