Statecharts to specify the control of automated manufacturing systems

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of Statecharts formalism, a recent automata-based language, to specify the control of automated manufacturing systems (AMS). Statecharts has been developed for the description of complex reactive systems ; it provides high level constructs which allows to carry out large problems by a graphical structured approach. The main features of the formalism are given as introduction. A way to design the most important constructs and mechanisms of control field is proposed . Then, these constructs are implemented in order to specify the control of a flexible manufacturing cell and to show the adequacy of the Statecharts for AMS. Others useful constructs are given allowing to translate control specifications according to a structured analysis method. Generic specification is also presented and the graphical simplification they provide in case of generic behaviour handling is enlightened. Extensions made on Statecharts support are illustrated.

Preview coordination: An enhanced execution model for online scheduling of mobile manipulation tasks

“…As a special case, task (execution) coordination executes and monitors the individual steps of a task specification such that its goals are reached. A wide range of formalisms have been applied for this purpose in robotics, including Finite State Automata [1], Sequential Function Charts [2], [3], Petri Nets [4] and Statecharts [5], [6]. Complex formalisms like the Task Frame Formalism [7], Stack of Tasks [8], iTaSC [9] or Manipulation Primitives [1] have proven valuable by permitting humans to specify tasks in more intuitive ways.…”