Control System and Method Therefor

Abstract

A flexible control system and method of controlling a processing operation. The control system and method may be employed to control a high speed manufacturing system for processing articles of manufacture requiring processes to be performed on the articles at a pre-selected processing rate includes a trunk for simultaneously conveying a plurality of the articles of manufacture at the pre-selected processing rate in a first mode of motion from the beginning of the manufacturing system to the end of the system. At least one branch processing station is positioned intermediate the beginning and the end of the trunk wherein the branch processing station during its operation performs at least one process on articles of manufacture conveyed on the branch processing station and where the articles are conveyed in a second mode of motion. At least one transfer device is positioned intermediate the trunk and the branch processing station to continuously extract articles of manufacture from the trunk and transition the movement of the extracted articles of manufacture from the first mode of motion to the second mode of motion for transfer to the branch processing station. The transfer device also extracts each of the processed articles of manufacture from the branch processing station and transitions the movement of the articles from the second mode of motion to the first mode of motion for transfer to the trunk.

1 . A system for communicating data between a plurality of clients and processing devices, said system comprising:
 a plurality of clients each comprising a client processor and a client application;   a plurality of processing devices each comprising a processor, an application, and an interface agent; and   a server comprising a server processor and a plurality of interface agent proxies, wherein one of said plurality of clients communicates data with at least one of said processing devices via one of the interface agent proxies.   
     
     
         2 . The system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of interface agent proxies is implemented substantially independent of a specific operating system. 
     
     
         3 . The system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the interface agent in each of the plurality of processing devices is implemented substantially independent of a specific operating system. 
     
     
         4 . The system as defined in  claim 3 , wherein the interface agent is substantially independent of user interface implementation. 
     
     
         5 . The system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the server comprises a web server. 
     
     
         6 . The system as defined in  claim 1 , wherein the client application comprises a user interface application. 
     
     
         7 . A control system for controlling processing operations, said control system comprising:
 a plurality of controllers adapted to control operations associated with a processing system, each of said controllers being configured to communicate with at least another one of the plurality of controllers;   software agents, each of said software agents representing a component within the control system; and   a protocol adapted to allow each of said software agents to communicate messages with other of said plurality of software agents, such that the software agents can be implemented on any of said plurality of controllers without substantial reconfiguration.   
     
     
         8 . The control system as defined in  claim 7  further comprising encapsulating data such that said system is implemented substantially independent of a specific operating system. 
     
     
         9 . The control system as defined in  claim 7 , wherein said plurality of models comprise: a communication model. 
     
     
         10 . The control system as defined in  claim 7 , wherein said controllers communicate in a client and server relationship via an object stream. 
     
     
         11 . The control system as defined in  claim 10  further comprising a plurality of controllers, wherein a client communicates through a proxy in one of said plurality of controllers and a server communicates through an adapter in another of said plurality of controllers. 
     
     
         12 . The control system as defined in  claim 7 , wherein the software agents are provided in one or more of the plurality of controllers and are executable with any one or more of said controllers. 
     
     
         13 . A method of controlling a processing operation, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing a plurality of control agents adapted to control a processing operation and including a coordinator control agent and a process control agent;   transmitting request messages from the coordinator control agent to each of the process control agents, said message including information on a process operation;   performing an intended process operation responsive to the request messages; and   generating a work report message when the designated operation is complete.   
     
     
         14 . The method as defined in  claim 13  further comprising the step of providing one or more models. 
     
     
         15 . The method as defined in  claim 14 , wherein said one or more models comprises a communication model. 
     
     
         16 . The method as defined in  claim 13  further comprising the step of storing the work report message in memory. 
     
     
         17 . The method as defined in  claim 13 , wherein said work report message is sent to said coordinator control agent. 
     
     
         18 . A method of controlling a processing system, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing a plurality of software agents representing components within a control system;   generating process work requests requesting execution of a process operation;   discretely tracking each process operation throughout the processing operation; and   logging the history of each process operation.   
     
     
         19 . The method as defined in  claim 18  further comprising the step of controlling the manufacturing operation so as to provide multiple process operations. 
     
     
         20 . The method as defined in  claim 18 , wherein said multiple process operations are performed simultaneously. 
     
     
         21 . The method as defined in  claim 20 , wherein at least one of said multiple process operations is an experimental process. 
     
     
         22 . The method as defined in  claim 20 , wherein said multiple process operations are performed without shutting down the processing system. 
     
     
         23 . The method as defined in  claim 18  further comprising a coordinator process control agent. 
     
     
         24 . A method of configuring a process control system to perform process operations, said method comprising the steps of:
 downloading a plurality of control agents to one or more controllers, each of said plurality of control agents being adapted to control a processing operation and including a coordinator control agent and a process control agent;   configuring each of said one or more controllers so that said software agents communicate messages therebetween;   providing data communication via the software such that the software is substantially independent of hardware and operating system configurations; and   performing a process operation by generating process work requests to control a continuous process.   
     
     
         25 . The method as defined in  claim 24 , wherein the method forms process operations on individual articles and further comprising the steps of:
 discretely tracking each article through the processing operation; and   logging the history of each article manufactured.   
     
     
         26 . The method as defined in  claim 25  further comprising the steps of controlling manufacturing operations so as to provide concurrent multiple process operations without shutting down the process control system. 
     
     
         27 . A method of controlling a process operation, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing a controller, a software coordinator agent configured to coordinate processing operations, and a software process module agent configured to represent a component of the process module and executable to perform a process operation;   communicating work request messages to at least one process module;   coordinating the processing operations with the software coordinator agent;   executing a software process module agent to perform a process operation;   communicating messages between the software coordinate agent and the software process module agent;   detecting when a software agent is in a failure condition; and   rerouting the process operation when a software agent is detected in a failure condition.