Modeling system integration of manufacturing automation

Summary form only given. This paper introduces a formal model for integration of automation systems with manufacturing systems. The proposed model provides a means to algorithmically represent and manipulate the various activities, so that system integration can be achieved with minimum redundancy. Automation systems involve various devices such as processing machines and handling or transfer mechanisms, in particular, robots with dexterous hands or custom built grippers. The manufacturing systems consist of machine tools for metal cutting, metal forming, assembly, and various other operations including inspection. Design of automation systems, and the different manufacturing systems are generally conducted independently, and then they are integrated with each other. The model developed in this paper provides a systematic means to represent the activities involved in the various operations, and manipulate them to explore the integrated solutions. The approach holds significant promise as it forms a basis for the development of software tools for system integration.