A Virtual Factory Approach for Design and Implementation of Agile Manufacturing Systems

Worldwide competition among manufacturing enterprises has acted as a driving force for thedesign, development and utilization of manufacturing systems with an increased degree ofagility. In these regards, Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) are considered an intelligentsystems paradigm to meet requirements for agile manufacturing systems. Despite all advantagesof HMS, design and implementation of such control systems for real industrial cases is timeconsuming and requires risky, but careful consideration. While some universities may be able toexpose their students to the latest manufacturing systems and technologies, others may not bethat fortunate due to the lack of financial resources. Because of this, alternative ways forproviding their students with equivalent education and training need to be developed. A potentialsolution for this issue is the adoption of advanced computer technology to facilitate the provisionof flexible manufacturing-related education and training programs. To date, many studies haveshown that the use of computers for teaching and training purposes is feasible and rapidlybecoming an integral part of the general learning process. This paper presents a Virtual Reality(VR) system tool “VR-HMS” developed for training on design of holonic manufacturing controlsystems to enhance the development process. The proposed VR system is a safe approach toteaching the operations of HMS, which is well known as a large-scale and complex systems for anumber of operational and structural reasons. The VR-HMS allows trainees to self-experience onthese systems without the need to work in actual industry

SYSTEM PLANOWANIA I KONTROLI PRODUKCJI Z WYKORZYSTANIEM CZUJNIKÓW TOMOGRAFICZNYCH

The article presents an idea of a production process control system. Advanced automation and control of production processes play a key role in maintaining competitiveness. The proposed solution consists of sensor networks for measurement process parameters, production resources and equipment state. The system uses wired and wireless communication, which gives possibility to acquisition data from existing in enterprise sensors and systems as well as acquisition data from new systems and sensors used to measure all processes, starting from production preparation to the final product. The solution contains process tomography sensors based on electrical capacitance tomography, electrical impedance tomography and ultrasound tomography. The use of tomographic methods enables to manage the intelligent structure of the companies in terms of processes and products. Industrial tomography enables observation of physical and chemical phenomena without the need to penetrate inside. It will enable the optimization and auto-optimization of design processes and production. Such solutions can operate autonomously, monitor and control measurements. All sensors return to the system continuous data about state of processes in some technologically closed objects like fermenters. Process tomography can also be used to acquisition data about a flow of liquids and loose ingredients in pipeline based on transport systems. Data acquired from sensors are collected in data warehouses in order to future processing and building the knowledge base. The results of the data analysis are showed in user control panels and are used directly in the control of the production process to increase the efficiency and quality of the products. Control methods cover issues related to the processing of data obtained from various sensors located at nodes. Monitoring takes place within the scope of acquired and processed data and parameter automation.W artykule przedstawiono ideę systemu kontroli procesu produkcyjnego. Zaawansowana automatyzacja i kontrola procesów produkcyjnych odgrywają kluczową rolę w utrzymaniu konkurencyjności. Proponowane rozwiązanie składa się z sieci czujników do pomiaru parametrów procesu, zasobów produkcyjnych i stanu wyposażenia. System wykorzystuje komunikację przewodową i bezprzewodową, która umożliwia pozyskiwanie danych z istniejących w przedsiębiorstwach czujników i systemów, a także pozyskiwanie danych z nowych systemów i czujników używanych do pomiaru wszystkich procesów, począwszy od przygotowania produkcji do produktu końcowego. Rozwiązanie zawiera czujniki tomografii procesowej oparte na elektrycznej tomografii pojemnościowej, elektrycznej tomografii impedancyjnej i tomografii ultradźwiękowej. Zastosowanie metod tomograficznych umożliwia zarządzanie inteligentną strukturą firm pod względem procesów i produktów. Tomografia przemysłowa umożliwia obserwację zjawisk fizycznych i chemicznych bez potrzeby penetracji wewnątrz. Umożliwi to optymalizację i automatyczną procesów projektowych i produkcji. Takie rozwiązania mogą działać autonomicznie, monitorować i kontrolować pomiary. Wszystkie czujniki przekazują do systemu ciągłe dane o stanie procesów w niektórych technologicznie zamkniętych obiektach, takich jak fermentory. Tomografia procesowa może być również wykorzystywana do pozyskiwania danych o przepływie płynów i luźnych składników w rurociągu w oparciu o systemy transportowe. Dane uzyskane z czujników gromadzone są w hurtowniach danych w celu ich dalszego przetwarzania i budowania bazy wiedzy. Wyniki analizy danych są wyświetlane w panelach sterowania użytkownika i są wykorzystywane bezpośrednio w kontroli procesu produkcyjnego w celu zwiększenia wydajności i jakości produktów. Metody kontroli obejmują zagadnienia związane z przetwarzaniem danych uzyskanych z różnych czujników zlokalizowanych w węzłach. Monitorowanie odbywa się w ramach pozyskanej i przetwarzanej automatyzacji danych i parametrów

mWater prototype #3 analysis and design

In themWater case study prototype #3 it has been used Magentix2 [1, 24, 3, 22, 4, 17] (for more details on Magentix2 see WP7 Deliverables) as the MAS platform for supporting the execution of the MAS system. The platform follows the FIPA standards [14] offering a set of useful mechanisms for the agents to communicate and also tools to allow programming agents in a high level language based on the BDI model. Magentix2 is an open system which facilitates the interaction between heterogeneous agents through FIPA-ACL messages. Also complex interactions can be carried out in a flexible an open way as conversations. The platform offers special structures to allow to use such conversations by considering a set of issues: In each conversation there are always two roles involved: Initiator and Participant. The first is the one who initiates the conversation, and the rest of agents play the Participant role. The conversation can be seen as a direct graph where nodes represent the actions to perform in each step of the conversation and arcs represent the transition between such states. Those steps allow to perform some actions and they can be of different kinds, for example: Begin, Final, Wait, Send, Receive, Action, etc. Conversations have a unique identifier that allows to manage them individually. 1Botti Navarro, VJ.; Garrido Tejero, A.; Giret Boggino, AS.; Noriega, P.; Bexi, A. (2013). mWater prototype #3 analysis and design. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/3212

Design and implementation of a function block-based holonic control architecture for a new generation flexible manufacturing system

In this research work a control architecture which gives response to the requirements of new generation of flexible manufacturing systems in terms of flexibility, reconfigurability, robustness and autonomy is designed and implemented. To do so the main principles of the Holonic Manufacturing paradigm are applied using the IEC61499 function block (FB) technology. Unlike other similar research proposals, in this work FBs are not relegated to low-level control but are used to model manufacturing execution and control high-level control tasks. This is done with the objective of evaluating the viability of using FBs to develop holonic architectures in comparison to more established technologies like multi-agent systems. Moreover, the proposed control architecture also focuses on better integrating and exploiting the products’ information to enhance its flexibility and adaptability. For this STEP-NC (ISO14649) is used to model richer process plans which include manufacturing alternatives and could be easily integrated in the control itself

An engineering framework for Service-Oriented Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Nowadays fully integrated enterprises are being replaced by business networks in which each participant provides others with specialized services. As a result, the Service Oriented Manufacturing Systems emerges. These systems are complex and hard to engineer. The main source of complexity is the number of different technologies, standards, functions, protocols, and execution environments that must be integrated in order to realize them. This paper proposes a framework and associated engineering approach for assisting the system developers of Service Oriented Manufacturing Systems. The approach combines multi-agent system with Service Oriented Architectures for the development of intelligentautomation control and execution of manufacturing systems.Giret Boggino, AS.; Garcia Marques, ME.; Botti Navarro, VJ. (2016). An engineering framework for Service-Oriented Intelligent Manufacturing Systems. Computers in Industry. 81:116-127. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2016.02.002S1161278

Chaordic learning systems: reconceptualising pedagogy for the digital age

This article focuses on an explorative and experimental project seeking to implement Chaordic Learning Systems (CLS) as a pedagogic approach in Higher Education. We outline a project that embraced technologies of Web 2.0 to show how both physical and virtual spaces can be used to support and develop a strong and dynamic learning community in which staff and students work alongside each other to co-produce learning resources. Drawing on theories of Communities of Practice and Situated Learning a new teaching framework was introduced to a Level 5 undergraduate module (7.5 ECTS credits) that had not, until this project, used both face-to-face and online learning tools to engage students in the critical and discursive debates pertaining to sport and physical culture. We undertook this project with the belief that Higher Education should be concerned with answering the calls of an increasingly digital society for whom learning is not restricted by the physical boundaries of the university or the political landscape within which learning finds itself

mWater prototype review

This document reviews our current water policy-making decision-support framework, build on top of a regulated open Multi-Agent System (MAS),mWater [BGG+10, GGG+11], that models a flexible water-rights market. Our simulator focuses on the effect of regulations on demand and thus provides means to explore the interplay of norms and conventions that regulate trading (like trader eligibility conditions, tradeable features of rights, trading periods and price-fixing conventions), the assumptions about agent behaviour (individual preferences and risk attitude, or population profile mixtures) and market scenarios (water availability and use restrictions). A policy-maker would then assess the effects of those interactions by observing the evolution of the performance indicators (efficiency of use, price dynamics, welfare functions) (s)he designs. 1.2 OurBotti Navarro, VJ.; Garrido Tejero, A.; Giret Boggino, AS.; Noriega, P. (2013). mWater prototype review. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/3212

mWater Prototype 3

This report concerns the application of a regulated open Multi-Agent System (MAS), mWater, that uses intelligent agents to simulate a flexible water-right market. Our simulator focuses on demands and, in particular, on the type of regulatory (in terms of norms selection and agents behaviour), and market mechanisms that foster an efficient use of water while also trying to prevent conflicts among parties. In this scenario, a MAS plays a vital role as it allows us to define different norms, agents behaviour and roles, and assess their impact in the market, thus enhancing the quality and applicability of its results as a decision support tool.Botti Navarro, VJ.; Garrido Tejero, A.; Giret Boggino, AS.; Noriega, P.; Gimeno, J. (2013). mWater Prototype 3. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/3212