Abstract
Despite their inflexibility, cost and often complex customization requirements, most manual or robotized assembly systems in industry employ some sort of conveyor system. The proposed new, modular and reconfigurable 2D or 3D conveyor system referred to in this paper as the 'Open and Reconfigurable Conveyor System', ORCS encompasses a modular mechanical and electronic hardware design and an open, reconfigurable software architecture based on the CIM-OSA Open System Architecture model extended with object oriented analysis and design concepts and some advanced software control and simulation tools. The new 3D conveyor model, as well as the object oriented software control tools, have been successfully implemented and validated using experimental conveyor modules, or objects 'objects' meaning data and information objects as well as physical objects. The generic system architecture created offers an integrated and flexible platform for the development and or modification of new andor existing conveyor systems.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 360-379 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1997 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Mechanical Engineering
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- Computer Science Applications