The development of a resillent control system for flexible manufacturing cells.

The aim of the research is to develop a Resilient Control System for Flexible Manufacture. The research previously carried out in this area by P. Gray claims to have produced a methodology to develop dependable software for the control of a Flexible Manufacturing Cell (FMC).The MPhil work has consisted of an extensive literature search in the fields of Flexible Manufacturing Cells, Parallel Processing, Transputers and Petri Nets. The work to date has also given Gray's methodology a thorough investigation. These are discussed further in the body of this report.The FMC at the School of Engineering (S.O.E.) forms the basis of the research. The control of the FMC is divided into three levels as follows: Level 1; the control of sensors, actuators etc. using PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers). Level 2; the control of m/c tools, robots and PLCs controlling Level 1. Level 3; decision making levelHowever Gray's methodology gives no consideration to Level 1 or the possible errors occurring within the FMC. An FMC is an environment in which the reliability of its constituent elements cannot be guaranteed. The work to date has focused on the complete and smooth operation of the devices in Level 1, constantly testing them and monitoring any errors occurring during the process. All PLCs in this level were reprogrammed to accommodate these or any other possible errors occurring during the control of the FMC.The MPhil work to date has also consisted of the completion of the School's FMC which included the fixture and PLC programming of the Gantry Robot. In addition the appropriate Transputer and interfacing hardware to carry out the control of Levels 2 and 3 was investigated and chosen. The hardware will be used for the development and control of the FMC at all three levels to achieve a resilient control system during the PhD phase of the project.The report provides evidence that the development of dependable software concentrating on Levels 2 and 3 is not adequate for the control of a system such as a Flexible Manufacturing Cell.However Gray's methodology has potential for modular growth. The PhD work will produce a methodology for the development of a resilient Transputer based system accounting for all levels of the control. The system will include an Error Handling process concurrently with the Decision Making and Status Handling processes and will handle errors effectively and safely.It is my belief that the future work will produce a methodology for the development of highly efficient Flexible Manufacturing Cells. The work is novel and will be a contribution to knowledge.