GOALI: Real-Time Control of Production Systems for Energy-Efficient Manufacturing: Theory and Applications

GOALI学术联络机会奖的研究目标是开发一种定量分析生产系统能耗的理论；利用该理论开发机器启动/关闭和预防性维护计划的实时反馈控制器，以确保所需的生产率和最小的能源消耗；并将结果应用于通用汽车制造工厂的车间。具体地说，将研究具有受控启停和预防性维护的生产系统的性能分析、瓶颈识别、最优控制和应用问题。研究的方法将基于对以马尔可夫过程为特征的系统的分析研究，以及对非马尔科夫系统的数值实验。这项研究的成果将是生产系统生产率和能源绩效的集成模型，基于测量的能源瓶颈指标和算法，用于机器启停的实时反馈控制器，以及在期望的生产能力下最大限度地减少能源消耗的预防性维护计划。如果研究成功，研究结果将为制造系统的生产率和能源绩效的综合分析建立一个新的分析框架。此外，研究结果将为成本、生产率和能源消耗的综合研究提供坚实的基础。这项研究将为生产车间经理和生产系统设计人员提供严格、量化的工程工具，用于分析、改进和设计节能制造系统，以确保预期的生产率和环境性能。这将提高制造企业的盈利能力和可持续性。最后，该方法也适用于具有可变性和资源消耗问题的其他系统，如医疗保健提供、运输和通信网络等。

The research objective of this Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) award is to develop a theory for quantitative analysis of energy consumption in production systems; to use the theory for the development of real-time feedback controllers of machine startup/shutdown and preventive maintenance schedule to ensure desired productivity with minimal energy consumption; and to apply the results on the factory floor at General Motors manufacturing plants. Specifically, the problems of performance analysis, bottleneck identification, optimal control and applications will be investigated for production systems with controlled startup/shutdown and preventive maintenance. The approach of the research will be based on analytical studies for systems that are characterized by Markov processes, and numerical experiments for non-Markovian systems. The outcomes of this research will be integrated models of productivity and energy performance for production systems, measurement-based energy bottleneck indicators and algorithms for real-time feedback controllers of machine startup/shutdown and preventive maintenance schedules that minimize energy consumption under desired throughput.If successful, the results of the research will establish a novel analytical framework for integrated analysis of productivity and energy performance in manufacturing systems. In addition, the results will provide a solid foundation for an integrated study of cost, productivity and energy consumption. This research will provide production floor managers and production systems designers with rigorous, quantitative engineering tools for analysis, improvement, and design of energy-efficient manufacturing systems to ensure desired productivity and environmental performance. This will lead to increased profitability and sustainability for the manufacturing enterprises. Finally, the methodology is also transformable to other systems with variability and resource consumption issues, such as healthcare delivery, transportation, and communication networks, etc.