An object-based run-time executive for control of flexible manufacturing systems

We present a new design specification of a run-time executive for control of flexible manufacturing system (FMS), building on object-based techniques. Classes required to control FMS activities are defined and implemented based on the strategy which separates the control and information objects from the FMS physical objects. Several control objects which could be served as reusable software elements in implementing case-specific FMSs are identified and defined. The primary objective of our system is to achieve a capability for dynamic reconfiguration to the change of FMS configuration, scheduling and control logic, and communication platform, for the control of FMS. We have used C and C++ as base languages under UNIX environment for implementing this object-based runtime executive.