Lifecycle support of automotive manufacturing systems through a next-generation operator interface implementation

Abstract

Authors present a novel implementation approach to an operator interface system capable of supporting key phases of the automotive manufacturing machine lifecycle. Review of the lifecycle process realises next-generation requirements which have been addressed through a distributed system components architecture comprising of a Broadcaster, Marshaller and Web-HMI system. This architecture assumes machine control engineering using the Component Based (CB) design approach. Web-HMI system component, the major component serving operator interface systems, is designed using the Blackboard- based methodology, and supported with the Client-Server communication pattern as illustrated in its process runtime description. The proposed approach is assessed through an industrial case study on a web-services based control Ford-Festo test rig. A number of scenarios and demonstrations are applied to investigate the applicability of this approach beyond a theoretical research environment into practice. Importance of this research work is highlighted through identification of potential benefits offered. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.