A framework for smart production-logistics systems based on CPS and industrial IoT

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has received increasing attention from both academia and industry. However, several challenges including excessively long waiting time and a serious waste of energy still exist in the IIoT-based integration between production and logistics in job shops. To address these challenges, a framework depicting the mechanism and methodology of smart production-logistics systems is proposed to implement intelligent modeling of key manufacturing resources and investigate self-organizing configuration mechanisms. A data-driven model based on analytical target cascading is developed to implement the self-organizing configuration. A case study based on a Chinese engine manufacturer is presented to validate the feasibility and evaluate the performance of the proposed framework and the developed method. The results show that the manufacturing time and the energy consumption are reduced and the computing time is reasonable. This paper potentially enables manufacturers to deploy IIoT-based applications and improve the efficiency of production-logistics systems

Plasma sprayed titanium coatings with/without a shroud

Abstract: Titanium coatings were deposited by plasma spraying with and without a shroud. The titanium coatings were then assessed by scanning electron microscopy. A comparison in microstructure between titanium coatings with and without the shroud was carried out. The results showed that the shroud played an important role in protecting the titanium particles from oxidation. The presence of the shroud led to a reduction in coating porosity. The reduction in air entrainment with t he shroud resulted in better heating of the particles, and an enhanced microstructure with lower porosity in the shrouded titanium coatings were observed compared to the air plasma sprayed counterpart

Discrete event simulation and virtual reality use in industry: new opportunities and future trends

This paper reviews the area of combined discrete event simulation (DES) and virtual reality (VR) use within industry. While establishing a state of the art for progress in this area, this paper makes the case for VR DES as the vehicle of choice for complex data analysis through interactive simulation models, highlighting both its advantages and current limitations. This paper reviews active research topics such as VR and DES real-time integration, communication protocols, system design considerations, model validation, and applications of VR and DES. While summarizing future research directions for this technology combination, the case is made for smart factory adoption of VR DES as a new platform for scenario testing and decision making. It is put that in order for VR DES to fully meet the visualization requirements of both Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet visions of digital manufacturing, further research is required in the areas of lower latency image processing, DES delivery as a service, gesture recognition for VR DES interaction, and linkage of DES to real-time data streams and Big Data sets

A Methodology for Internet of Things Business Modeling and Analysis using Agent-Based Simulation

Internet of Things (IoT) is a new vision of an integrated network covering physical objects that are able to collect and exchange data. It enables previously unconnected devices and objects to become connected using equipping devices with communication technology such as sensors and radio frequency identification tags (RFID). As technology progresses towards new paradigm such as IoT, there is a need for an approach to identify the significance of these projects. Conventional simulation modeling and data analysis approaches are not able to capture the system complexity or suffer from a lack of data needed that can help to build a prediction. Agent-based Simulation (ABM) proposes an efficient simulation scheme to capture the structure of this dimension and offer a potential solution. Two case studies were proposed in this research. The first one introduces a conceptual case study addressing the use of agent-based simulations to verify the effectiveness of the business model of IoT. The objective of the study is to assess the feasibility of such application, of the market in the city of Orlando (Florida, United States). The second case study seeks to use ABM to simulate the operational behavior of refrigeration units (7,420) in one of largest retail organizations in Saudi Arabia and assess the economic feasibility of IoT implementation by estimating the return on investment (ROI)

Development of Economic Water Usage Sensor and Cyber-Physical Systems Co-Simulation Platform for Home Energy Saving

In this thesis, two Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) approaches were considered to reduce residential building energy consumption. First, a flow sensor was developed for residential gas and electric storage water heaters. The sensor utilizes unique temperature changes of tank inlet and outlet pipes upon water draw to provide occupant hot water usage. Post processing of measured pipe temperature data was able to detect water draw events. Conservation of energy was applied to heater pipes to determine relative internal water flow rate based on transient temperature measurements. Correlations between calculated flow and actual flow were significant at a 95% confidence level. Using this methodology, a CPS water heater controller can activate existing residential storage water heaters according to occupant hot water demand. The second CPS approach integrated an open-source building simulation tool, EnergyPlus, into a CPS simulation platform developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST platform utilizes the High Level Architecture (HLA) co-simulation protocol for logical timing control and data communication. By modifying existing EnergyPlus co-simulation capabilities, NIST’s open-source platform was able to execute an uninterrupted simulation between a residential house in EnergyPlus and an externally connected thermostat controller. The developed EnergyPlus wrapper for HLA co-simulation can allow active replacement of traditional real-time data collection for building CPS development. As such, occupant sensors and simple home CPS product can allow greater residential participation in energy saving practices, saving up to 33% on home energy consumption nationally

Design methodology for smart actuator services for machine tool and machining control and monitoring

This paper presents a methodology to design the services of smart actuators for machine tools. The smart actuators aim at replacing the traditional drives (spindles and feed-drives) and enable to add data processing abilities to implement monitoring and control tasks. Their data processing abilities are also exploited in order to create a new decision level at the machine level. The aim of this decision level is to react to disturbances that the monitoring tasks detect. The cooperation between the computational objects (the smart spindle, the smart feed-drives and the CNC unit) enables to carry out functions for accommodating or adapting to the disturbances. This leads to the extension of the notion of smart actuator with the notion of agent. In order to implement the services of the smart drives, a general design is presented describing the services as well as the behavior of the smart drive according to the object oriented approach. Requirements about the CNC unit are detailed. Eventually, an implementation of the smart drive services that involves a virtual lathe and a virtual turning operation is described. This description is part of the design methodology. Experimental results obtained thanks to the virtual machine are then presented

Discrete-Event Simulation Data Transformation: A Model-Driven Data Integration Approach

Achieving a smooth production system is a complex process that requires the use of commercial discrete event simulation (DES) tools to provide a high flexibility production process, for instance the use of simulation modelling to model a production system. These tools require high levels of cooperation to work together because they are not designed to be integrated and hardly share their data. This research aims to integrate DES tools applied by different manufacturing systems in order to enable them to share their data. This thesis presents data integration from a simulation model point of view because it views data integration between different DES tools models as key steps towards system integration. A new approach has been developed which is called a Model-Driven Data Integration Approach (MDDI), so named because the integration involves the combination of data from different DES tools model sources. The effectiveness of this data integration approach has been demonstrated in a case study undertaken for DES design of a phone production line in the manufacturing industry. However, the application of the MDDI is not limited to this case study: it can also be used for other system and applications. The MDDI approach was tested and evaluated on the basis of this case study. These test cases simulated how the data integration based on different DES tools’ models react to the process of data sharing as they occur in the manufacturing production line. The result is that the MDDI approach best maintains data consistency and integrity and can be adopted by different industries

Design for Six Sigma Digital Model for Manufacturing Process Design

The transition to digital manufacturing has become more important as the quantity and quality of the use of computer systems in manufacturing companies has increased. It has become necessary to model, simulate and analyse all machines, tools, and raw materials to optimise the manufacturing process. It is even better to determine the best possible solution at the stage of defining the manufacturing process by using technologies that analyse data from simulations to calculate an optimal design before it is even built. In this paper, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) principles are applied to analyse different scenarios using digital twin models for simulation to determine the best configuration for the manufacturing system. The simulation results were combined with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to define a model with the best possible overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The OEE parameter reliability was identified as the most influential factor in the final determination of the most effective and economical manufacturing process configuration