I-MECH | Intelligent Motion Control Platform for Smart Mechatronic Systems

The broad I-MECH challenge is to bridge the gap between the latest research results and best industrial practice in advanced mechatronic motion control systems. Software and Hardware building blocks, featuring standardized interfaces, will be developed to deliver a complete I-MECH reference platform.

The project outputs will impact on the entire value chain of the production automation market.

Objectives

The broad I-MECH challenge is to bridge the gap between the latest research results and best industrial practice in advanced mechatronic motion control systems. Software and Hardware building blocks, featuring standardized interfaces, will be developed to deliver a complete I-MECH reference platform.

The key Scientific and Technical objectives are:

• to develop techniques for employment of advanced model-based methods for the design, real-time control and self-diagnosis of cyber-physical systems
• to develop a smart Instrumentation Layer gathering visual and/or sensor information from supplementary instrumentation installed on the moving parts of the controlled system to enhance the achievable performance of the system
• to develop modular unified, Hardware and Software motion control building blocks implementing a service-oriented architecture paradigm, i.e. smart Control Layer

To make I-MECH sustainable, the project outcomes will be available for European industry also through the envisioned I-MECH Center, after completion of the project.

Relevance and Impact

I-MECH will significantly strengthen European industrial competitiveness through the design and implementation of improved mechatronic smart systems. I-MECH will lead to improved machine performance and reliability as measured by a whole variety of parameters including response time, reliability, control bandwidth, control accuracy and error.

Furthermore, the model based approach will produce an expected 50% reduction in development time for control (sub) systems for mechatronic applications. The project outputs will impact on the entire value chain of the production automation market. The high added value of I-MECH reference platform will be directly verified in the fields of

• high-speed/big CNC machining
• additive manufacturing
• semicon
• high-speed packaging
• healthcare robotics

Technical Innovation

I-MECH will develop a set of smart building blocks, embedding leading edge capabilities from our academic partners, which can be used for rapid development of the lower layers of these high performance motion control systems. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) concepts will be used to achieve a high degree of configurability, scalability and interoperability of the individual components, while maintaining the reliability, safety, certifiability and time-to-market benefits of off the shelf solutions. The project vision is to provide enhanced motion control intelligence for wide range of CPS involving actively controlled moving elements. In consequence, such CPS will:

• be able to measure the performance of its individual instrumented parts (drives, sensors, actuators, electronics)
• optimize and adapt control actions according to condition and machine dynamics changes
• be able to actively detect and reject residual vibrations when pushing machine performance to the physical limit
• learn during repeating tasks and optimize its performance automatically
• accommodate new sensors and actuators with different performance profiles
• integrate multiple motion and control activities on multi-many core platforms

Key words: robotics, motion control, wireless communication, smart system integration, service-oriented, architecture, cyber-physical systems