Web-based distributed manufacturing control systems

With the evolution of the application of web technology, agent-based manufacturing systems can be both easily implemented and become a potential approach for modern manufacturing enterprises. In this paper, we present problems and models required for the development of web-based distributed manufacturing control systems. The specific objectives are: (1) to propose an appropriate architecture for a web-based distributed manufacturing control system, (2) to define the specification of a web-based cell controller, (3) to design the co-operative mechanisms, contract net protocol, for better system performance, (4) to upgrade the communication capability of existing CNC machines from RS232C to TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) based on Ethernet .To demonstrate the proposed development, prototype software based on ASP and VB programming was designed and implemented. As a result, not only is a great amount of time saved in the development of web-based manufacturing control software, but this development can also enhance the competitive capability of companies trying to operate on a flexible basis.     

An optimization-based control strategy for energy efficiency of discrete manufacturing systems

In order to reduce the global energy consumption and avoid highest power peaks during operation of manufacturing systems, an optimization-based controller for selective switching on/off of peripheral devices in a test bench that emulates the energy consumption of a periodic system is proposed. First, energy consumption models for the test-bench devices are obtained based on data and subspace identification methods. Next, a control strategy is designed based on both optimization and receding horizon approach, considering the energy consumption models, operating constraints, and the real processes performed by peripheral devices. Thus, a control policy based on dynamical models of peripheral devices is proposed to reduce the energy consumption of the manufacturing systems without sacrificing the productivity. Afterward, the proposed strategy is validated in the test bench and comparing to a typical rule-based control scheme commonly used for these manufacturing systems. Based on the obtained results, reductions near 7% could be achieved allowing improvements in energy efficiency via minimization of the energy costs related to nominal power purchased.     

混杂系统理论及其应用于制造系统的研究进展

混杂系统理论及其应用是近年来的研究热点和难点。较为全面系统地阐述了混杂系统在建模、分析、控制和优化等几个方面的理论研究现状,对主要内容及其方法的优点和局限性进行了总结和评价。作为混杂系统的一个重要代表,分析与综述了制造系统中的主要应用成果,指出了具体应用中的难点问题。最后展望了进一步的研究内容。     

Function modules demanded for production control in distributed manufacturing system

This paper deals with the function modules demanded for production control in a distributed cellular manufacturing system. Cells are the distributed components of any manufacturing system. A proposed multipassing distributed simulating scheduling system (MPDSSS) deals with the production control functions regarding process planning (working-cell selection), scheduling, rescheduling, and real-time dispatching. The process planning function aims at selecting a good route for each job. The multipassing scheduling aims at providing a scheduling bidding strategy in a distributed fashion. The rescheduling aims at dealing with the large-effort change of the system with updating the precedence schedule to run in a new manufacturing period. The real-time scheduling deals with the small-effort change of the system with a real-time dispatching rule. All the production controlling functions have been implemented in distributed fashions. A simulation experiment demonstrates that the proposed MPDSSS leads to good results in the following criteria: minimum mean flow time, minimum waiting time, maximum machine utilisation, and minimum imbalance of cell utilisation.Nomenclature {A} grouping set ofA _i - A _i function-identical set of celli - BC _i the weighted bidding cost for the operation in celli - {C} performance criteria set - C _i ith element of {C} - CU _{f avg} average cell utilisation inA _f - CU _{f max} maximum cell utilisation inA _f - CU _i average cell utilisation of celli - CU_max maximum CU _i - CU_min minimum CU _i - {D} dispatching rule base - D _i ith rule in {D} - EFT earliest finishing time - EFT_max maximum EFT - ICU _f the imbalance of cell utilisation inA _f - P _m previously actual system performance for criterionC _m - RC _i rescheduling cost when using ruleD _i - SC _i improvement rate for system cost using ruleD _i - SP _a actual system performance - SP _m preceding simulation performance of theC _m with ruleD _i - SP _p ideally predictable system performance - SPD _a actual system performance deviation - TICU _i total imbalance of cell utilisation using ruleD _i - W weighting factor     

A genetic algorithm for scheduling flexible manufacturing systems

General job shop scheduling and rescheduling with alternative route choices for an FMS environment is addressed in this paper. A genetic algorithm is proposed to derive an optimal combination of priority dispatching rules pdrs (independentpdrs one each for one Work Cell WC), to resolve the conflict among the contending jobs in the Giffler and Thompson GT procedure. The performance is compared with regard to makes-pan criteria and computational time. The optimal WCwise-pdr is proved to be efficient in providing optimal solutions in a reasonable computational time. Also, the proposed GA based heuristic method is extended to revise schedules on the arrival of new jobs, and on the failure of equipment to address the dynamic operation mode of flexible manufacturing systems. An iterative search technique is proposed to find the best route choice for all operations to provide a feasible and optimal solution. The applicability and usefulness of the proposed methodology for the operation and control of FMS in real-time are illustrated with examples. The scope of the genetic search process and future research directions are discussed.     

The measurement of flexibility in manufacturing systems

This article provides a theoretical basis for measuring the flexibility of manufacturing systems. The concept of multiple levels of measures (necessary, capability, actual, inflexibility, and optimality) for each flexibility type is introduced. Capability and actual measures are then developed for machine, routing, process, product, and volume flexibilities. For each of these flexibility types, a state defining variable is identified. A measure of flexibility is then derived by computing either, (i) the change effort expended in moving between states, (ii) the drop in system performance in moving between states, (iii) a general or physical scale of difference between two successive states, or (iv) a measure combining all three. The use of the developed measures is illustrated via a two-facility example.     

Real-time control and scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems: An ordinal optimisation based approach

A unique real-time control and scheduling framework for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) is presented in this paper. The framework enables the adoption of different scheduling policies for short-term intervals when responding to the dynamic changes of the FMS shop floor status. Each time when rescheduling is called for, standard clock (SC) simulation is first employed to evaluate the performance of a set of scheduling policies for a short planning horizon. The ordinal optimisation concept is then used to choose quickly the most desirable scheduling policy. Owing to the use of the standard clock technique and the ordinal optimisation concept, this framework accomplishes a dramatic reduction in the time needed for decision making, the essential requirement for real-time control. It is also found that as the scale of the problem increases, the decision-making time increases linearly rather than exponentially. These two important features indicate that this framework has the potential for being successfully implemented in real FMS settings. Although the framework cannot always guarantee the global best performance, the case study indicates that satisfactory performance results are always achieved by using this framework.     

Object-oriented approach of MCTPN for modelling Flexible manufacturing systems

Manufacturing industry is facing a stricter challenge than ever before owing to the rapid change in market requirements. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) have a much greater capability than traditional fixed-type production systems for coping with the rapid change. In this paper, a modified coloured-timed Petri net (MCTPN) is developed to model the dynamic activities in an FMS. The MCTPN provides an object-oriented and modular method of modelling manufacturing activities. It includes colour, time, modular and communication attributes. The features of object-oriented modelling allow the FMS to be modelled with the properties of classes, objects, and container trees. Since the system activities can be encapsulated and modularised by the proposed MCTPN, the manufacturing systems can be easily constructed and investigated by the system developers. It makes the concept of software IC possible for modelling complex FMSs. Once all of the MCTPN objects are well defined, the developers need to consider only the interfaces and operations relating to the MCTPN objects. In order to demonstrate the capability of the proposed MCTPN, the FMS in the Manufacturing Automation Technology Research Center (MATRC) of the National Taiwan University will be stimulated and justified by using the proposed MCTPN along with the G2 expert system.     

Knowledge-based workcell attribute oriented dynamic schedulers for flexible manufacturing systems

The economy of production in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) depends mainly on how effectively the production is planned and how the resources are used. This requires efficient and dynamic factory scheduling and control procedures. This paper addresses two knowledge-based scheduling schemes (work cell attribute oriented dynamic schedulers WCAODSs) to control the flow of parts efficiently in real-time for FMS in which the part-mix varies continually with the planning horizon. The present work employs a hybrid optimisation approach in the generalised A1 framework. A genetic algorithm that provides an optimal combination of a set of priority dispatching rules, one for each work cell WC (WCwisepdr set), for each of the problem instances characterised by their WC attributes, is used for generating examples. The WC attributes reflect the information about the operating environment of each individual WC. Two inductive learning algorithms are employed to learn the examples, and scheduling rules are formulated as a knowledge base. The learning algorithms employed are: the Genetic CID3 (Continuous Interactive Dichotomister3 algorithm extended with genetic program for weight optimisation) and the Classification Decision Tree algorithm. The knowledge base obtained through the above learning schemes generates robust and effective schedules intelligently with respect to the part-mix changes in real-time, for makespan criteria. The comparison made with a GA-based scheduling methodology shows that WCAODSs provide solutions closer to the optimum.     

Recursive newton-euler formulation for flexible dynamic manufacturing analysis of open-loop robotic systems

The main objective of this paper is to develop a recursive formulation for the flexible dynamic manufacturing analysis of open-loop robotic systems. The nonlinear generalized Newton-Euler equations are used for flexible bodies that undergo large translational and rotational displacements. These equations are formulated in terms of a set of time invariant scalars, vectors and matrices that depend on the spatial coordinates as well as the assumed displacement fields. These time invariant quantities represent the dynamic manufacturing couplings between the rigid body motion and elastic deformation. This formulation applies recursive procedures with the generalized Newton-Euler equations for flexible bodies to obtain a large, loosely coupled system equation describing motion in flexible manufacturing systems. The techniques used to solve the system equations can be implemented in any computer system. The algorithms presented in this investigation are illustrated using cylindrical joints for open-loop robotic systems, which can be easily extended to revolute, slider and rigid joints. The recursive Newton-Euler formulation developed in this paper is demonstrated with a robotic system using cylindrical mechanical joints.     

Calculating production rate of a flexible manufacturing module

This paper presents a closed form equation for calculating production rate of a flexible manufacturing module (FMM) which operates under stochastic conditions, including random machining times, random part loading and unloading times, and random pallet transfer times. Random operational conditions may arise due to the randomness in the variety of parts introduced into the system. The FMM consists of two machines, one pallet handling system, and a loading/unloading robot. The model and the resulting closed form equations allow the FMM designers and operation engineers select the most appropriate parameters for the maximum production output rate.     

A methodology for investigating effects of cell size on operational flexibility in flexible manufacturing systems

There are two aspects to cell formation in flexible manufacturing systems, cell sizing or deciding on the optimum number of machines to be allocated to each cell, and then allocation of specific machines to each cell. Although the latter problem has been investigated extensively there is a paucity of published work on the former. This paper discusses the effects of cell sizing on operational flexibility.Operational flexibility is that aspect of flexibility that enables manufacturing systems to respond with speed and efficiency to changes in the manufacturing environment while maintaining an effective level of control.     

制造系统设备布局的建模理论与求解方法

为提高企业对市场的敏捷反应能力及市场竞争力,在制造系统中提出了设备布局设计问题.介绍了设备布局的相关概念及不同分类标准下的布局形式,分析了各种设备布局形式的适用范围及优缺点.概括了布局设计中的优化目标及约束条件,综述了布局建模理论及其所建立的模型,并阐释了模型的求解算法.最后,探讨了目前研究中存在的一些问题,为今后的设备布局设计提供了参考.     

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems is complex. Developing a measure of performance useful for evaluating alternate designs continues to be interesting. Here, total productivity of the system is proposed as an appropriate measure. Specification of parameters based upon strategic considerations for this measure are discussed. Finally, the usefulness of the measure is demonstrated through an example.     

可重构制造系统工艺路线与系统布局设计研究

为使可重构制造系统的重构过程更加快速有效,提出了一种工艺路线和系统布局设计的方法.首先,基于图论构建了可重构制造系统工艺路线的有向网络模型,并采用Dijkstra算法和双向扫视算法,进行最优工艺路线和备选工艺路线的选择;然后,以工艺路线为基础,依据排队论中的相关理论,对制造系统的布局进行优化设计,以获得可重构制造系统布局方案.实例表明,该设计能够适应可重构制造系统快速多变的特征,提高对制造系统已有资源的利用率.     

The use of the Petri net reduction approach for an optimal deadlock prevention policy for flexible manufacturing systems

In a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) with multiple products, deadlocks can arise due to limited shared resources, such as machines, robots, buffers, fixtures etc. The development of efficient deadlock prevention policies, which can optimise the use of system resources, while preventing deadlocks from occurring, has long been an important issue to be addressed. In [1], an optimal deadlock prevention policy was proposed, based on the use of reachability graph (RG) analysis of the Petri net model (PNM) of a given FMS and the synthesis of a set of new net elements, namely places with initial marking and related arcs, to be added to the PNM, using the theory of regions. The policy proposed in [1] is optimal in the sense that it allows the maximal use of resources in the system according to the production requirements. For very big PNMs, the reachability graph of the PNMs becomes very large and the necessary computations to obtain an optimal deadlock prevention policy become more difficult. In this paper, we propose the use of the Petri net reduction approach to simplify very big PNMs so as to make necessary calculations easily in order to obtain an optimal deadlock prevention policy for FMSs. An example is provided for illustration.     

Tool addition strategies for flexible manufacturing systems

The allocation of tools to machines determines potential part routes in flexible manufacturing systems. Given production requirements and a minimum feasible set of tools, the decision of how to fill vacant slots in tool magazines to maximize routing flexibility is shown to be a minimum cost network flow problem for the cases when routing flexibility is a function of the average workload per tool aggregated over tool types, or of the number of possible routes through the system. A linear programming model is then used to plan a set of routes for each part type so as to minimize either the material handling requirement or the maximum workload on any machine. The impact of these tool addition strategies on the material handling and workload equalization is investigated and computational results presented. The advantage of the overall approach is computational simplicity at each step and the ability to react to dynamic changes.This article is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. DMC 85–44993 and DDM 92–15432.This work was done by the author while visiting the SIE Department of the University of Arizona.     

Dynamic control of flexible manufacturing systems

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) are a relatively new technological and organisational approach to helping companies respond to real-time marketing conditions for their production. Under a proposal of the National Bureau of Standards the FMSs are subdivided into virtual manufacturing cells in a dynamic manner, on the basis of group technology.A method of dynamic optimisation for the design of manufacturing processes, capacity balancing and checking, and also production scheduling or rescheduling in virtual manufacturing cells is described. It can be used during real-time production control in FMSs.     

多资源服务处理系统的活性控制策略

为解决一类具有多资源服务处理制造系统中的死锁问题,提出了利用Petri网描述系统结构和动态特征的方法,以及循环结构的新概念,证明了循环结构是导致系统死锁的惟一结构特征。利用辅助系统Petri网模型,提出了计算系统的所有基本极大循环结构的方法。对每个基本极大循环结构增加一个控制位置及其相关弧以限制其资源的利用,从而有效地避免系统死锁的发生。