A flexible control system for flexible manufacturing systems

A flexible workcell controller has been developed using a three level control hierarchy (workcell, workstation, equipment). The cell controller is automatically generated from a model input by the user. The model consists of three sets of graphs. One set of graphs describes the process plans of the parts produced by the manufacturing system, one set describes movements into, out of and within workstations, and the third set describes movements of parts/transporters between workstations. The controller uses an event driven Petri net to maintain state information and to communicate with lower level controllers. The control logic is contained in an artificial neural network. The Petri net state information is used as the input to the neural net and messages that are Petri net events are output from the neural net. A genetic algorithm was used to search over alternative operation choices to find a "good" solution. The system was fully implemented and several test cases are described

Infobiotics : computer-aided synthetic systems biology

Until very recently Systems Biology has, despite its stated goals, been too reductive in terms of the models being constructed and the methods used have been, on the one hand, unsuited for large scale adoption or integration of knowledge across scales, and on the other hand, too fragmented. The thesis of this dissertation is that better computational languages and seamlessly integrated tools are required by systems and synthetic biologists to enable them to meet the significant challenges involved in understanding life as it is, and by designing, modelling and manufacturing novel organisms, to understand life as it could be. We call this goal, where everything necessary to conduct model-driven investigations of cellular circuitry and emergent effects in populations of cells is available without significant context-switching, “one-pot” in silico synthetic systems biology in analogy to “one-pot” chemistry and “one-pot” biology. Our strategy is to increase the understandability and reusability of models and experiments, thereby avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort, with practical gains in the efficiency of delivering usable prototype models and systems. Key to this endeavour are graphical interfaces that assists novice users by hiding complexity of the underlying tools and limiting choices to only what is appropriate and useful, thus ensuring that the results of in silico experiments are consistent, comparable and reproducible. This dissertation describes the conception, software engineering and use of two novel software platforms for systems and synthetic biology: the Infobiotics Workbench for modelling, in silico experimentation and analysis of multi-cellular biological systems; and DNA Library Designer with the DNALD language for the compact programmatic specification of combinatorial DNA libraries, as the first stage of a DNA synthesis pipeline, enabling methodical exploration biological problem spaces. Infobiotics models are formalised as Lattice Population P systems, a novel framework for the specification of spatially-discrete and multi-compartmental rule-based models, imbued with a stochastic execution semantics. This framework was developed to meet the needs of real systems biology problems: hormone transport and signalling in the root of Arabidopsis thaliana, and quorum sensing in the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our tools have also been used to prototype a novel synthetic biological system for pattern formation, that has been successfully implemented in vitro. Taken together these novel software platforms provide a complete toolchain, from design to wet-lab implementation, of synthetic biological circuits, enabling a step change in the scale of biological investigations that is orders of magnitude greater than could previously be performed in one in silico “pot”

Navigation Techniques for Control of Multiple Mobile Robots

The investigation reported in this thesis attempt to develop efficient techniques for the control of multiple mobile robots in an unknown environment. Mobile robots are key components in industrial automation, service provision, and unmanned space exploration. This thesis addresses eight different techniques for the navigation of multiple mobile robots. These are fuzzy logic, neural network, neuro-fuzzy, rule-base, rule-based-neuro-fuzzy, potential field, potential-field-neuro-fuzzy, and simulated-annealing- potential-field- neuro-fuzzy techniques. The main components of this thesis comprises of eight chapters. Following the literature survey in Chapter-2, Chapter-3 describes how to calculate the heading angle for the mobile robots in terms of left wheel velocity and right wheel velocity of the robot. In Chapter-4 a fuzzy logic technique has been analysed. The fuzzy logic technique uses different membership functions for navigation of the multiple mobile robots, which can perform obs..

Infobiotics : computer-aided synthetic systems biology

Until very recently Systems Biology has, despite its stated goals, been too reductive in terms of the models being constructed and the methods used have been, on the one hand, unsuited for large scale adoption or integration of knowledge across scales, and on the other hand, too fragmented. The thesis of this dissertation is that better computational languages and seamlessly integrated tools are required by systems and synthetic biologists to enable them to meet the significant challenges involved in understanding life as it is, and by designing, modelling and manufacturing novel organisms, to understand life as it could be. We call this goal, where everything necessary to conduct model-driven investigations of cellular circuitry and emergent effects in populations of cells is available without significant context-switching, “one-pot” in silico synthetic systems biology in analogy to “one-pot” chemistry and “one-pot” biology. Our strategy is to increase the understandability and reusability of models and experiments, thereby avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort, with practical gains in the efficiency of delivering usable prototype models and systems. Key to this endeavour are graphical interfaces that assists novice users by hiding complexity of the underlying tools and limiting choices to only what is appropriate and useful, thus ensuring that the results of in silico experiments are consistent, comparable and reproducible. This dissertation describes the conception, software engineering and use of two novel software platforms for systems and synthetic biology: the Infobiotics Workbench for modelling, in silico experimentation and analysis of multi-cellular biological systems; and DNA Library Designer with the DNALD language for the compact programmatic specification of combinatorial DNA libraries, as the first stage of a DNA synthesis pipeline, enabling methodical exploration biological problem spaces. Infobiotics models are formalised as Lattice Population P systems, a novel framework for the specification of spatially-discrete and multi-compartmental rule-based models, imbued with a stochastic execution semantics. This framework was developed to meet the needs of real systems biology problems: hormone transport and signalling in the root of Arabidopsis thaliana, and quorum sensing in the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our tools have also been used to prototype a novel synthetic biological system for pattern formation, that has been successfully implemented in vitro. Taken together these novel software platforms provide a complete toolchain, from design to wet-lab implementation, of synthetic biological circuits, enabling a step change in the scale of biological investigations that is orders of magnitude greater than could previously be performed in one in silico “pot”

The 2004 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program Research Reports

This is the administrative report for the 2004 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP) held at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for the 40th consecutive year. The NFFP offers science and engineering faculty at U.S. colleges and universities hands-on exposure to NASA s research challenges through summer research residencies and extended research opportunities at participating NASA research Centers. During this program, fellows work closely with NASA colleagues on research challenges important to NASA's strategic enterprises that are of mutual interest to the fellow and the Center. The nominal starting and .nishing dates for the 10-week program were June 1 through August 6, 2004. The program was sponsored by NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, and operated under contract by The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Alabama A&M University. In addition, promotion and applications are managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and assessment is completed by Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The primary objectives of the NFFP are to: Increase the quality and quantity of research collaborations between NASA and the academic community that contribute to the Agency s space aeronautics and space science mission. Engage faculty from colleges, universities, and community colleges in current NASA research and development. Foster a greater public awareness of NASA science and technology, and therefore facilitate academic and workforce literacy in these areas. Strengthen faculty capabilities to enhance the STEM workforce, advance competition, and infuse mission-related research and technology content into classroom teaching. Increase participation of underrepresented and underserved faculty and institutions in NASA science and technology

Proceedings of the Conference on Production Systems and Logistics: CPSL 2022

[no abstract available