IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2010
Unlike manufacturing technology for semiconductors and printed circuit boards, the market for tra... more Unlike manufacturing technology for semiconductors and printed circuit boards, the market for traditional micro assembly lacks a clear public roadmap. More agile manufacturing strategies are needed in an environment in which dealing with change becomes a rule instead of an exception. In this paper, an attempt is made to bring production with universal micro assembly cells to the next level. This is realised by placing a larger number of cells, called Equiplets, in a “Grid”. Equiplets are compact and low-cost manufacturing platforms that can be reconfigured to a broad number of applications. Benchmarking Equiplet production has shown reduced time to market and a smooth transition from R&D to Manufacturing. When higher production volumes are needed, more systems can be placed in parallel to meet the manufacturing demand. Costs of product design changes in the later stage of industrialisation have been reduced due to the modular production in grids, which allows the final design freeze to be postponed as late as possible. The need for invested capital is also pushed backwards accordingly.
Customized, on-demand manufacturing is growing through the use of new paradigms and technologies.... more Customized, on-demand manufacturing is growing through the use of new paradigms and technologies. Agile Manufacturing, cyber physical systems, and reconfigurable systems are examples of these changes. To provide high-mix, low-volume production there is a need for dynamic behaviour and manufacturing machines that can handle a large variety of services. Manufacturing systems can be made more dynamic by using agent-based technology. However, the reconfigurable aspect of these machines has yet to be explored. This paper investigates the possibility to adapt, i.e., reconfigure the hardware of manufacturing machines based on the current manufacturing demand. Using a simulation for a working agent-based platform with reconfiguration capabilities, this paper validates the effects of reconfigurable hardware to change capacity when producing a variety of products in a dynamic production environment. The paper continues to investigate required strategies to effectively use reconfiguration and ...
At the Utrecht University of Applied Science we are developing an agent-based software infrastruc... more At the Utrecht University of Applied Science we are developing an agent-based software infrastructure for agile industrial manufacturing of microdevices. This manufacturing is done on special devices called equiplets. A grid of these equiplets connected by a fast network is capable of producing an variety of different products in parallel. The multi-agent-based software infrastructure is responsible for the agile manufacturing. To test our concepts, a simulation was build based on the Jade framework, a Java-based framework for distributed multiagent systems.
Zes lectoren van Hogeschool Utrecht schreven elk een essay over de ontwikkeling van de beroepspra... more Zes lectoren van Hogeschool Utrecht schreven elk een essay over de ontwikkeling van de beroepspraktijk in hun werkveld. Daaraan gekoppeld hebben wij talentvolle hbo-professionals uit datzelfde vakgebied geïnterviewd over de vraag wat zij geleerd hebben op de hogeschool, hoe ze dat in de praktijk toepassen en wat zij nu verder in de praktijk leren. De zes auteurs zijn: Piet Bakker, lector Crossmedia Content, Elly de Bruijn, lector Beroepsonderwijs, Lia van Doorn, lector Innovatieve Maatschappelijke Dienstverlening, Erik Puik, lector Microsysteemtechnologie/Embedded Systems, Hein Roelfsema, lector International Business and Innovation en Marieke Schuurmans, lector Verpleegkundige en Paramedische Zorg voor Mensen met Chronische Aandoeningen.
This paper proposes a new software architecture that enables the next level of 'agile' pr... more This paper proposes a new software architecture that enables the next level of 'agile' product manufacturing. In this architecture, every individual object and system is represented by autonomous software entities, called ‘agents’. The control software of the manufacturing equipment does not control the manufacturing process directly anymore. Instead, the agents create a non-deterministic system where entities have their own desire; Products wish to be produced and manufacturing machines wish to offer services to the products that want to be manufactured. The goal for this agent based architecture is to create a dynamic production environment in which new products can quickly be introduced in the industrialization process, realizing shorter time to market and making it possible for smaller batches of products to be industrialized, while lowering the complexity of the software necessary for this agile manufacturing approach.
Grid Manufacturing (GM) is a new production paradigm, based upon the use of standardized and modu... more Grid Manufacturing (GM) is a new production paradigm, based upon the use of standardized and modular Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). In GM all systems have virtual software counterparts that act autonomously. This includes both modular manufacturing equipment, as the products themselves. The control system required for this approach is based upon a distributed and hybrid architecture using agent technology. In this paper we look at the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) part of this system. The paper discusses the proposed control architecture, introduces ways to standardize state representation and shows a solution to the challenge of representing and controlling the states of distributed systems, with a focus on safety.
In standard mass production, batch processing is widely accepted. The advantage of batch processi... more In standard mass production, batch processing is widely accepted. The advantage of batch processing is that production equipment can be placed in a so called production line. A product only has to follow this line and all production steps will be performed. However, this setup is not adequate for low cost small quantity production. In this paper, agile production of small quantities in a grid of reconfigurable production machines called equiplets is described. One of the challenges in this approach is the transport of the product between the equiplets during production. This paper describes some heuristic methods to reduce the average path a product has to follow in the production grid.
Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) provide a new step for Agile Manufacturing. RMS consis... more Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) provide a new step for Agile Manufacturing. RMS consist of modular manufacturing systems that can be customized for the latest product demand. There are many research projects concerning RMS. However, not many implementations have made it into industry. The requirements of the control software is an important aspect, which has unique aspects to create maximum flexibility that becomes very complex for the software to control. To deal with this challenge, the software needs to have high performance and show intelligent properties to create more flexibility. This paper discusses these properties, the basic performance, and it shows how a hybrid system, using Robot Operating System (ROS), MongoDB, and Java Agent Development Framework (JADE) could be the basis for further development and be made feasible for industrial use.
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2010
Unlike manufacturing technology for semiconductors and printed circuit boards, the market for tra... more Unlike manufacturing technology for semiconductors and printed circuit boards, the market for traditional micro assembly lacks a clear public roadmap. More agile manufacturing strategies are needed in an environment in which dealing with change becomes a rule instead of an exception. In this paper, an attempt is made to bring production with universal micro assembly cells to the next level. This is realised by placing a larger number of cells, called Equiplets, in a “Grid”. Equiplets are compact and low-cost manufacturing platforms that can be reconfigured to a broad number of applications. Benchmarking Equiplet production has shown reduced time to market and a smooth transition from R&D to Manufacturing. When higher production volumes are needed, more systems can be placed in parallel to meet the manufacturing demand. Costs of product design changes in the later stage of industrialisation have been reduced due to the modular production in grids, which allows the final design freeze to be postponed as late as possible. The need for invested capital is also pushed backwards accordingly.
Customized, on-demand manufacturing is growing through the use of new paradigms and technologies.... more Customized, on-demand manufacturing is growing through the use of new paradigms and technologies. Agile Manufacturing, cyber physical systems, and reconfigurable systems are examples of these changes. To provide high-mix, low-volume production there is a need for dynamic behaviour and manufacturing machines that can handle a large variety of services. Manufacturing systems can be made more dynamic by using agent-based technology. However, the reconfigurable aspect of these machines has yet to be explored. This paper investigates the possibility to adapt, i.e., reconfigure the hardware of manufacturing machines based on the current manufacturing demand. Using a simulation for a working agent-based platform with reconfiguration capabilities, this paper validates the effects of reconfigurable hardware to change capacity when producing a variety of products in a dynamic production environment. The paper continues to investigate required strategies to effectively use reconfiguration and ...
At the Utrecht University of Applied Science we are developing an agent-based software infrastruc... more At the Utrecht University of Applied Science we are developing an agent-based software infrastructure for agile industrial manufacturing of microdevices. This manufacturing is done on special devices called equiplets. A grid of these equiplets connected by a fast network is capable of producing an variety of different products in parallel. The multi-agent-based software infrastructure is responsible for the agile manufacturing. To test our concepts, a simulation was build based on the Jade framework, a Java-based framework for distributed multiagent systems.
Zes lectoren van Hogeschool Utrecht schreven elk een essay over de ontwikkeling van de beroepspra... more Zes lectoren van Hogeschool Utrecht schreven elk een essay over de ontwikkeling van de beroepspraktijk in hun werkveld. Daaraan gekoppeld hebben wij talentvolle hbo-professionals uit datzelfde vakgebied geïnterviewd over de vraag wat zij geleerd hebben op de hogeschool, hoe ze dat in de praktijk toepassen en wat zij nu verder in de praktijk leren. De zes auteurs zijn: Piet Bakker, lector Crossmedia Content, Elly de Bruijn, lector Beroepsonderwijs, Lia van Doorn, lector Innovatieve Maatschappelijke Dienstverlening, Erik Puik, lector Microsysteemtechnologie/Embedded Systems, Hein Roelfsema, lector International Business and Innovation en Marieke Schuurmans, lector Verpleegkundige en Paramedische Zorg voor Mensen met Chronische Aandoeningen.
This paper proposes a new software architecture that enables the next level of 'agile' pr... more This paper proposes a new software architecture that enables the next level of 'agile' product manufacturing. In this architecture, every individual object and system is represented by autonomous software entities, called ‘agents’. The control software of the manufacturing equipment does not control the manufacturing process directly anymore. Instead, the agents create a non-deterministic system where entities have their own desire; Products wish to be produced and manufacturing machines wish to offer services to the products that want to be manufactured. The goal for this agent based architecture is to create a dynamic production environment in which new products can quickly be introduced in the industrialization process, realizing shorter time to market and making it possible for smaller batches of products to be industrialized, while lowering the complexity of the software necessary for this agile manufacturing approach.
Grid Manufacturing (GM) is a new production paradigm, based upon the use of standardized and modu... more Grid Manufacturing (GM) is a new production paradigm, based upon the use of standardized and modular Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). In GM all systems have virtual software counterparts that act autonomously. This includes both modular manufacturing equipment, as the products themselves. The control system required for this approach is based upon a distributed and hybrid architecture using agent technology. In this paper we look at the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) part of this system. The paper discusses the proposed control architecture, introduces ways to standardize state representation and shows a solution to the challenge of representing and controlling the states of distributed systems, with a focus on safety.
In standard mass production, batch processing is widely accepted. The advantage of batch processi... more In standard mass production, batch processing is widely accepted. The advantage of batch processing is that production equipment can be placed in a so called production line. A product only has to follow this line and all production steps will be performed. However, this setup is not adequate for low cost small quantity production. In this paper, agile production of small quantities in a grid of reconfigurable production machines called equiplets is described. One of the challenges in this approach is the transport of the product between the equiplets during production. This paper describes some heuristic methods to reduce the average path a product has to follow in the production grid.
Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) provide a new step for Agile Manufacturing. RMS consis... more Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) provide a new step for Agile Manufacturing. RMS consist of modular manufacturing systems that can be customized for the latest product demand. There are many research projects concerning RMS. However, not many implementations have made it into industry. The requirements of the control software is an important aspect, which has unique aspects to create maximum flexibility that becomes very complex for the software to control. To deal with this challenge, the software needs to have high performance and show intelligent properties to create more flexibility. This paper discusses these properties, the basic performance, and it shows how a hybrid system, using Robot Operating System (ROS), MongoDB, and Java Agent Development Framework (JADE) could be the basis for further development and be made feasible for industrial use.
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