Improvement of 3P and 6R mechanical robots reliability and quality applying FMEA and QFD approaches

In the past few years, extending usage of robotic systems has increased the importance of robot reliability and quality. To improve the robot reliability and quality by applying standard approaches such as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) during the design of robot is necessary. FMEA is a qualitative method which determines the critical failure modes in robot design. In this method Risk Priority Number is used to sort failures with respect to critical situation. Two examples of mechanical robots are analyzed by using this method and critical failure modes are determined for each robot. Corrective actions are proposed for critical items to modify robots reliability and reduce their risks. Finally by using QFD, quality of these robots is improved according to the customers' requirements. In this method by making four matrixes, optimum values for all technical parameters are determined and the final product has the desired quality. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.