Coordinated logic control for reconfigurable machining systems

Abstract

The coordinated logic control problem for reconfigurable machining systems is considered. Given a reconfigurable machine tool which is composed of a set of machine modules, a reconfigurable control system can be designed from a set of control modules. At the lowest level, there is one control module for each physical machine module. At the highest level, there is a module for the user interface and the process plan. We determine a set of conditions necessary to ensure non-blocking behavior of the control system. Using these conditions, we devise a methodology for constructing modular controllers, and demonstrate via an example.