A. Soylemezoglu, K. Cha, J. Birt, M. Zawodniok, J. Fonda, E. Taqieddin, J. Sarangapani, C. Saygin, M. D. Mills Harris, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO; D. Trimble, T. Siegel, The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO

Summary:

Emerging Auto-ID technologies present new possibilities for improving manufacturing operations, as well as various challenges. In spite of its potential advantages, the major challenge is how to manage such voluminous data in a timely fashion. When proposing new solutions, theoretical studies that assume availability of Auto-ID-based product state and event data need to be supported by experimental studies that demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of collecting such large amounts of data in a certain networking topology using certain protocols in order to make the proposed solution a viable alternative.

At the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), the goal of the Auto-ID Solutions Research Group is to establish a testbed in order to support the related research and development. In this work, the experience acquired during the design and development of UMR’s Auto-ID testbed is discussed. The architecture of various demonstration models, including hardware-in-the-loop simulation models, which are built on modular and integrated hardware and software components, is presented. The testbed allows for investigating different Auto-ID data collection, filtering, and analysis techniques, and decision making and control methodologies in a cost effective and timely manner. The solutions validated in UMR’s Auto-ID testbed include a manufacturing application component and a networking component that supports the manufacturing application.

The net result of this effort is a proof of concept model that demonstrates the use of Auto- ID data collection and decision making on the shop floor, the use of simulation models as realtime manufacturing execution and control systems, and the use of network simulation tools to evaluate the effect of the resultant data flow on corporate networks and the security issues therewith. UMR’s Auto-ID testbed can be effectively used in a variety of network-centric manufacturing applications. In this study, several samples of research and development work carried out for an aerospace manufacturing company will also be presented.