Structured representation of rule-based specifications in CIM using updated Petri nets

A graphical representation tool-updated Petri nets (UPN)-has been developed to model rule-base specifications for CIM databases. UPN facilitates the modeling of relationships between operations of various manufacturing application systems and the database updates and retrievals among all the respective distributed databases. Based on this representation, a hierarchical modeling technique which includes refining and aggregating rules has also been developed. An application of the UPN is demonstrated in designing rule-based systems for controlling and integrating the information flow between manufacturing applications, including computer aided design, computer aided process planning, manufacturing resources planning, and shop floor control.<
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