Design of integrated manufacturing system control software

A coordinated multifaceted conceptual framework for the development of real-time control software for integrated manufacturing systems is described. Typically, such software is developed using outmoded software tools and is invariably tailored to each manufacturing system. Consequently, it is expensive to develop and maintain, inflexible, and relatively unrealiable. One reason, though certainly not the only one, so few integrated manufacturing systems exist is that control software has been created in this flawed way. A more orderly, rational, and structured approach is obviously needed, and one is described here. The approach is based on a blending of modern software concepts and formal semantic models. The software concepts are 1) the use of software components (extended to include hardware), 2) a common distributed language environment, and 3) generic (i.e., reusable) software. Control software is constructed as an assemblage of components written in the common distributed language. The formal models model the semantics of the assemblages. Generics are used to enhance the reusability of software. The approach was tested using a network of VAX computers as a testbed.