Modeling,Simulat...

Book review
Modeling,Simulation,and Control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems ±A Petri Net Approach;Meng Chu Zhou;Kurapati Venkatesh;Yushun Fan;World Scienti®c,Singapore,1999
1.Introduction
A ¯exible manufacturing system (FMS)is an automated,mid-volume,mid-va-riety,central computer-controlled manufacturing system.It can be used to produce a variety of products with virtually no time lost for changeover from one product to the next.FMS is a capital-investment intensive and complex system.In order to get the best economic bene®ts,the design,implementation and operation of FMS should be carefully made.A lot of researches have been done regarding the modeling,simulation,scheduling and control of FMS [1±6].From time to time,Petri net (PN)method has also been used as a tool by di erent researcher in studying the problems regarding the modeling,simulation,scheduling and control of FMS.A lot of papers and books have been published in this area [7±14].``Modeling,Simulation,and Control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems ±A PN Approach''is a new book written by Zhou and Venkatesh which is focused on studying FMS using PN as a systematic method and integrated tool.The book's contents can be classi®ed into four parts.The four parts are introduction part (Chapter 1to Chapter 4),PNs application part (Chapter 5to Chapter 8),new research results part (Chapter 9to Chapter 13),and future development trend part (Chapter 14).In the introduction part,the background,motivation and objectives of the book are described in Chapter 1.The brief history of manufacturing systems and PNs is also presented in Chapter 1.The basic de®nitions and problems in FMS design and implementation are introduced in Chapter 2.The authors divide FMS related problems into two major areas ±managerial and technical.In Chapter 4,basic de®nitions,properties,and analysis techniques of PNs are presented,Chapter 4can be used as the fundamentals of PNs for those who are not familiar with PN method.In Chapter 3,the authors presented their approach to studying FMS related prob-lems,the approach uses PNs as an integrated tool and methodology in FMS design and implementation.In Chapter 3,various applications in modeling,analysis,sim-ulation,performance evaluation,discrete event control,planning and scheduling of FMS using PNs are presented.Through reading the introduction part,the readers can obtain basic concepts and methods about FMS and PNs.The readers can also get a clear picture about the relationshipbetween FMS and PNs.
Mechatronics 11(2001)
947±950
0957-4158/01/$-see front matter Ó2001Elsevier Science Ltd.All rights reserved.PII:S 0957-4158(00)00057-X
948Book review/Mechatronics11(2001)947±950
The second part of the book is about PNs applications.In this part,various applications of using PNs in solving FMS related problems are introduced.FMS modeling is the basis for simulation,analysis,planning and scheduling.In Chapter5, after introduction of several kinds of PNs,a general modeling method of FMS using PNs is given.The systematic bottom-up and top-down modeling method is pre-sented.The presented method is demonstrated by modeling a real FMS cell in New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The application of PNs in FMS performance analysis is introduced in Chapter 6.The stochastic PNs and the time distributions are introduced in this Chapter. The analysis of a¯exible workstation performance using the PN tool called SPNP developed at Duke University is given in Section6.4.
In Chapter7,the procedures and steps involved for discrete event simulation using PNs are discussed.The use of various modeling techniques such as queuing network models,state-transition models,high-level PNs,object-oriented models for simulations are brie¯y explained.A software package that is used to simulate PN models is introduced.Several CASE tools for PNs simulations are brie¯y intro-duced.
In Chapter8,PNs application in studying the di erent e ects between push and pull paradigms is shown.The presented application method is useful for the selection of suitable management paradigm for manufacturing systems.A manufacturing system is modeled considering both push and pull paradigms in Section8.3which is used as a practical example.The general procedures for performance evaluation of FMS with pull paradigm are given in Section8.4.
The third part of the book is mainly the research results of the authors in the area of PNs applications.In Chapter9,an augmented-timed PN is put forward. The proposed method is used to model the manufacturing systems with break-down handling.It is demonstrated using a¯exible assembly system in Section9.3. In Chapter10,a new class of PNs called Real-time PN is proposed.The pro-posed PN method is used to model and control the discrete event control sys-tems.The comparison of the proposed method and ladder logic diagrams is given in Chapter11.Due to the signi®cant advantages of Object-oriented method,it has been used in PNs to de®ne a new kind of PNs.In Chapter12,the authors propose an Object-oriented design methodology for the development of FMS control software.The OMT and PNs are integrated in order to developreusable, modi®able,and extendible control software.The proposed methodology is used in a FMS.The OMT is used to®nd the static relationshipamong di erent objects.The PN models are formulated to study the performance of the FMS.In Chapter12,the scheduling methods of FMS using PNs are introduced.Some examples are presented for automated manufacturing system and semiconductor test facility.
In the last Chapter,the future research directions of PNs are pointed out.The contents include CASE tool environment,scheduling of large production system,su-pervisory control,multi-lifecycle engineering and benchmark studies.
Book review/Mechatronics11(2001)947±950949 ments
As a monograph in PNs and its applications in FMS,the book is abundant in contents.Besides the rich knowledge of PNs,the book covers almost every aspects regarding FMS design and analysis,such as modeling,simulation,performance evaluation,planning and scheduling,break down handling,real-time control,con-trol software development,etc.So,the reader can obtain much knowledge in PN, FMS,discrete event system control,system simulation,scheduling,as well as in software development.
The book is a very good book in the combinations of PNs theory and prac-tical applications.Throughout the book,the integrated style is demonstrated.It is very well suited for the graduate students and beginners who are interested in using PN methods in studying their speci®c problems.The book is especially suited for the researchers working in the areas of FMS,CIMS,advanced man-ufacturing technologies.The feedback messages from our graduate students show that compared with other books about PNs,this book is more interested and easy to learn.It is easy to get a clear picture about what is PNs method and how it can be used in the FMS design and analysis.So,the book is a very good textbook for the graduate students whose majors are manufacturing systems, industrial engineering,factory automation,enterprise management,and computer applications.
Both PNs and FMS are complex and research intensive areas.Due to the deep understanding for PNs,FMS,and the writing skills of the authors,the book has good advantages in describing complex problems and theories in a very easy read and understandable fashion.The easy understanding and abundant contents enable the book to be a good reference book both for the students and researchers. Through reading the book,the readers can also learn the new research results in PNs and its applications in FMS that do not contained in other books.Because the most new results given in the book are the study achievements of the authors,the readers can better know not only the results,but also the background,history,and research methodology of the related areas.This would helpthe researchers who are going to do the study to know the state-of-art of relevant areas,thus the researchers can begin the study in less preparing time and to get new results more earlier.
As compared to other books,the organization of the book is very application oriented.The aims are to present new research results in FMS applications using PNs method,the organization of the book is cohesive to the topics.A lot of live examples have reinforced the presented methods.These advantages make the book to be a very good practical guide for the students and beginners to start their re-search in the related areas.
The history and reference of related research given in this book provides the reader a good way to better know PNs methods and its applications in FMS.It is especially suited for the Ph.D.candidates who are determined to choose PNs as their thesis topics.
950Book review/Mechatronics11(2001)947±950
3.Conclusions
Due to the signi®cant importance of PNs and its applications,PNs have become a common background and basic method for the students and researchers to do re-search in modeling,planning and scheduling,performance analysis,discrete event system control,and shop-¯oor control software development.The book under re-view provides us a good approach to learn as well as to begin the research in PNs and its application in manufacturing systems.The integrated and application oriented style of book enables the book to be a very good book both for graduate students and researchers.The easy understanding and step-by-step deeper introduction of the contents makes it to be a good textbook for the graduate students.It is suited to the graduated students whose majors are manufacturing system,industrial engineering, enterprise management,computer application,and automation.
References
[1]Talavage J,Hannam RG.Flexible manufacturing systems in practice:application,design,and
simulation.New York:Marcel Dekker Inc.;1988.
[2]Tetzla UAW.Optimal design of¯exible manufacturing systems.New York:Springer;1990.
[3]Jha NK,editor.Handbook of¯exible manufacturing systems.San Diego:Academic Press,1991.
[4]Carrie C.Simulation of manufacturing.New York:John Wiley&Sons;1988.
[5]Gupta YP,Goyal S.Flexibility of manufacturing systems:concepts and measurements.European
Journal of Operational Research1989;43:119±35.
[6]Carter MF.Designing¯exibility into automated manufacturing systems.In:Stecke KE,Suri R,
editors.Proceedings of the Second ORSA/TIMS Conference on FMS:Operations Research Models and Applications.New York:Elsevier;1986.p.107±18.
[7]David R,Alla H.Petri nets and grafcet.New York:Prentice Hall;1992.
[8]Zhou MC,DiCesare F.Petri net synthesis for discrete event control of manufacturing systems.
Norwell,MA:Kluwer Academic Publishers;1993.
[9]Desrochers AA,Al-Jaar RY.Applications of petri nets in manufacturing systems.New York:IEEE
Press;1995.
[10]Zhou MC,editor.Petri nets in¯exible and agile automation.Boston:Kluwer Academic Publishers,
1995.
[11]Lin C.Stochastic petri nets and system performance evaluations.Beijing:Tsinghua University Press;
1999.
[12]Peterson JL.Petri net theory and the modeling of systems.Englewood Cli s,NJ:Prentice-Hall;1981.
[13]Resig W.Petri nets.New York:Springer;1985.
[14]Jensen K.Coloured Petri Nets.Berlin:Springer;1992.
Yushun Fan
Department of Automation,Tsinghua University
Beijing100084,People's Republic of China
E-mail address:*****************。