The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies , new challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports, feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial control for wider and rapid dissemination. In some areas of manufacturing, the elements of a flexible manufacturing system form the key components of the process line. These key components are four-fold: a set of programmable robots and machines, an automated materia- handling system that allows parts to be freely routed and re-routed, a buffer storage system where parts and partly-assembled components can wait until required for further processing and assembly and finally, a supervisory control system. The technology employed to coordinate and control all these components as a working system is usually based on programmable logic controllers. The use of this automation hardware and software in manufacturing is designed to yield significant cost reductions and to enhance quality.
From the reviews:
"The authors present matrix models which are based on recent research. ... The book is completed by an report on other simulation tools for virtual factory modeling. From this together with two introductory chapters on flexible manufacturing systems and on discrete event systems, a self-contained monograph resulted. It is well readable for engineers and also for mathematicians interested not only in such applications but especially in this type of matrix algebra." (Inge Troch, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1118 (20), 2007)
"This book focuses on flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) and the authors' matrix-based supervisory control design method. ... The book's mathematical level makes it suitable for a graduate course. ... The authors have clearly shown how to build their matrix-based models from standard manufacturing data and have demonstrated through numerous physical testbeds the effectiveness of their approach. ... The authors have set a new and promising course for the theory and practice of modeling and control of automated manufacturing systems." (Alan A. Desrochers, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Vol. 19, July, 2009)
"The authors present matrix models which are based on recent research. ... The book is completed by an report on other simulation tools for virtual factory modeling. From this together with two introductory chapters on flexible manufacturing systems and on discrete event systems, a self-contained monograph resulted. It is well readable for engineers and also for mathematicians interested not only in such applications but especially in this type of matrix algebra." (Inge Troch, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1118 (20), 2007)
"This book focuses on flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) and the authors' matrix-based supervisory control design method. ... The book's mathematical level makes it suitable for a graduate course. ... The authors have clearly shown how to build their matrix-based models from standard manufacturing data and have demonstrated through numerous physical testbeds the effectiveness of their approach. ... The authors have set a new and promising course for the theory and practice of modeling and control of automated manufacturing systems." (Alan A. Desrochers, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Vol. 19, July, 2009)