This thesis is focused on the application of Component-Based (CB) technology to shop floor devices using a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web Services (WS) for the purpose of realising future generation agile manufacturing systems. The environment of manufacturing enterprises is now characterised by frequently changing market demands, time-to-market pressure, continuously emerging new technologies and global competition. Under these circumstances, manufacturing systems need to be agile and automation systems need to support this agility. More specifically, an open, exible automation environment with plug and play connectivity is needed. Technically, this requires the easy connectivity of hardware devices and software components from different vendors. Functionally, there is a need of interoperability and integration of control functions on different hierarchical levels ranging from field level to various higher level applications such as process control and operations management services. A potential solution is to realise a modular and reconfigurable automation system, based on a platform of reusable components; while simultaneously reducing the number of unique components. For designing such reusable components, a component-based technology has been used in current thesis. The automation components created are active and distributed entities interacting through their data, event and service ports. To communicate these entities, this thesis focuses on applying SOA and WS at device level. SOA and WS have already been proven successful in linking business applications. If SOA can be applied at shop floor using the embedded devices, it can enable entirely new automation architecture based on peer-to-peer interactions between autonomous devices. The adoption of this SOA-WS approach at shop floor level would enable a seamless integration of higher level business applications and shop- floor level system. This will also provide a loosely coupled message-oriented service in embedded device networks and geographically distributed automation system. SOA can be implemented using Web Services on the embedded devices, which will provide even greater exibility and interoperability because WS is platform neutral. This SOA-WS approach will enable end users to operate and maintain the supplied system easily. A key aim of this thesis is to examine if the adoption of SOA-WS at the embedded control devices can provide the same level of message speed and reliability as the current control systems. It is expected that the desired distributed, loosely coupled and reconfigurable automation system can be formed by a network of these collaborative autonomous SOA-WS based devices using an open control platform. This approach has been experimentally evaluated both in terms of quantity and quality using various parameters involved in the design, implementation, evaluation and recon guration of SOA-WS based automation systems. This has been done using the Ford Festo test rig located at the Manufacturing System Integration Research Institute of Loughborough University. The mechanisms on this test rig represent control problems typically associated in engine assembly and handling machines. Therefore, the result of experimental studies performed on this test rig can be considered applicable to real manufacturing applications.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:570202 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Kaur, Navjot |
| Publisher | Loughborough University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/9445 |
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