The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage
technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of
control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline.
New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial
processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies, new
challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports,
feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative
projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an
extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial
control for wider and rapid dissemination. In some areas of
manufacturing, the elements of a flexible manufacturing system form the
key components of the process line. These key components are four-fold:
a set of programmable robots and machines, an automated materia-
handling system that allows parts to be freely routed and re-routed, a
buffer storage system where parts and partly-assembled components can
wait until required for further processing and assembly and finally, a
supervisory control system. The technology employed to coordinate and
control all these components as a working system is usually based on
programmable logic controllers. The use of this automation hardware and
software in manufacturing is designed to yield significant cost
reductions and to enhance quality.
