Conceptualization anddevelopment of a standardizedframework for virtualcommissioning of modularassembly control systems

Abstract: Today’s industries are challenged by an ongoing trend of more product variantsto meet differing customer needs. This leads to efficiency losses within traditionalproduction systems using fixed cycle times within an assembly line. Contrarily,flexible modular assembly systems are seen as a promising solution. These are characterizedby offering flexible routes of the products throughout the production system.Utilizing the capabilities of cyber-physical production systems, automated guidedvehicles are performing the transports of workpiece-carriers in-between decoupledworkstations. In order to manage the complexity, sophisticated control approachesare required to coordinate all involved entities. These are organized either in acentralized or decentralized manner. For the performance evaluation of both types ofalgorithms concerning parameters characterizing the factory layout, no standardizedframework exists. Following the principles of virtual commissioning, this work presents a frameworkcomposed of three elements: a flexible simulation model representing a modularassembly system, a multi-agent system incorporating the logic of centralized ordecentralized control approaches, and an interface for data exchange.The framework has been successfully validated by incorporating a centralized approachfollowing a global schedule and a decentralized approach using a negotiationbasedagent-system which controls the production flow.