Development of a Discrete Event Controller Supervisor using a Hybrid Matrix Formulation with Fuzzy Logic Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Using a patented matrix formulation, a Discrete Event (DE) controller is designed for a manufacturing cell. The DE controller can directly be implemented from standard manufacturing tools such as the Bill of Materials or the assembly tree. The matrices also make it straightforward to actually implement the DE controller for sequencing the jobs and assigning the resources. We use virtual places to interact with our machine resources to control and supervise the DE system as a transient timed place Petri Net (PN) system. This modified PN together with marking transition equation provides a complete dynamical description of a Discrete Event System (DES). In this paper, we include to our DE supervisor several new structures that contain all decision making attributes for each part and resource jobs in the Manufacturing processes. The versatility of this DE controller permits implementing different methodologies for decision making and conflict resolution, including artificial intelligence techniques, as well as optimization of the resource assignment and part throughput. This paper shows an example of such versatility included in the supervisor by showing a hybrid decision making development.