SOCRADES: A framework for developing intelligent systems in manufacturing

Nowadays two main reasons are determining the increased number of intelligent systems in manufacturing. The first one is market-driven: demand is more and more variable and mass customization is the new way to compete in manufacturing, requiring feasible reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The second one is technology-pushed: the increasing availability of high-performance, low-power electronic components and the emerging wireless technologies are boosting the creation of intelligent systems (with personal intelligent perception, reasoning, etc.). However research should still be done in intelligent systems¿ field. Since the complexity both of the topic and of the consequences on manufacturing domain, a framework for addressing the overall field should be defined. We propose the framework adopted in SOCRADES, a European research project exploiting service oriented architecture paradigm both at the device and at the application level. Finally the impacts of SOCRADES architecture on manufacturing performance are described and motivated.