The visualisation of control logic and physical machine elements within an integrated machine design and control environment

The process of designing and implementing complex manufacturing machines relies heavily on the ability of systems designers and end users to provide consistent information on the desired and achieved operation of both the physical and logical elements that comprise the system. The information required varies throughout the life cycle of the machine implementation, i.e. the emphasis changes from obtaining results of “what if?” scenarios at the requirements and design stages to obtaining the variation of sensor values and current status of the control logic at the monitoring and operational stages. The most difficult part of the process is establishing a common representational scheme to facilitate communications between stakeholders.Visual representation and integration of the physical components and control logic in complex manufacturing machines in an Integrated Machine Design and Control (IMDC) environment is discussed in this paper. The approach taken is unique in that (a) the control logic and physical models of the elements can be investigated individually for correctness and completeness, (b) the control logic can be easily integrated with the physical models to animate the modelled physical machine and (c) reconfiguration enables the same control logic to be applied to real world physical control elements. Furthermore, the design of the environment has been based around enabling interaction with machine models rather than passive observation of the system behaviour. At any stage during the machine design and implementation process, the user of the environment can pause and question the validity of certain operations and control system parameters.Successful companies must use their manufacturing as a competitive weapon. The attainment of effective machine visualisation between the stakeholders in the design and implementation process is an essential element in effectively addressing the business need for an agile enterprise. In the context of machine design the term agile enterprise implies rapid response to “unforeseen” customer demands, at minimum cost and with maximum confidence in the final solution.