Preliminary results and some practical examples of cell configuration, cell control design, reconfiguration, and redesign for flexible manufacturing systems performed by a hybrid expert system are given. The functions of configuration and reconfiguration are derived as the key sequences to be performed with advanced, intelligent control. The CS-PROLOG-based expert system, called ALL-EX, appears to be an effective tool to tackle this problem. An important feature of the expert system, the integrated simulation module, serves as a verification facility in the selection of an adequate configuration. Experimental results are presented.
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