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Flavors Technology Incorporated |
The Manufacturing Agility Server (MAS) is a computational system using autonomous software agents to dynamically reassign operations from failed manufacturing devices in automotive assembly lines. For example, the failure of a single robot in an automated manufacturing cell can force an entire production line to stop, even though other robots on the line could fill in for the failed device. A software system that can dynamically reassign operations along a production line will lower the cost of automotive body assembly and have an impact on other types of manufacturing as well.
Flavors Technology and its subcontractors propose to develop a systems architecture based on a Manufacturing Agility Server and autonomous software agents that would permit manufacturing operations to be reassigned dynamically to similar manufacturing equipment. MAS will receive status information from the network of device controllers within a manufacturing cell or along a production line. If a device fails or is unavailable because of maintenance, MAS will reassign the task.
Flavors submitted a proposal to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop the Manufacturing Agility Server. The project was awarded in the fall Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Technology (MVMT) competition of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). The MAS Project will run for three years. The estimated cost of the project is $2,522K, with $1,988K coming from ATP funds.
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Flavors Technology,
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