UPON THE PERCEIVED NEEDS OF AN INTENDED USER BUT THE PROJECT INCLUDES AN ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLICATION OF THE SYSTEM TO INDUSTRY GENERALLY . THE PROJECT COMPRISES FIVE TECHNOLOGICAL AND TWO HUMAN FACTOR SUB AREAS .
THE TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS ARE THE USE OF ROBOTS WITH VARIOUS OTHER DEVICES , INCLUDING SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT , THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED SENSORS FOR ROBOTIC VISION AND OPTICAL DATA PROCESSING , THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTACTLESS INSPECTION INCLUDING INTEGRATION , SYSTEMS INTEGRATION AND A STUDY OF THE APPLICABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY TO FUTURE MANUFACTURING . THE HUMAN FACTORS ARE CONCERNED WITH WORK ORGANISATION AND JOB DESIGN WITHIN THE CELL , SKILL LEVELS , SUPERVISION , QUALITY ASSURANCE , MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING ISSUES AND A STUDY OF THE INVOLVEMENT OF ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS IN PLANNING FOR HUMAN NEEDS IN THE CELL'S OPERATION .
. " OPERATIONAL CONTROL FOR ROBOT SYSTEM INTEGRATION INTO CIM " ( REF . 75-623 : A/83-84 )
THE PROJECT IS INTENDED TO IMPROVE THE INTEGRATION OF ROBOTS INTO COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING ( CIM ) SYSTEMS . BASED ON THE DESIGN RULES AND THE DEVELOPMENT PATHS DERIVED IN THE PILOT PHASE OF ESPRIT ( REF . 75 ) THE PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH AUTOMATED INTEGRATION FACILITIES FOR THE OPERATIONAL AREAS OF PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING . FOR TYPICAL INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS IT IS EXPECTED TO IMPLEMENT A PROTOTYPE OF A COMPUTER AIDED PLANNING SYSTEM AND OF A CAD-ROBOT LINKAGE BY MEANS OF AN OFF-LINE PROGRAMMING SYSTEM FOR ROBOTS . GRAPHICAL SIMULATION TO AID ROBOT PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING AS A BASIC TOOL OF THE SYSTEM WILL BE ANALYSED AND IMPLEMENTED . A DATA MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WILL BE DERIVED TO LINK THE ROBOT APPLICATION INTO THE CIM-FRAMEWORK . THE POSSIBILITIES FOR USING AI TECHNIQUES FOR ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS , INCLUDING IMPLICIT PROGRAMMING METHODS , WILL BE EXPLORED .
5.4.3 . PLANT AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OPTIMIZATION ( TYPE B )
RESEARCH , DEVELOP AND FINALLY INTEGRATE THE GROUP OF DIAGNOSTIC/DECISION-MAKING TECHNOLOGIES ESSENTIAL FOR THE DESIGN OF FAULT-TOLERANT SYSTEMS . THE PRINCIPAL , AND OFTEN CONFLICTING , AIMS OF MAINTAINING BOTH HIGH PRODUCT QUALITY AND MAXIMUM PLANT AVAILABILITY MUST BE PURSUED IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE RELIABLE , HIGH INTEGRITY CIM SYSTEMS .
R AND D IS FORESEEN UNDER FOUR HEADINGS :
1 . BASIC PLANT DIAGNOSIS TECHNOLOGY INVOLVING METHODOLOGIES OF SENSOR SIGNAL DATA COMPRESSION , SYSTEM/MACHINERY FAULT MODELLING , ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN OF DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS , ETC .
2 . DIAGNOSIS FORMULATION INVOLVING METHODOLOGIES ABLE TO RANK SYSTEM/MACHINERY FAULTS THOUGHT TO BE EITHER THREATENING PLANT AVAILABILITY OR CAUSING A FALL-OFF IN PRODUCT QUALITY .
3 . ACTION PLANNING IN THE AREAS OF INITIATING ACTIONS TO AVOID SYSTEM SHUTDOWN , MAXIMIZING UTILIZATION IN THE CASE OF PARTIAL FAILURE , USER GUIDANCE AND MAINTENANCE PLANNING .
4 . AUTOMATED QUALITY CONTROL AND INSPECTION TO DETECT INJURIOUS PRODUCT DEFECTS , ENSURE ACCEPTABLE PRODUCT QUALITY AND PROVIDE POTENTIAL DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION
. " A SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY FOR OPTIMISING THE TRADEOFFS BETWEEN PLANT AVAILABILITY , PRODUCT QUALITY AND SAFETY " ( REF . 504 : B/84