Autoconfigurable distributed control systems

This paper discusses ongoing research on automatically configurable distributed control systems. We are investigating the use of networks of relatively small controllers that contain intelligence and communication capabilities to perform factory automation. These systems are expected to be more robust, adaptable and flexible than conventional designs. To achieve these benefits, fundamental changes in the underlying control system architecture are needed. The system architecture is divided into two portions: the control infrastructure and the control algorithms. Requirements for the control infrastructure are described that implement basic services to support distributed control, including the ability for a new control node to announce its presence and capabilities to the system without disrupting ongoing activities. The control algorithms for this system must be designed with certain properties: autonomy and cooperativeness; that are able to respond to changes in the physical plant and its usage. A laboratory for studying autoconjigurable control systems is under development using prototype distributed controllers on a CAN-based network. Two experiments are described that demonstrate autoconfiguration capability. The potential applications and the future directions of this research are discussed.