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

The process of designing and implementing complex manufacturing machines re lies heavily on the ability of systems designers and end users to provide c onsistent information on the desired and achieved operation of both the phy sical and logical elements that comprise the system. The information requir ed varies throughout the life cycle of the machine implementation, i.e. the emphasis changes from obtaining results of "what if?" scenarios at the req uirements and design stages to obtaining the variation of sensor values and current status of the control logic at the monitoring and operational stag es. The most difficult part of the process is establishing a common represe ntational scheme to facilitate communications between stakeholders. Visual representation and integration of the physical components and contro l logic in complex manufacturing machines in an Integrated Machine Design a nd Control (IMDC) environment is discussed in this paper. The approach take n is unique in that (a) the control logic and physical models of the elemen ts can be investigated individually for correctness and completeness, (b) t he control logic can be easily integrated with the physical models to anima te the modelled physical machine and (c) reconfiguration enables the same c ontrol logic to be applied to real world physical control elements. Further more, the design of the environment has been based around enabling interact ion with machine models rather than passive observation of the system behav iour. At any stage during the machine design and implementation process, th e user of the environment can pause and question the validity of certain op erations and control system parameters. Successful companies must use their manufacturing asa competitive weapon. T he attainment of effective machine visualisation between the stakeholders i n the design and implementation process is an essential element ineffective ly addressing the business need for an agile enterprise. In the context of machine design the term agile enterprise implies rapid response to "unfores een" customer demands, at minimum cost and with maximum confidence in the f inal solution. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.