Intelligent Material Handling Systems: Intelligent Distributed Control of Material Handling

这是ENG/CEISE在智能材料处理系统方面的联合研究推力的两年持续奖励的第一年。这项研究工作涉及模拟、控制和实现一个实验性的综合物流系统。以下研究问题被认为是智能物料搬运系统成功的关键：使用各种专家软件包的分布式软件体系结构，具有健壮的通信协议；面向对象的软件，用于在不同的抽象层次模拟材料搬运系统；使用各种传感方法规划安全运动和零件获取；用于智能控制操作的实时传感器处理算法；处理由于各种来源引起的不确定性的方法；在两个“微型工厂”对概念进行测试和验证；以及定制末端执行器和夹具的快速原型，以处理特定部件。这项研究涉及使用通用接口协议在各种处理器上运行的多个专家程序的集成。该专家包括一个用于操纵器建模和运动仿真与控制的软件包、两个用于控制和传感器处理的实时多处理器、一个视觉软件包、一个机械设计软件包和一个NC机床代码生成器。这些系统将通过CPU进程间通信协议进行通信，该协议已在许多系统中成功演示。此外，在伯克利开发的BLOCLS面向对象模拟包将用于在多个级别对实际系统进行建模，并从信息流、物料流和容错方面验证和改进设计。最终，集团将对实际的材料处理系统进行一些高级别的监测和控制。

This is the first year of a two-year continuing award in the joint ENG/CISE research thrust in Intelligent Material Handling Systems. This research effort involves simulation, control, and implementation of an experimental integrated material handling systems. The following research issues, felt to be critical to the success of intelligent material handling systems, are studied: Distributed software architecture using a variety of expert software packages, with robust communication protocols; Object-oriented software for simulation of material handling systems at various levels of abstraction; Planning of safe motion and part acquisition using a variety of sensing methods; Real-time sensor processing algorithms for intelligent control of operations; Methods for dealing with uncertainty due to a variety of sources; Testing and validation of concepts in two "microfactories;" and Rapid prototyping of custom end-effectors and fixtures to handle particular parts. The research involves integration of a number of specialist programs, running on a variety of processors, using a versatile interface protocol. The specialist include a package for handler modeling and motion simulation and control, two real-time multiprocessors for control and sensor processing, a vision package, a mechanical design package, and an NC machine code generator. These systems will communicate via the CPU interprocess communication protocol, which has been successfully demonstrated with many of the systems. In addition, the BLOCS object-oriented simulation package, which was developed at Berkeley, will be used to model the actual system at several levels and to validate and improve the design in terms of information flow, material flow, and error tolerance. Eventually, BLOCS will perform some high-level monitoring and control of the actual material handling systems.