Reconfigurable Mechatronic Robotic Plug-and-Play Controller

In today’s manufacturing community, flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) are becoming important. There is a global trend towards flexible manufacturing systems with an increasing number of countr ies competing for a share of the world market. FMS are increasingly required for companies to meet the demand for high quality, reasonably priced products. FMS allow a manufacturer to quickly change processes or operations to produce any product, at any time, while striving to keep the processes economical. To remain competitive companies should be replacing or upgrading old, obsolete methods, processes, and systems with the latest advances in manufacturing technology. This competition within the manufacturing industry has led to a focus on producing high quality parts quickly and accurately. The quality of products, along with the increased productivity necessary to compete globally, has led more and more manufacturers to introduce advanced manufacturing technologies in their factories. In order for these advanced manufacturing technologies to be accepted by manufacturing companies, they need to be able to implement the new technologies and their processes as quickly as possible so as to keep manufacturing down-time to a minimum. This allows the manufacturer to respond quickly and with increased flexibility to market needs. Such is the need for FMS.