Direct manipulation support for flexible manufacturing systems using an object-oriented model

Though interest in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) has demonstrated a spiraling trend, much of the research in the area tends to be fragmentary, in part due to the complexity of problems in the domain, and the multiplicity of solution strategies employed to address them. This paper proposes a comprehensive model for FMS using an object-oriented representation, that permits addressing of individual problems via heuristic solution procedures. The solution process is enhanced through the use of a direct manipulation interface that permits the designer to intervene and control the functioning of the system with minimal syntactic knowledge