Modelling of devices in an adaptive and dynamic environment

Abstract Even today, many production processes are still executed manually, especially since variant diversity and non-deterministic processes confront automation with special challenges. Examples of such manual processes with high automation potentials can be found in the application of stem cells. The utilized biological cultivation protocols are largely performed manually by laboratory assistants, while the technology is considered a promising therapeutic option in modern medicine. Automation of those time-intensive processes, therefore, promises significant cost savings and quality improvements. With an applicable modelling architecture, an automated plant can be designed, which enables the possibility of independently exchangeable devices and protocols. In stem cell cultivation, as in many other areas of production technology, there are two main aspects of modelling a device. The first component is the representation of the internal state of a device. In the context of a dynamic environment, a general framework for modelling complex appliances is developed. With this representation it is possible, to precisely describe the internal state of any given device, without losing the possibility to describe a wide range of components. Particular attention is paid on how that information can be represented and accessed. The second aspect is the modelling of atomic operations. The availability of those is an important point for the control of dynamic processes. This also acts as a rigorous abstraction layer between the actual hardware and its representation in the information world. An operation does not define how a specific task has to be executed, but what it does. The result of the operation is to be ensured to be the same. The developed concepts are implemented and validated within an automated cell cultivation platform, the iCellFactory. Although this plant is located in the field of biotechnology, the concepts can be transferred to other areas of production technology.