Flexible Manufacturing Systems: the MODIAC Project

Flexible manufacturing systems consist of an heterogeneous collection of different devices such as machine tools, programmable logic units, robots, and computers. The efficient organization of the system depends on the integration level of these different elements. This paper discusses the use of MODIAC (Modular Integrated System for Automation and Process Control), the Local Area Network developed within the Computer Science Project sponsored by the Italian National Research Council, as an efficient solution for implementing a computer-integrated manufacturing cell. Advanced communication methodologies that rely on Local Area Network Technology as the interconnection structure for the cell components are also discussed.