Effective, energy-aware control of a production system: a potential fields approach

This paper presents a potential fields-based approach for the efficient and effective control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems using intelligent products. This reactive approach solves the scheduling problem in a dynamic context whilst taking into consideration energy consumption. A real case study simulation is provided, looking at indicators related to effectiveness such as makespan, and efficiency such as overall energy consumption. The implementation of the intelligent products in real conditions is also proposed to validate the simulations.