Design and implementation of a function block-based holonic control architecture for a new generation flexible manufacturing system

摘要

In this research work a control architecture which gives response to therequirements of new generation of flexible manufacturing systems in termsof flexibility, reconfigurability, robustness and autonomy is designed andimplemented. To do so the main principles of the Holonic Manufacturingparadigm are applied using the IEC61499 function block (FB) technology.Unlike other similar research proposals, in this work FBs are not relegatedto low-level control but are used to model manufacturing execution andcontrol high-level control tasks. This is done with the objective ofevaluating the viability of using FBs to develop holonic architectures incomparison to more established technologies like multi-agent systems.Moreover, the proposed control architecture also focuses on betterintegrating and exploiting the products’ information to enhance itsflexibility and adaptability. For this STEP-NC (ISO14649) is used to modelricher process plans which include manufacturing alternatives and could beeasily integrated in the control itself.