Study on the agile modeling technology for manufacturing system simulation

Aiming at the complexity of the simulation model for the agile layout of manufacturing system, an agile modeling and simulation technology is proposed based on Hierarchical Object-oriented Timed Colored Petri Net (HOTCPN) and eM-Plant software to convert workshop layout model into simulation model. HOTCPN and eM-Plant are both based on the hierarchical object-oriented method. Due to the structure similarity between HOTCPN model and eM-Plant model, the mapping relations between them are established and an automatic converting platform has been developed. Based on the developed platform, the control logic in the HOTCPN model of manufacturing system can be automatically translated into the control logic of eM-Plant simulation model, so that the rapid transform of layout model to simulation model is achieved. Finally, a manufacturing cell example is used to validate the presented method.