On 5/8/08, Xiaofan Chen <xiaofanc@gmail.com> wrote:
> Since PLC can be programmable, you can 'dynamicly' change the
>  program if you want. But you may need to reconfigure the
>  related I/O modules, sensors, actuators, machines. So
>  in reality, it is not as simple to implement this kind of system.
>  FMS (flexibible manufacturing system,
>  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_manufacturing)
>  and CIMS (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Systems)
>  used to be popular terms but it seems to be fading away.

Interesting. Particularly my project is based around the idea of
automating manufacturing 'knowledge', kind of like apt-get for
software except now for more than just software -- packages of all
sorts, constructable objects and so on. But there's a wide range of
possible instruments that you can use, and having to re-code every
single item in the database every time a new tool comes along, seems
rather inefficient. I was wondering if there'd be a way that I could
avoid this. Apparently not? Though flexible manufacturing looks ...
close. No free lunch.

- Bryan
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