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A component based approach to the design and implementation of distributed control systems for automotive engine manufacturing machines is described in this paper. The research is being undertaken in collaboration with the In-Line and Diesel Engine (IL&DE) division of the Ford Motor Company and several of its leading machine builders. The approach offers significant advantages over traditional methods. The external drivers of change affecting the automotive manufacturing sector are reviewed and the need for a better solution to the design and implementation of control systems is explained within this context. Existing best practise for the implementation of control systems for automotive engine manufacturing machinery is described. The new approach supports the implementation fully distributed control systems where a centralised PLC or PC based controller is not required and the control logic is embedded into the components of the machine.

The COMponent Based Paradigm for AGile Automation (COMPAG) provides a component-based solution to engine production-line machine control systems. The traditional PLC system is replaced with a distributed control network containing intelligent nodes comprising locally controlled actuators and sensors. The Process Definition Environment provides support for the specification, configuration, and maintenance of the machine control application and facilitates both the initial design and maintenance stages of the lifecycle by describing the control logic as a set of consistent timing and state transition diagrams commonly used in the initial design stages.

In the globalization of the automotive businesses, manufacturing companies and their suppliers are forced to distribute the various lifecycle phases in different geographical locations. Misunderstandings arising from the variety of personnel involved, each with different requirements, backgrounds, roles, cultures and skills for example can result in increased cost and development time. To enable collaborating companies to have a common platform for interaction, the COMPANION project at Loughborough University has been undertaken to develop a common model-based environment for manufacturing automotive engines. Through the use of this environment, the stakeholders will be able to “visualize” consistently the evolution of automated systems at every lifecycle stage i.e. requirements definition, specification, design, analysis, build, evaluation, maintenance, diagnostics and recycle.

This paper reports on the development and implementation of a user-oriented interface methodology for Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) on transfer lines and engine assembly machines. This approach to HMI implementation has been developed in conjunction with a Fully Distributed machine Control System (FDCS) that its potential to replace conventional centralised PLC/PC based machine control methods is being investigated by researchers at Loughborough University. The paper also provides a brief description on user and task stereotype models defined for a domain of automotive industry and explains the use of software components to develop a prototype HMI for a machine test rig.

A method to enable the impact of a novel component based approach to the implementation of production machinery design and build processes from the perspectives of the manufacturing engineering partners within the automotive industry is reported in this paper. The assessment method is based upon the representation (using CIMOSA based constructs) and simulation (using the ithinktm software package) of the activity, actor and event relationships between distributed partners when involved in a global engine manufacture programme. Assessment is vital to ensure that the impact of any novel approach is appreciated in terms and metrics that are consistent with the current operational and interaction paradigms. Without this information is it extremely difficult for the engineering partners to appreciate the impact of changes on their roles, responsibilities and profits and hence determine a roadmap and timescale for the adoption of the changes associated with the novel technology.