Intelligent Material Handling Systems: Behavior-Based Control for Autonomous Tending of Manufacturing Workcells

该材料处理项目致力于基于行为的控制，以实现制造机床的自主管理。自动化系统假设所有物体都在它们应该在的地方，传感器和机器按照它们应该的方式工作。未能满足这些假设往往会导致灾难性的失败。促进传感器、计算机和机器集成以自主完成复杂任务的方法，即感知和处理意外事件，根本没有得到很好的发展。该项目提出了一种行为控制策略来完成这些任务。这个想法是基于对自主系统自然发生的例子的观察，比如动物的行为。该策略基于实现多个行为，利用多个传感器和执行器同时工作的优势。这些想法已经在机器人上进行了测试，结果是为在动态变化的非结构化环境中稳健运行提供了一种成功的策略。该项目建议在小批量生产所用机床的维护中使用这种方法，包括在车间工位之间转移工具和部件。根据在这项研究中获得的经验，有望朝着开发设计和建立可用于解决许多通用材料处理问题的综合行为的分层结构的一般方法的长期目标取得进展。*/

This material handling project addresses behavior based control for autonomous tending of manufacturing workcells. Automation systems assume that all objects are where they are supposed to be and that sensors and machines function as they are meant to. Failure to satisfy these assumptions can often result in catastrophic failure. Methodologies that facilitate the integration of sensors, computers and machines in order to autonomously accomplish complex tasks, i.e. sensing and dealing with the unexpected, are not well developed at all. This project proposes a behavioral control strategy to accomplish these tasks. The idea is based on observations of naturally occurring examples of autonomous systems, such as animal behavior. The strategy is based on the implementation of multiple behaviors taking advantage of multiple sensors and actuators functioning concurrently. Such ideas have been tested on robots, and the result has been to provide a successful strategy for robust operation in dynamically changing, unstructured environments. This project proposes to use this approach in the tending of machine tools used for low volume batch manufacturing, including the transfer of tool and parts among stations on the shop floor. With the experience gained in this research, progress is expected towards the long term goal of developing a general methodology for designing and building an hierarchical structure of integrated behaviors which can be use to address many generic material handling issues.***//