Publication
Skills Composition Framework for Reconfigurable Cyber-Physical Production Modules
Aleksandr Sidorenko; Achim Wagner; Martin Ruskowski
In: 2024 IEEE 29th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA-2024), September 10-13, Padova, Italy, Pages 1-8, IEEE, 2024.
Abstract
While the benefits of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) are well-known, there are still challenges to their development, including, among others, a modular software architecture that enables rapid reconfiguration without much reprogramming effort. Skill-based engineering improves software modularity and increases the reconfiguration potential of RMS. Nevertheless, a skills' composition framework with a focus on frequent and rapid software changes is still missing. The behavior trees (BTs) framework is a novel approach that enables the intuitive design of modular hierarchical control structures. BTs have been mostly explored from the AI and robotics perspectives, and little work has been done in investigating their potential for composing skills in the manufacturing domain. This paper proposes a framework for skills' composition and execution in skill-based reconfigurable cyber-physical production modules (RCPPMs). It is based on distributed BTs and provides good integration between low-level devices' specific code and AI-based task-oriented frameworks. We have implemented the provided models for the IEC 61499-based distributed automation controllers. This shows the instantiation of the proposed framework with specific industrial technology to enable its evaluation by the automation community.