An integrated approach to modeling distributed manufacturing control and human operators

Manufacturing systems are experiencing several trends which are increasing the importance of the control system as a component of the overall manufacturing system. Among these trends are increased levels of automation, increasing differentiation and customization of products, and increased demands on system performance. A control system must coordinate the various activities of a manufacturing operation so that requirements and performance goals are met. Most manufacturing control systems are distributed in nature and incorporate both computerized controllers and human operators. There are few generic modeling approaches, however, which represent interactions between these manufacturing control entities. This research proposes a modeling approach which synthesizes a generic architecture for modeling computerized manufacturing control and the operator function model (OFM), a methodology to model operator actions and tasks in complex systems. This approach is based on an underlying client-server representation and has the potential to facilitate design and prototyping of manufacturing control systems.