Production Equipment Control Using Dynamic Risk-Based Item Selection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Highly automated production processes lack effective mechanisms to assess and mitigate risks, leading to the production of non-usable products due to ignored risks, as human operators are often not available to intervene in highly automated systems.
Innovation Solution
A control system that determines actual risk values for products and components, using these values to adjust process control data automatically, switching processing modes to lower risk settings without human intervention, and includes a risk evaluator module to monitor and respond to changes in risk values by selecting alternative items or components with lower risk profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a high degree of automation is implemented in production processes, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but the ability to assess and respond to risks deteriorates due to lack of human operator availability
Solution Approach 1:
The control system automatically performs risk assessment and process adjustment without human intervention. The system evaluates risk values for products and components, then autonomously modifies process control data to mitigate identified risks, enabling the automated system to serve itself in risk management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors production processes, evaluates risk values in real-time, and provides feedback by automatically adjusting process parameters. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that risk assessments directly influence process control decisions, maintaining reliability in highly automated environments.
2Ease of operation
If automated production equipment operates without human intervention, then ease of operation is improved, but the ability to detect and respond to potential risks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary risk assessments before production issues occur by evaluating risk values for products and components in advance. This proactive approach allows the system to detect potential risks and adjust processes before problems manifest, maintaining detection capability in automated operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces human operator judgment with an automated control system that uses algorithmic risk evaluation. The mechanical/manual process of risk assessment by operators is substituted with an automated computational system that continuously evaluates risk values and makes control decisions.
3Reliability
If process control parameters are adjusted to mitigate risks, then reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision may deteriorate due to automatic modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial adjustments to process control data based on the evaluated risk values. Rather than making excessive or blanket modifications, the control system implements targeted, proportional adjustments that are sufficient to mitigate specific risks while preserving overall manufacturing precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A control system and control method for controlling a process performed by production equipment. The control system has a first interface configured to obtain, from a data provisioning module, production control data for operating the production equipment wherein the production control data relates to operating instructions configured to control the production equipment to automatically process a plurality of physical items and their respective components. It further includes a risk evaluator module configured to determine for each item a total risk value based on partial risk values associated with the respective components, and further configured to detect a change in the determined total risk values. It further includes a control unit configured to: initiate, via a second interface, execution of the operating instructions for manufacturing a particular item having the lowest total risk value during a first operating time interval; initiate termination of the execution of the operating instructions for processing the particular item if the change in the determined total risk values results in an alternative item having the lowest total risk value; and initiate, via the second interface, execution of the operating instructions for processing the alternative item during a second operating time interval.