Mixing real and virtual components in automated manufacturing systems using PLM tools

The automation of manufacturing systems is one of the most important aspects that need to be taken care of during a design process. The Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools allow for the designing of automated systems even before acquiring all the hardware and/or software. This paper shows the use of this PLM kind of tools for mixing virtual and real components on an automated manufacturing system through the implementation of four different case scenarios: using the real process/real controller to the virtual process/virtual controller, real process/real controller to real process/virtual controller and finally, virtual process/real controller to virtual process/ virtual controller. These scenarios will be described along with their purposes and the tools used to achieve them. Dassault Systemes DELMIA Automation is used as a PLM tool and is combined with the hardware and software required to achieve each case scenario. The case study used is the Flexible Manufacturing System in the Mechatronics laboratory at the Tecnologico de Monterrey; it's also presented an implementation of these scenarios in a Manufacturing Systems Automation laboratory class. This study examines students' use of technology for learning compared to more traditional learning methods. Results suggest that there is more than one good way to learn.