Real time and remote access control of flexible manufacturing system and applied to the mechatronic education

In recent years, great developments have been experienced in electric-electronic, computer and control systems. Using of electric-electronic, pneumatic-hydraulic, computer and mechanic technologies together has become an obligation. Consequently, the mechatronics that covers a very wide area has appeared as a new discipline. Today, neither mechanic nor electronic products are almost not available alone. Because of this effective change, very important developments have been experienced in the engineering education of today. With this regard, mechatronics systems and education has gained a great deal of importance.One of the most important phases of the engineering education is undoubtedly the laboratory applications. For a productive education, the courses must be given both theoretically and practically by being applied on real systems. In this study made for purpose of giving an applied and detailed mechatronics education, with the changes made on the electronic and control system by using the mechanical structure of the flexible manufacturing system manufactured by the Festo Company, a structure that the students can get the highest degree of benefit from the system and understand the principles of technological subjects it covers has been established. However, this experiment set, in its current situation, seems having a very complex mechanic and control algorithm in view of an undergraduate student. For this reason, the system can only be used for purpose of demonstration far from intervention of a student.In this study, new designs have been developed for the electric and control system without making any modification in the mechanic structure of the system. In this manner, the experiment set, with its current structure, college students will be benefited by the highest rate in mechatronics subject and applications of the technological subjects in covers will be easily realized. Therefore microcontroller based controlling stations of the flexible manufacturing system cards have been designed. In this way, the application opportunity on a real system with microcontrollers which have an important role in mechatronics systems has been ensured. CAN bus protocol has been set up to ensure communication between the stations and hardware of the system. LabVIEW graphical programming based user interfaces have been designed to program stations via network, develop distributed control applications and online monitoring the status for the system. In addition these, as a very important development of this study, web based programming of some certain FMS stations has been realized. Hence users of the experiment set-up can be adapt own programs to the system.