PFF/PECASE: Hardware-Based Simulator for Real-Time Control and Optimization of Flexible Manufacturing Systems

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*** 9629152 Chen The major research thrust for the awardee during the period of this award will be to investigate an innovative approach that might enable revolutionary advances in microprocessor-based digital circuit simulation for design and real-time control of advanced manufacturing systems. The core of the hardware-based simulator is a microprocessor-based digital circuit board that is comprised of a collection of "micro control boxes" mimicking the complete array of machinery and equipment of a flexible manufacturing system such as workcenters, transporters, and load/unload stations. For each micro control box, the operating logic of the designated resource (equipment/machinery) such as processing times for different parts, expected breakdown frequency and recovery time will be captured via micro-programs. By using microprocessors for each of the resources, a printed circuit board (PCB) can be designed and built to represent the total functions and operating conditions of a flexible manufacturing system. A laboratory flexible manufacturing system will be acquired and implemented at the early stage of the project to serve as an experimental testbed for the development of the proposed hardware-based simulator. If successful, results of this research will advance simulation technology for real-time control and optimization of advanced manufacturing systems. This research will also assist agile and lean production processes. This technology could become an integrated tool to realize the virtual reality (VR) manufacturing technologies now being tested by a few pioneering applications. ***