Automatic transformation of logic models within engineering of embedded mechatronical units

Abstract

Engineering of manufacturing systems is one of the most important aspects within the life cycle of manufacturing systems in terms of cost. Within the engineering process, several engineering activities are executed by different experts commonly using specific tools for the design of the different parts of the system. To reduce engineering costs beneath, two main approaches arise. The first is based on the use of libraries of mechatronical units as reusable artifacts. In this case, manufacturing systems are represented as a hierarchy of mechatronic units. The second option is to achieve the seamless connection of the different engineering tools exploiting a common data exchange format. This latter approach allows avoiding both double engineering and faults within the engineering process. Within this paper, a novel approach combining both options is proposed, and its effects are analyzed through an example. It considers the application of mechatronical units within the engineering process of manufacturing systems as well as a common data exchange format for the logic information required for designing the control system within the engineering of manufacturing systems. The latter provides a data exchange format for the overall engineering process, including not only model information exchange but also its embedding. This paper discusses the benefits of the data exchange format for logic models in detail.