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Publication summary

Author(s): Tom Kramer and M. K. Senehi

Publication date: November 1993

Citation: Tom Kramer and M. K. Senehi: "Feasibility Study: Reference Architecture for Machine Control Systems Integration," NISTIR 5297, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 1993.

Availability:

• Postscript
• Portable Document Format
• A paper copy of this document is available by contacting Kristy Thompson [web,email]

Abstract:

The Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been conducting research on control of mechanical systems for more than sixteen years. The Robot Systems Division has developed an architecture, the Real-time Control System (RCS) which focuses on providing real-time control of equipment. The Factory Automated Systems Division has developed the Manufacturing System Integration (MSI) architecture which focuses on providing information integration with factory production systems. While the architectures share some common features such as the use of hierarchical control and task decomposition, there are also differences. This report documents the work performed in assessing the feasibility of combining the RCS and MIST architectures into a single reference architecture. The report is written primarily for the team of researchers charged with developing the joint architecture. It includes a literature survey, a framework for developing the joint architecture, a detailed set of issues about architectures and control architectures, and a preliminary sketch of the joint architecture.

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