An environment for specification, design, operation, maintenance, and revision of manufacturing control systems

The Engineering Design Research Centre has been set up by SERC at Glasgow University (in collaboration with Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde universities, Napier College and Paisley College) to conduct fundamental and strategic research into engineering design in all its aspects. As one aspect of this, a project sponsored jointly by the Engineering Design Research Centre and Eurotherm Ltd has been set up to: conduct fundamental research into the modelling, simulation and design of industrial control systems; and to produce a product, based on this research, to assist in the specification, design, operation, maintenance and revision of industrial control systems. The project is, at the time of writing, in its early stages. The paper provides an overview of the project together with a report on initial progress in the area of system modelling and representation