Automating industry for improved production An EU-funded initiative worked to improve responsiveness and automation in production lines and industrial processes. Results stand to contribute to keeping the wheels of European industry well oiled. Industrial Technologies © Shutterstock Manufacturing and industrial processes have been changing rapidly in recent decades. This has led to a larger variety of products being produced and achieved shorter times to reach the market. To build on this calls for production technology that responds quickly to the needs of industry and keeps it competitive. The 'Skill-based inspection and assembly for reconfigurable automation systems' (Siaras) project worked to achieve related objectives and maintain the advantages offered by improved industrial processes. It investigated software-based automatic reconfiguration of systems that can respond to the required change in parameters, skills and designs. Siaras developed a flow-chart approach that sets parameters and conditions in automation systems step-by-step. This involves the establishment of strategies to search through a 'skill server' or knowledge base in order to programme a new automated process. The skill server software approach represents a framework that enables users to simulate new production processes. It allows users to compare new production requirements with the skill server's knowledge database, fine-tuning the production process by setting quality criteria such as cost or accuracy. In effect, with the skill server Siaras developed a model for automatic reasoning. It can be used to reprogramme not only equipment like robotic arms but also parameters such as energy consumption and lifecycle considerations. The end result is highly improved reconfiguration and calibration of assembly and production processes, keeping European industry innovative and encouraging competitive production.
