An approach to enacting business process models in support of the life cycle of integrated manufacturing systems

The complexity of enterprise engineering processes requires the application of reference architectures as means of guiding the achievement of an adequate level of business integration. This research aims to address important aspects of this requirement by associating the formalism of reference architectures to various life cycle phases of integrating manufacturing systems (IMS) and enabling their use in addressing contemporary system engineering issues. In pursuit of this aim, the following research activities were carried out: (1) to devise a framework which supports key phases of the IMS life cycle and (2) to populate part of this framework with an initial combination of architectures which can be encapsulated into a computer-aided systems engineering environment. This has led to the creation of a workbench capable of providing support for modelling, analysis, simulation, rapid-prototyping, configuration and run-time operation of an IMS, based on a consistent set of models associated with the engineering processes involved. The research effort concentrated on selecting and investigating the use of appropriate formalisms which underpin a selection of architectures and tools (i. e. CIM-OSA, Petrinets, object-oriented methods and CIM-BIOSYS), this by designing, implementing, applying and testing the workbench. The main contribution of this research is to demonstrate that it is possible to retain an adequate level of formalism, via computational structures and models, which extend through the IMS life cycle from a conceptual description of the system through to actions that the system performs when operating. The underlying methodology which supported this contribution is based on enacting models of system behaviour which encode important coordination aspects of manufacturing systems. The strategy for demonstrating the incorporation of formalism to the IMS life cycle was to enable the aggregation into a workbench of knowledge of 'what' the system is expected to achieve (i. e. 'problems' to be addressed) and 'how' the system can achieve it (i. e possible 'solutions'). Within the workbench, such a knowledge is represented through an amalgamation of business process modelling and object-oriented modelling approaches which, when adequately manipulated, can lead to business integration

An affordable surround-screen virtual reality display

Building a projection-based virtual reality display is a time, cost, and resource intensive enterprise andmany details contribute to the final display quality. This is especially true for surround-screen displays wheremost of them are one-of-a-kind systems or custom-made installations with specialized projectors, framing, andprojection screens. In general, the costs of acquiring these types of systems have been in the hundreds and evenmillions of dollars, specifically for those supporting synchronized stereoscopic projection across multiple screens.Furthermore, the maintenance of such systems adds an additional recurrent cost, which makes them hard to affordfor a general introduction in a wider range of industry, academic, and research communities.We present a low-cost, easy to maintain surround-screen design based on off-the-shelf affordable componentsfor the projection screens, framing, and display system. The resulting system quality is comparable to significantlymore expensive commercially available solutions. Additionally, users with average knowledge can implement ourdesign and it has the added advantage that single components can be individually upgraded based on necessity aswell as available funds

An approach to resource modelling in support of the life cycle engineering of enterprise systems

Enterprise modelling can facilitate the design, analysis, control and construction of contemporary enterprises which can compete in world-wide Product markets. This research involves a systematic study of enterprise modelling with a particular focus on resource modelling in support of the life cycle engineering of enterprise systems. This led to the specification and design of a framework for resource modelling. This framework was conceived to: classify resource types; identify the different functions that resource modelling can support, with respect to different life phases of enterprise systems; clarify the relationship between resource models and other modelling perspectives provide mechanisms which link resource models and other types of models; identify guidelines for the capture of information - on resources, leading to the establishment of a set of resource reference models. The author also designed and implemented a resource modelling tool which conforms to the principles laid down by the framework. This tool realises important aspects of the resource modeffing concepts so defined. Furthermore, two case studies have been carried out. One models a metal cutting environment, and the other is based on an electronics industry problem area. In this way, the feasibility of concepts embodied in the framework and the design of the resource modelling tool has been tested and evaluated. Following a literature survey and preliminary investigation, the CIMOSA enterprise modelling and integration methodology was adopted and extended within this research. Here the resource modelling tool was built by extending SEWOSA (System Engineering Workbench for Open System Architecture) and utilising the CIMBIOSYS (CINI-Building Integrated Open SYStems) integrating infrastructure. The main contributions of the research are that: a framework for resource modelling has been established; means and mechanisms have been proposed, implemented and tested which link and coordinate different modelling perspectives into an unified enterprise model; the mechanisms and resource models generated by this research support each Pfe phase of systems engineering projects and demonstrate benefits by increasing the degree to which the derivation process among models is automated

Engineering methods and tools for cyber–physical automation systems

Much has been published about potential benefits of the adoption of cyber–physical systems (CPSs) in manufacturing industry. However, less has been said about how such automation systems might be effectively configured and supported through their lifecycles and how application modeling, visualization, and reuse of such systems might be best achieved. It is vitally important to be able to incorporate support for engineering best practice while at the same time exploiting the potential that CPS has to offer in an automation systems setting. This paper considers the industrial context for the engineering of CPS. It reviews engineering approaches that have been proposed or adopted to date including Industry 4.0 and provides examples of engineering methods and tools that are currently available. The paper then focuses on the CPS engineering toolset being developed by the Automation Systems Group (ASG) in the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K. and explains via an industrial case study how such a component-based engineering toolset can support an integrated approach to the virtual and physical engineering of automation systems through their lifecycle via a method that enables multiple vendors' equipment to be effectively integrated and provides support for the specification, validation, and use of such systems across the supply chain, e.g., between end users and system integrators

Integration of the Cimosa and high-level coloured Petri net modelling techniques with application in the postal process using hierarchical dispatching rules

Enterprise processes, i.e. business and manufacturing, rely on enterprise modelling and simulation tools to assess the quality of their structure and performance in an unobtrusive and cost-effective way. Each of these processes is a collaboration of inseparable elements such as resources, information, operations, and organization. In order to provide a more complete assessment of enterprise processes, a simulation approach that allows communication and interaction among these elements needs to be provided. The simulation approach requires an analysis of the performance of each element and its influence on other elements in an object-oriented way. It also needs to have the capability to represent the structures and dynamics of the elements mentioned, and to present the performance assessment comprehensively. This will ensure a more holistic simulation modelling task. These simulation requirements have motivated the investigation of the novel integration of two popular enterprise process modelling methods: Cimosa and high-level coloured Petri net. The Cimosa framework is used to formalize the enterprise modelling procedure in the aspects of representing process elements, structure, behaviours, and relationships. The high-level coloured Petri nets method provides the mechanism to simulate the dynamics of objects and their characteristics, and also to enable communication among the objects. The approach is applied on a postal process model, which involves elements from manufacturing processes, i.e. machine processing (sorting), inventory (storage), product flow, and resource planning. Simulation studies based on the hierarchical dispatching rules show that the integrated approach is able to present vital information regarding the communication method, resource management, and the effect of interactions among these manufacturing process elements, which are not provided by the current modelling system in the postal company. The current paper has presented a novel mechanism, i.e. Cimosa—HCTSPN modelling approach, to extract information on process elements and their interactions. It has also presented the novel hierarchical dispatching rules and contributed to the extension of information that can be represented for a postal process

real time assistance to manual assembly through depth camera and visual feedback

Abstract The current fourth industrial revolution significantly impacts on production processes. The personalized production paradigm enables customers to order unique products. The operators assemble an enormous component variety adapting their process from product to product with limited learning opportunities. Digital technologies are increasingly adopted in production processes to improve performance and quality. Considering this framework, this research proposes a hardware/software architecture to assist in real-time operators involved in manual assembly processes. A depth camera captures human motions in relation with the workstation environment whereas a visual feedback guides the operator through consecutive assembly tasks. An industrial case study validates the architecture