National Bureau of Standards' Automation Research Program

Abstract The program focuses on two problems lying close to the core mission of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). First, how will the automated factory ensure that its products are dimensionally compatible with national standards. Second, what new national standards must be developed by the private sector to permit the increased productivity promised by automation to be realized by the free market economy. To explore these problems, an extremely flexible manufacturing research facility, with hierarchical, highly modular control architecture, is being installed. This facility is designed to be capable of emulating a wide variety of manufacturing cells typical of a small machine shop.