Discrete event controller synthesis for the convergence of an assembly process

A discrete event controller (DEC) synthesis methodology for the successful convergence of assembly is presented. The modelling of an assembly process as a hybrid dynamic system (HDS) has been shown to be a very effective strategy to incorporate the interaction between the workpiece and its environment. In addition, this modelling has allowed the derivation of realistic conditions on the DEC for the convergence to the full assembly, known as p-convergence. In this paper the authors propose a DEC synthesis methodology resulting in an optimal p-convergence by combining the maintaining and enabling conditions proposed by McCarragher and Asada and dynamic programming. The applicability of the proposed synthesis methodology is then demonstrated for a dual peg insertion task