Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Cell coordination
Also known as: work cell coordination
German: Zellenkoordination
In manufacturing automation, cell coordination is the run-time coordination of the machines, robots, fixtures and operators within one cell, so that their tasks follow the intended sequence, share resources without conflict and hand over parts correctly.
- System integration
In one sentence
Cell coordination makes the machines, robots and operators of one cell follow the intended sequence and share resources without conflict.
Example
A welding cell coordinates two robots that share a turntable: robot A may weld only after the turntable has indexed and robot B has left the shared zone.
How it applies
- Engineering: Model shared resources (turntables, fixtures, workspace zones) explicitly and give each a single owner at a time, typically through handshakes or reservation logic in the Cell controller.
- Safety: Robots sharing a workspace need protective measures such as zone monitoring. Functional coordination prevents collisions in normal operation but does not replace safety functions for people in the cell.
- Documentation: Explain the cell sequence with a flow or state diagram in the manual, and describe how operators bring the cell back into a consistent state after a manual intervention.
Cell coordination vs. line coordination
Cell coordination deals with tightly coupled devices inside one cell. Line coordination deals with the material flow and pacing between machines or cells.