Frederick M. Proctor

Open architecture controllers

Open architectures for desktop computing revolutionized the office. The author looks at how computer numerical controllers for factory equipment may be next.

Model-Based Enterprise Summit Report

Abstract : This report summarizes the presentations, discussions, and recommendations from the Model-Based Enterprise Summit held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in December of 2012. The purpose of the Summit was to identify challenges, research, implementation issues, and lessons learned in manufacturing and quality assurance where a digital three-dimensional (3D) model serves as the authoritative information source for all activities in a product s lifecycle. The report includes an overview of model-based engineering, technical challenges, summaries of the presentations given at the workshop, and conclusions that emerged from the presentations and discussions.

Feature-Based Control of a Machining Center

Disclaimer No approval or endorsement of any commercial product by the National Institute of Standards and Technology is intended or implied. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this report to facilitate understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

A TOOL TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN LARGE SCALE MANUFACTURING

ABSTRACT: NIST is working directly with industry to improve repair and conversion operations ofships in dry dock. This work allows transfer of technology to construction and other industries requiringworker-access to large, external surfaces with minimum footprint and maximum system rigidity andcontrol, while augmenting conventional suspended-scaffold systems and moving toward moreautonomous large-scale manufacturing applications such as building construction. KEYWORDS: worker access, ship repair, construction, robotics, cable controlled, large-scalemanufacturing 1. INTRODUCTION The Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory ofthe National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) has teamed with AtlanticMarine, Inc. in Mobile, Alabama to studyefficient methods to repair ships in dry dock oralong a pier. This project, called Knowledge-based Modular Repair [1, 2] is under theauspices of the Navy National ShipbuildingResearch Program Advanced ShipbuildingEnterprise Initiative, where worker-, equipment-,and material access to external ship surfaces wasdetermined to be a key focus area. The conceptdeveloped in this project is called the “FlyingCarpet” and combines two main technologies:the NIST RoboCrane [3] and commerciallyavailable suspended scaffolding to produce aneffective concept for worker access to ships,submarines, buildings, and other large objects.The NIST Intelligent Systems Divisiondeveloped the RoboCrane cable-controlledmanipulator over several years [3, 4, 5, 6],during a project for the Defense AdvancedResearch Project Agency (DARPA) that studiedcrane suspended load control. Since the DARPAproject, NIST has expanded RoboCranetechnology into a viable solution to addresslarge-scale manufacturing and many otherchallenges [7]. The RoboCrane applies theStewart-platform parallel-link manipulatortechnology to a reconfigurable, cable-drivensystem. While RoboCrane can lift large, heavyand awkward loads, its stability and

A Machining and Measurement Process Planning Activity Model for Manufacturing System Interoperability Analysis

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