Automated control synthesis for an assembly line using discrete event system control theory

In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the supervisory control theory in manufacturing systems, an educational test-bed that simulates an automated car assembly line has been built using LEGO blocks. Finite automata are used for modeling operations of the assembly line, and for the specifications that accomplish the task of successfully completing the assembly repeatedly. We use supervisory control techniques for automatically deriving a supervisor that enforces the specifications while offering the maximum flexibility of assembly. Subsequently, a controller is extracted from this supervisor for the purpose of implementing the control by selecting, when possible, only one controllable event from among the ones allowed by the supervisor