FORMAL MODELS FOR CONTROL OF FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING CELLS - PHYSICAL AND SYSTEM MODEL

Currently, most control implementations of flexible manufacturing cell s have been developed specific to a particular facility, and no generi c format or tools exist for the systematic planning and creation of co ntrol. This paper presents the first phase of research in automatic ge neration of control software. It focuses on the development of theoret ical foundations and generic issues necessary to understand and implem ent control, Specific formal models are developed for the physical act ivities, system actions, and individual machines comprising the manufa cturing cell. In a subsequent paper, the formal models presented here are used to provide the basis for creating context free control gramma rs which are used to automatically generate software for controlling f lexible manufacturing cells.