Planning and scheduling reconfigurable systems around off-line resources
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer controlled system for planning and scheduling the work flow for a reconfigurable production system, the computer controlled system comprising:
- a plurality of modules, the reconfigurable production system comprising the plurality of modules, the plurality of modules having a plurality of alternative capabilities, the work flow comprising one or more jobs to be performed on the reconfigurable production system, each job comprising one or more work units to be produced on the reconfigurable production system;
a system controller;
a computer-readable memory that stores computer-executable instructions for execution by the system controller, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions for;
planning the production of work units of the one or more jobs without utilizing off-line modules, the planning comprising;
selecting one or more work units to be planned,determining one or more system capabilities to produce the one or more work units, such that the off-line modules are not utilized,determining whether the system capabilities to produce the one or more work units are available without utilizing the off-line modules, andif the system capabilities to produce a work unit are not available without utilizing the off-line modules,prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, tagging, by the system controller, the work unit with the system capabilities needed for the work unit which are not available,prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, removing, by the system controller, the work unit and all subsequent work units of the same job from consideration, andreinserting, by the system controller, the work unit and all subsequent work units when the system capabilities needed by the work unit become available, andscheduling the production of the one or more work units without utilizing the off-line modules, whereinthe off-line modules are modules of the reconfigurable production system that are temporarily unavailable to produce work units,the reconfigurable production system continues to produce work units while the work unit is removed from consideration, andthe work units of each job are produced in order, whereinthe system capabilities are operations that accept the work unit at an entry port, process the work unit, and move the work unit to an exit port.
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Abstract
A system is provided to allow for planning and scheduling the work flow for reconfigurable production systems having a plurality of modules, which may have alternative capabilities. The system includes a system controller, at least one planning function for planning the production of work units without utilizing off-line modules, and at least one scheduling function for scheduling the production of work units without utilizing off-line modules.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A computer controlled system for planning and scheduling the work flow for a reconfigurable production system, the computer controlled system comprising:
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a plurality of modules, the reconfigurable production system comprising the plurality of modules, the plurality of modules having a plurality of alternative capabilities, the work flow comprising one or more jobs to be performed on the reconfigurable production system, each job comprising one or more work units to be produced on the reconfigurable production system; a system controller; a computer-readable memory that stores computer-executable instructions for execution by the system controller, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions for; planning the production of work units of the one or more jobs without utilizing off-line modules, the planning comprising; selecting one or more work units to be planned, determining one or more system capabilities to produce the one or more work units, such that the off-line modules are not utilized, determining whether the system capabilities to produce the one or more work units are available without utilizing the off-line modules, and if the system capabilities to produce a work unit are not available without utilizing the off-line modules, prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, tagging, by the system controller, the work unit with the system capabilities needed for the work unit which are not available, prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, removing, by the system controller, the work unit and all subsequent work units of the same job from consideration, and reinserting, by the system controller, the work unit and all subsequent work units when the system capabilities needed by the work unit become available, and scheduling the production of the one or more work units without utilizing the off-line modules, wherein the off-line modules are modules of the reconfigurable production system that are temporarily unavailable to produce work units, the reconfigurable production system continues to produce work units while the work unit is removed from consideration, and the work units of each job are produced in order, wherein the system capabilities are operations that accept the work unit at an entry port, process the work unit, and move the work unit to an exit port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for planning and scheduling the work flow for a computer controlled reconfigurable production system having a plurality of modules with a plurality of alternative capabilities, the work flow comprising one or more jobs for production on the reconfigurable production system, each job comprising one or more work units to be produced on the reconfigurable production system, the method comprising:
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planning the work flow for the reconfigurable production system, without utilizing off-line modules, the planning the work flow comprising; acquiring a description of one or more work units of the one or more jobs to be produced, selecting at least one of the work units to be planned, determining the capabilities needed to produce the at least one of the work units without utilizing the off-line modules, determining whether the capabilities needed to produce the at least one of the work units without utilizing the off-line modules are available, and if the capabilities to produce a work unit are not available without utilizing the off-line modules; prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, tagging, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit with the capabilities needed for the work unit which are not available, prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, removing, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit and all subsequent work units of the same job from consideration; and reinserting, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit and all subsequent work units when the capabilities needed by the work unit become available, and scheduling the work flow for the plurality of modules in the reconfigurable production system, without utilizing the off-line modules, wherein the off-line modules are modules of the reconfigurable production system that are temporarily unavailable to produce work units, the reconfigurable production system continues to produce work units while the work unit is removed from consideration, and the work units of each job are produced in order, wherein the system capabilities are operations that accept the work unit at an entry port, process the work unit, and move the work unit to an exit port. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable recording medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium which, when the program code is executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method for planning and scheduling for a computer controlled reconfigurable production system, the method comprising:
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planning the work flow for the reconfigurable production system without utilizing off-line modules, the work flow comprising one or more jobs for production on the reconfigurable production system, each job comprising one or more work units to be produced on the reconfigurable production system, wherein the planning the work flow comprises; acquiring a description of one or more work units of the one or more jobs to be produced, selecting at least one of the work units to be planned, determining the capabilities needed to produce the at least one of the work units without utilizing the off-line modules, determining whether the capabilities needed to produce the at least one of the work units without utilizing the off-line modules are available, if a work unit cannot be produced without utilizing the off-line modules, prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, tagging, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit with the capabilities needed for the work unit which are not available, prior to the work unit reaching the off-line modules, removing, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit and all subsequent work units of the same job from further consideration, and reinserting, by the reconfigurable production system, the work unit and all subsequent work units when the capabilities needed by the work unit become available, modifying one or more of timing, interval, and precedence constraints using selection variables, posting one or more selection variable constraints on selection variables and common modules to a memory, posting the timing, interval, and precedence constraints to the memory; and scheduling the work flow for the plurality of modules in the reconfigurable production system without utilizing the off-line modules, wherein the off-line modules are modules of the reconfigurable production system that are temporarily unavailable to produce work units, the reconfigurable production system continues to produce work units while the work unit is removed from consideration, and the work units of each job are produced in order, wherein the system capabilities are operations that accept the work unit at an entry port, process the work unit, and move the work unit to an exit port. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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Specification