Generating Flexible Manufacturing System Cycle Diagrams with Petri Net

The paper studies modelling of a flexible manufacturing system that includes several types of processing equipment, a robot for workpiece loading and unloading, and stepping table for loading and unloading. By utilizing a Petri net, the proposed model describes a flexible manufacturing system that consists of a set of equipment states, a set of potential transitions between these states, and linkages between the states and transitions. The authors use tokens to simulate the availability of resources. The generated program, which is intended to determine the ideal sequence of robot action for loading equipment and computing the working cycle time of a flexible manufacturing system, incorporates the mathematical model explained in the paper. The operating principle of the program revolves around logical variables. They are used to model states, whereas integer variables are used to model runtime. The software replicates the cycle one second at a time, and if any transitions are feasible, they are carried out. The future idle time of each component in the flexible manufacturing system is predetermined. Based on this data, the subsequent actions of the system components are created, and then utilized to perform certain checks. Examples of the program used to model two- and three-machine systems are provided in the paper. The flexible manufacturing system's functioning can be optimized, and the expenses associated with switching it over can be decreased, by implementing this software in production. In addition, the paper demonstrates the usefulness and application of Petri nets for simulating the functioning of flexible manufacturing systems through information technologies.