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This paper considers the use of “profile-planning” to (i) improve/optimize certain performance characteristics of pneumatic servos and (ii) simplify procedures associated with their tuning. The underlying approach is to preplan the transient behavior of the system thereby generating an appropriate command profile. To assist in applying this technique to the control of air-powered servo-systems, the paper highlights important knowledge derived previously with regard to the stability and operating characteristics of pneumatic drives. Preliminary rules for conducting such planning are then proposed with reference to a series of experimental observations. This approach can be employed to significantly reduce or prevent overshoot and instability of servo-driven pneumatic actuators (cylinders in particular) which are difficult to overcome by using conventional methods. At the same time, increased operating speeds and improved positioning can be attained. The proposed control scheme has been implemented in prototype form through using a proprietary programmable motion controller which incorporates software mechanism for generating gearbox and cam-like motion profiles.

In the current industrial environment of increasing competition in a globalised marketplace, businesses must strive to closely satisfy ever changing customer desires. Correspondingly, manufacturing systems need be more responsive to the evolution of business requirements and ensure that they directly support these changing demands. Enterprise modelling has contributed significantly to achieving these goals by providing a greater level of consistency between high level requirements definition and lower level system design. However, in order to be truly useful to businesses, enterprise models must be of sufficient detail and provide adequate scope to enable the models to be translated into workable business solutions. Additionally, the variety of available enterprise modelling methods and tools need to be positioned by a common framework, such that relationships between different modelling methods can be identified. This paper introduces the work carried out at the MSI Research Institute at Loughborough University which aims to provide a toolset to support the lifecycle of enterprise modelling and to support model enactment through the provision of runtime control, resource allocation and information management. Additionally, the paper provides an example application of part of the toolset and concludes by positioning the toolset within the GERAM framework for enterprise modelling.

It is now timely to build upon output of research worldwide into Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) so that new forms of computing infrastructure can be provided to facilitate cooperative working. Three new technologies can collectively provide means of addressing this requirement; they are (a) multi-media information systems, (b) high performance networks and (c) intelligent autonomous agents. Multi-media information technology is now available to provide rich communication facilities including text, image, sound and video in both synchronous and asynchronous modes. Thus, computer -based systems can combine many of the media commonly used for communication and can transmit the results over a very wide distances, High performance networks enable multi-media communication to take place over wide areas. This is particularly important for essential international user links. The richness of the communication cannot be the only criterion used because the problem of "information overload" is only too well understood by users. Thus the application of knowledge-based systems to the construction of autonomous support agents has an important role to play . These again act on behalf of users to manage the communications by, for example, altering messages or assisting with the organisation of group exchanges. This paper details a system that will allow each of these technologies to be incorporated in to a framework such that a cooperative system can be built in a flexible and highly configurable manner and be responsive to the needs of the cooperative group.

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