Optimization of Robotized Tasks for the UV-C Treatment of Diseases in Horticulture

Robots are used in several economic fields such as industry, hospitalization and agriculture. This latter, knows a real revolution concerning the robotization of its tasks because of their painfulness and/or dangerousness for humans as well as the desertion of human worker from the agricultural sector. Several research works interested to agricultural robots, aim to optimize plants treatment against diseases [Oberti et al., 2016] and harvesting [Southall et al., 2002] of crops. Recent researches in horticulture reveal that the use of type-C ultraviolet (UV-C) treatment against powdery mildew is a sustainable alternative to chemical treatment. The robotization of UV-C treatment in the horticulture field become a necessity due to the hardness of this kind of treatment manually. A new robot (called UV-Robot) is developed to ensure this treatment, while guaranteeing the safety of the human operator against the UV-C radiation. It is able to perform several levels of UV-C treatments by varying its speed when passing behind plants. The robot is wireless and uses a battery that limits the number of plants treated before it needs to be recharged. The scheduling of UV-Robot tasks represent a real challenge regarding the complexity of the system, the constraint concerning its battery capacity, the procedure of treatment and the dynamic level of diseases

UV-Robot supervision system design and development

Introducing the supervision system architecture of an agricultural robotic system enable the improved performance overcoming the complexity that current autonomous robots face due to the dynamic and unstructured agriculture environment. This requires the design of a human-robot interface. When designing a user interface several principles must be considered aiming to improve the usability of the user interface. This paper describes the design of the GUI web application and the coverage planner suitable for controlling the UV-Robot for typical coverage style greenhouse mildew treatment operations. The cross-platform user interface allows the farmer to specify their farm including fields, roads and docking stations, as well as controlling the whole operation. The contribution of this paper is to specify the design guidelines and the development of a user interface for a human-agricultural robot, in the case of UV treatment. Along with identifying the supervision system architecture and the communication control development, connecting the farmer, the UV-Robot and the cloud server associated

PLM adoption in SMEs context

The increasing market needs and technologies evolution, push companies to develop competitive advantages based on adequate and intensive use of information technology and communication (ICT). However, SMEs do not realize the importance of ICT adoption, which becomes vital for the development, and are not always well equipped to adopt and integrate them to their activities. The paper focused on issues regarding the ICT adoption, especially PLM solutions by SMEs. By analyzing the PLM definitions and works done, we explored indicators that impact positively or negatively ICT and PLM adoption. This paper proposes a model, currently theoretical, with empirical validation proposal through a survey

Contribution à la modélisation, simulation et pilotage des systèmes complexes

A complex system is made up of many components whose behaviour is emerging "the whole system is more than the sum of its parts", i.e. the behaviour of the system cannot simply be deduced from the behaviour of its components. Complexity is a word that is used frequently in my previous current and future research works. Since the doctoral thesis, I have focused my research work on the improvement of production systems, which are becoming increasingly complex, particularly with the introduction of the concept of industry 4.0. I have divided my work into four parts that focus on optimizing the operation of flexible production workshops and improving renewable energy production systems. The first part presents my work on the development of dynamic risk-based inspection plans. This contribution wan implemented in semiconductor production workshops, which represent one of the most complex production systems. The second part concerns my work on the development of renewable energy production systems, in particular the maintenance of offshore wind turbines and systems for the treatment of packaged bio-waste. The third part of my work concerns the optimization of the transport task in flexible production workshops. The fourth part focuses on the collection and use of industrial data. This is achieved by optimizing sensor placement, distributing data processing and using data such as location for dynamic production scheduling.I also present my short-, medium- and long-term research perspectives in the field of optimizing systems for the production of goods or renewable energy by taking into account the environmental aspect and focusing on decision-making aspects at its different levels (strategic, tactical and operational).Un système complexe est formé de nombreux composants dont le comportement est émergent « le tout est plus que la somme de ses parties », c’est-à-dire que le comportement du système ne peut être simplement déduit du comportement de ses composants. La complexité est un mot qui revient très fréquemment dans les travaux de recherche que j’ai menés jusqu’à maintenant et que je compte poursuivre. Depuis la thèse de doctorat, j’ai orienté mes travaux de recherche vers le pilotage et l’amélioration des systèmes de production qui deviennent de plus en plus complexes, notamment avec l’introduction du concept de l’industrie 4.0. J’ai classé mes travaux en quatre parties qui tournent autour de l’optimisation du fonctionnement des ateliers de productions flexibles et l’amélioration des systèmes de production d’énergies renouvelables. La première partie présente mes travaux sur le développement de plans d’inspections dynamiques basés sur le risque. Cette contribution a été appliquée aux ateliers de production de semi-conducteurs qui représentent l’un des systèmes de production les plus complexes. La deuxième partie concerne mes travaux sur le développement des systèmes de production d’énergies renouvelables, notamment la maintenance des éoliennes offshores et les systèmes de traitement des bio-déchets conditionnés. La troisième partie de mes travaux concerne l’optimisation de la tâche de transport dans les ateliers de production flexibles. La quatrième partie de mes travaux est concentrée sur la collecte et l’exploitation des données industrielles. Ceci est concrétisé avec l’optimisation du placement de capteurs, la distribution du traitement de données et l’exploitation de données telles que la localisation pour l’ordonnancement dynamique de la production.J’expose aussi mes perspectives de recherche à court, moyen et long termes dans le domaine de l’optimisation des systèmes de production de biens ou d’énergies renouvelables en prenant en compte l’aspect environnemental et en s’intéressant aux aspects décisionnels dans ses différents niveaux (stratégique, tactique et opérationnel)

Réseaux Bayésiens pour la classification des causes de défaillances : Application aux systèmes à événements discrets complexes

International audienceCet article propose une méthode d'identification et de vérification des dérives de fonctionnement au sein des usines de fabrication des circuits intégrés. L'objectif ici est de proposer un classifieur de causes de défaillances, chacune de ces variables dépendant d'un ensemble de paramètres mesurés. Le modèle proposé est structuré sous la forme d'un graphe probabiliste Bayésien Naïf, ses entrées (paramètres et structures) sont fixées respectivement par des données acquises en ligne et de la connaissance des experts. Les classes recherchées sont modélisées par des variables latentes non mesurées. L'apprentissage de ce réseau probabiliste est assuré par l'algorithme EM (Expectation-Maximisation). L'objectif à terme de nos travaux consiste à la proposition d'un modèle Bayésien pour la prédiction de l'état de santé des équipements de fabrication. Notre contribution réside dans la proposition d'un outil de simulation permettant aux experts de la salle blanche de suivre progressivement le procédé et de prendre des décisions s'il le faut

Simulation-based optimization of sampling plans to reduce inspections while mastering the risk exposure in semiconductor manufacturing

International audienc

An Application of Distributed Simulation for Hybrid Modeling of Offshore Wind Farms

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author. Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).The complexity of systems and their multi-faceted relationships mean that the combined application of simulation methods, or hybrid simulation, will enable synergies across techniques and will provide greater insights to problem solving. In this paper we present a hybrid simulation case study in which two models have been developed; an Agent-Based Simulation (ABS) and a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES). The models simulate the operations of offshore wind turbines, with the ABS modelling turbine failure (through, among other things, simulating a degradation model of turbine components) and the DES modelling Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) strategies. The models have been implemented in NetLogo and Simul8 respectively. In this paper we review strategies for the interoperation of our hybrid ABS-DES model and discuss the advantages of using the IEEE 1516 HLA standard for distributed simulation for dynamic information exchange and synchronized model execution.Acknowledgement is made to European Union for the support of this research through the European Program INTERREG IVA France-Channel-UK by funding project entitled MER Innovate

Smart sampling for risk reduction and delay optimisation

International audienceBecause semiconductor manufacturing processes are very long and complex, needing several hundreds of individual steps to produce the final component, early detection of potential defects or losses is very important. Metrology is thus a key step in the fabrication line. Whereas a 100% inspection rate would be ideal in theory, the cost of the measurement tools hence cycle time losses due to this measurements would completely inhibit such an approach. This paper studies the impact of the reduction of the inspection sampling rate on performances of the production system. The evolution of the Wafer at Risk (W@R) is used as a performance indicator of the sampling strategy. The process-to-metrology delay is also considered in order to evaluate the risk exposure for process tools

Multi-period optimal schedule of a multi-product pipeline: A case study in Algeria

International audienceThe oil supply chain plays a vital role for both economic and social sectors in Algeria. Pipeline is the main oil transportation mode from production sites to distribution centers. However, finding the optimal schedule for a multi-product pipeline is among the most difficult optimization problems. In this article, we propose an operational schedule for a long-term horizon for a multi-product pipeline system. In our model, we link a refinery to multiple storage and distribution fuel centers. The proposed approach aims to satisfy the demands of different distribution centers in a timely manner by respecting quality and cost requirements. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed and solved by a branch and cut algorithm. Our model is tested on a real case of an Algerian oil company. The obtained schedule satisfies variable demand while respecting quality and cost requirements