Title: A fuzzy basis real-time monitoring system designed for the control of cutting tools in flexible manufacturing cells

Authors: Ralph W.L. Ip, Henry Lau, Felix T.S. Chan

Addresses: Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hum, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Abstract: In a flexible machining cell (FMC), cutting tools are always considered as an essential component. Therefore, tool control is a vital managerial decision function in an FMC among groups of computer-controlled machines. A Tool Monitoring System (TMS) as proposed in this paper is a piece of large-scale computing software and it consists of an offline part and tool assignment model and a real-time tool information monitoring mechanism. In the parts and tools scheduling process, the part geometrical features, work flow information and tool availability factors are considered to determine a part priority weight. Parts with a high weighting will always be assigned to the machining schedule earlier than the tools with a low weighting. The part priority weight is calculated by using fuzzy approaches based on the information from tools and part relationships. An industrial case study is given in this study to demonstrate the capability of the TMS and how the real-time monitoring mechanism works for a machine breakdown case.

Keywords: tool management; fuzzy logic; scheduling; FMC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2001.001432

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2001 Vol.3 No.6, pp.600-622

Published online: 03 Jul 2003 *

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