This paper describes the development of OpenFront, a high-level control architecture that can be used by system configurators/integrators, as well as manufacturing operators, to handle the setup and operation activities of systems consisting of programmable manufacturing devices. The development relies on Internet technologies (including client/server architecture, web browsers and databases) and platform-independent software (e.g., object-oriented software, Java computing, etc.). OpenFront is being implemented in a testbed facility at the Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Machining Systems (ERC/RMS) at the University of Michigan (UM).
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