A New Model of Modular Automation Programming in Changeable Manufacturing Systems

Manufacturing systems in Industry 4.0 are changeable, smart, connected and more autonomous. The structure of a changeable manufacturing system allows for physical reconfiguration, however, reprogramming controllers has been always performed manually for each new system configuration. The presented model combines different ladder logic codes corresponding to different system configurations, modularizes them and produces smaller pieces of code, which automatically get merged and downloaded to the different system controllers. The model uses Cladistics and Design Structure Matrix (DSM) to prepare the modular codes. A case study of a changeable robotic assembly system is presented.