Establishing and analysing the communication between Visual Components and Plant Simulation tools

Cilj zastavljene naloge je bil izboljšava simulacijskega modela eksperimentalnega proizvodnega sistema. To smo naredili na način, da smo za izvajanje simulacij posameznih podsistemov proizvodnega sistema uporabljali dva različna simulacijska programa za izvedbo specifične simulacije in jih ustrezno medsebojno povezali za izmenjavo informacij in podatkov. Za študijo primera smo razvili in izdelali dva simulacijska modela, prvi predstavlja model proizvodne linije, izdelan s programskim orodjem Plant Simulation, drugi pa predstavlja bolj podroben model robotske celice in izdelovalnega stroja iz proizvodne linije, izdelan s programskim orodjem Visual Components. Na ta način smo lahko v programu Visual Components bolj natančno simulirali robotsko celico in stroj, s tem smo pridobili bolj natančne čase obdelave in čase robotske celice, katere smo prenesli in uporabili v programskem okolju Plant Simulation za natančnejšo analizo proizvodne linije. Programa smo med seboj povezali z vmesnikom SIMIT, preko katerega medsebojno pošiljamo signale in izvajamo ukaze. S tem smo lahko simulirali komunikacijo znotraj realnih proizvodnih procesov, izmenjava podatkov pa je uporabna tudi v realnosti.This work aims to improve the simulation model of an experimental production system. We can did that by running simulations of individual subsystems of the production system by using two different simulation programs to execute a specific simulation and correspondingly interconnecting them to achieve an exchange of information and data. For the study, two simulation models were developed and built. The first, made with the software tool Plant Simulation, represents a model of a production line, and the second, made with the software tool Visual Components, represents a more intricate model of a robotic cell and a manufacturing machine from a production line. In this manner, we can better simulate the robotic cell and the machine in Visual Components and extract more accurate times of processing and times of the robotic cell. These are then carried over and used in the software platform Plant Simulation for a more precise analysis of the production line. The two programs are connected through the SIMIT interface, through which signals are sent and orders are executed mutually. This way, we simulate the communication within actual production processes, with the exchange of information also being useful in reality