Integrated and intelligent control system for a flexible manufacturing cell

This paper presents a detailed discussion of a number of important issues associated with an integrated intelligent control system (IICS) using a knowledge-based approach for a flexible manufacturing cell (FMC). The architecture of the system consists of several functional modules for design, planning, sensing, control, error recovery and the actions of the cell´s devices. These modules are: the CAD-based user interface; the product data model; a process planner module; a knowledge based system; a cell organiser module; the sensory system; the control module; and an error detection and recovery module. All are linked together in a structure which is based on a three level, hierarchical, intelligent-machine architecture. The developed system in total is capable of performing various manufacturing tasks without requiring any human support, even under the influence of uncertain or unexpected conditions