A Tool Suite for Automatic Generation of Modular Machine Automation Projects

Global competition has resulted in changes on product demand which have to be managed by current manufacturing systems. In this context, modularity seems to be a suitable solution to provide manufacturing systems with the flexibility required to adapt to demand fluctuations when they occur, maintaining thus competitiveness and productivity. In concrete, machine modularity allows modifying a machine structure but it should be accomplished easily and rapidly. The current work proposes a model-driven methodology that allows modular machine definition and the automatic generation of the corresponding automation project, including the machine hardware configuration and its control software. It is based on the use of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format and technologies for both model definition and code generation. The methodology has been implemented as a tool suite whose proof of concept has been developed for the particular case of the Siemens Totally Integrated Automation Portal (TIA Portal) PLC programming tool.