In his research, Paryanto was developing an integrated simulation approach that can be used to analyze the energy consumption of handling machines, e.g. industrial robots (IR) for the process planning task. By using the approach, planning engineers are able to optimize the energy consumption and kinematics behavior of IR as part of handling systems (HS) without performing an experimental investigation. This is very useful for engineers for designing or changing the handling sequence when new requirements of the production process are given, e.g. when HS need to handle a new product variant. Furthermore, this allows engineers to define an appropriate strategy in order to minimize the energy consumption of IR.
In terms of process optimization, the robot speed and acceleration has the major influence on robot energy consumption. By choosing optimum speeds, the energy consumption of the IR can be reduced significantly. From this investigation, it was found that by operating the robot at 50% of its maximum speed, a reduction in energy consumption of about 20% can be achieved relative to a robot operating at the standard maximum speed. Nevertheless, energy consumption is not determined by speed alone, but is influenced by a host of other factors, including the robot control system, robot friction and damping, as well as the robot standstill position.