EAGER: Concurrent Garage Shop Design and Production Using GENI

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This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Reserch (EAGER) award provides funding for the study of a computer network based manufacturing system that will allow a designer to specify, monitor and control the part fabrication process. Computer networks have evolved into a vital part of our everyday life, transforming commerce, communications, and social networking. However, the tremendous capabilities of computer networks have yet to have a substantial impact on the manufacturing sector. The current generation Internet is not suitable for manufacturing process monitoring and control. One of the major shortcomings is that real-time operation cannot be ensured. To overcome this shortcoming different protocols and architectures will be explored. Leveraging the experimental GENI platform, researchers can experiment with next generation networking protocols to determine how they can be most effectively applied to manufacturing applications.If successful, the results of this research will lead to identifying the requirements of networks to be applied to manufacturing, and also to improve protocols and architectures to meet these requirements. The work will focus on small-lot manufacturing, which is of prime importance to the innovator. This research would enable the innovator to expand the entrepreneurial culture of the US at lower cost. A user would no longer need to contact a company and wait for them to fabricate and deliver a final product. They could just select a station, send the product information about the product, and control the process until completion. The goal is to have this occur automatically, without any part-specific human intervention or delay.