An object-oriented knowledge representation for hierarchical real-time control of flexible manufacturing

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate how a knowledge base can be constructed and used for real-time control of tool loading in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). A procedure for dynamic tool loading is delineated to support variable production requirements expressed as a master production schedule (MPS). The main emphasis of this work is to propose a framework for real-time control to provide insights into the use of object-oriented structures for representing FMS entities.