Rapid prototyping of logic control in industrial automation exploiting the generalized actuator approach

Aim of this work is to present a rapid-prototyping procedure for logic control of automated manufacturing systems. The presented approach relies on the Generalized Actuator concept, by which, during the design phase, it is possible to keep policies separated from actuation mechanisms. This approach is helpful in rapid prototyping because it allows the design of modular/hierarchical control algorithms, leading also to the possibility of validating the controller following a modular and hierarchical strategy. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been shown on a micro flexible manufacturing system.