G. Baweja et al., AN OPEN CONTROL-INTERFACE FOR MULTIAXIS MANUFACTURING ENTITIES, International journal of computer integrated manufacturing, 9(6), 1996, pp. 419-433
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Computer Sciences","Computer Science Interdisciplinary Applications","Engineering, Manufacturing","Operatione Research & Management Science
A set of heterogeneous entities is typically used to perform the vario
us operations involved in manufacturing. To reason about these entitie
s requires that a software representation be developed that integrate
with other entities and levels of control functionality that integrati
on should allow. The current software representations of manufacturing
entities, MMS and the ESPRIT approach, lack the ability to robustly m
odel a manufacturing entity. This paper presents a modelling methodolo
gy for multi-axis manufacturing entities. This model, called open cont
rol interface (OCI), provides a mechanism for controlling a multi-axis
manufacturing entity from remote entities and programs. Unlike the tr
aditionally used functional decomposition process to model manufacturi
ng entities, the OCI approach encapsulates both physical and functiona
l characteristics of manufacturing entities into modules that form the
model. The physical modules make the mapping from the model to the ph
ysical components correspond on an almost one-to-one basis, thus easin
g the abstraction process. The separation of functional and physical m
odules also provides potential for simulating the manufacturing entity
to evaluate its suitability for a manufacturing system. The OCI metho
dology provides a formal specification of the modules and their intera
ctions, allowing for formal reasoning about the behaviour of the syste
m.