Engineering robot actions in a computer integrated manufacturing environment

A model according to which robot actions and the activities in manufacturing cells can be designed is presented. In the model, design activities have three major aspects: specification, analysis and synthesis. Principles for the construction of programming systems for designing operations of robots and manufacturing cells are derived. The specification describes an external environment (the device to make and the tools to make it with). Given the outer environment and the knowledge specific to the discipline, the engineer designs possible inner structures that serve as strategies specifying how to make that device. It is important that the engineer can express the designs symbolically. When synthesizing the process-structure the designed manufacturing process is matched against the external environment. The need for simulation environments so that it is possible to test the design thoroughly on the basis of actually observed sensor-data before the programs are taken into production is stressed.