György Kovács

Ambient Intelligence in Product Life-cycle Management

To fulfil the increasing demands today the short innovation time and the high quality of production itself is not enough in production of goods, but all phases of a product (from idea to recycling) should be managed by advanced tools and means. Nowadays the competition among companies, joined to the environmental protection rules, is so compelling that they should not only be on the top of technology in the area, but also run their business according to life-long models. The emphasis on the product post-sale life is common for these models. The most popular model is Product Life-cycle Management, for manufacturing companies, or Service Engineering (SE), for service-oriented companies, and, for both, common paradigms are in maintenance, with conformance-to-use certification. The paper introduces some basic research results achieved in the application of Ambient Intelligence, and suggests considering maintenance as a cross section of the two business paradigms. The importance of SE is specially underlined in this work.

Integrated application of real-time expert systems for FMS evaluation and control

The paper describes some applications of expert systems (ES) for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). A complex FMS simulation tool is shown with different connection possibilities to expert systems to have a good evaluation performance and the make steps toward automatic control. The interfacing problems of the software modules are also discussed. In the recent stage of the research rapid prototype programs are under test, and the future goal of CIM Research Laboratory (CIMLab) is to solve industrial problems with these tools and softwares.

Automatic Detection of the Lane Departure of Vehicles

The paper reports on the development of an experimental warning system for the visual detection of the unintentional lane departure of road vehicles. The hardware system assembled from available low-cost parts and a fundamental adaptive algorithm are described. The system has been placed on a test vehicle and tested on motorways in real situations by daylight and by night. The results are illustrated with pictures selected from the records saved during the experiments.

Some problems of knowledge based control of manufacturing systems using open communication

A rather simplified and seemingly naive definition of Intelligent Control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) means a continuous or frequent observation and evaluation of the status and condition of the system performance, decision making based on the evaluation results and on pre-defined knowledge, and then the operation according to the decisions. In the case of so-called normal operation, which runs according to the given schedules there is no special need for intelligence, neither for interactions to modify the operation, but the above given procedure may help [1] if any kind of disturbance or irregularity happens, what is rather common in the case of highly sophisticated, complex systems. The negative effects of most of such events can be managed using the above given mechanisms. o o o Our paper gives details on our research efforts where we intend to control flexible manufacturing systems using programs based on a Real-time expert system shell on one hand, and taking into consideration the requirements of openness of up-todate systems on the other hand. This way Open System Interconnections (OSI) are used in networking. The basis of our work is a knowledge based simulation system which helps in scheduling and in real time control of FMS. Some system descriptions and application examples will be given, too.

Robust analysis of distillation column dynamics

Abstract The robust stability and performance of a binary distillation column model is analysed using a minimal state space representation. The uncertainty modelling of the column is resulted in an LFT form with a four element diagonal block structure taking into account the dependence between the steady state gains. Robust analysis of the distillation column dynamics is performed and compared using µ - and l 1 -analysis tools. The magnitude of possible overshoots is determined by l 1 -test for robust performance and the dependence of this magnitude on the dominant time constant (i.e. the purity of the separation) is investigated. Futhermore the effect of the mi certainties in the time constants and the singular values on the robust performance is also analysed using l 1 -test. It has been found that the uncertainty in the time constants affects dominantly the robust performance of the open-loop system, i.e. the magnitude of possible overshoots.

A knowledge based and a hybrid system to evaluate flexible manufacturing systems

Computer aided simulation can assist both in the design and operation of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). A proper simulation model of a given FMS could be the best tool to validate it and to evaluate its performance. System control can be solved by separating the control from the FMS with a communication interface. In this case it is possible to use the simulated system for investigations instead of the real system. Such simulation systems can be built up using expert system shells. In this paper an FMS simulation system (SSQA) will be introduced with the hybrid application of expert systems and a traditional simulation software. The system has some evaluation, scheduling and quality control power as well, according to the implemented advisory systems which communicate with the simulation package. As an alternative of the hybrid system a pure knowledge based system is discussed. The comparison of the two systems using the same CIM pilot plant is also given.<<ETX>>

From the first chess-automaton to the mars pathfinder

This paper aims to highlight the relationship of Artificial Intelligence, the first Chessautomaton (The Turk), Computer Chess (Deep Blue), Mars Mission (Pathfinder Sojourner), Intelligent Robotics and Industrial Robots Biographical and technical data is presented in order to evaluate and laudate the extraordinary achievements of extreme talents, starting with two Hungarian world class innovators: Farkas Kempelen and Antal Bejczy. This paper gives an overview of their lives and contributions, pointing out some interesting connections. A novel evaluation and classification method of robots is suggested.

A survey on some aspects of ambient intelligence

Abstract Nowadays the competition among companies, joined to the environmental protection rules, is so compelling that they should not only be on the top of technology in they area, but also run their business according to life-long models. The emphasis on the product post-sale life is common for these models. The most popular model is Product Lifecycle Management, for manufacturing companies, or Service Engineering, for service-oriented companies, and, for both, common paradigms are in maintenance, with conformance-to-use certification. The paper introduces basic research results achieved in application of Ambient Intelligence, and suggests considering maintenance as a cross section of the two business paradigms.

An intelligent design network for manufacturing systems' cooperation

The paper describes a design/planning network (PN) which is used to assist the better harmonization and higher quality and production volume of small and medium size enterprises (SME), if they are joining their efforts by being active members of the PN. The PN means a real-time, online network with three basic functions covered by: the local planning module, the coordination unit (CU) and the evaluation module (EM) software units. This PN is a kind of virtual, or extended enterprise, however it is different because of the long-term cooperation of the partners, instead of working together only for 1-2 given orders. The intelligence of the PN is supported by expert systems in the CU and EM.