A METHODOLOGY AND SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR ADVANCED CONTROL OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A NEW METHODOLOGY FOR ADVANCED CONTROL OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. WE PROPOSE TO ENCODE THE METHODOLOGY IN SOFTWARE TOOLS. UNLIKE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TOOLS, THESE TOOLS WILL ALLOW USERS WITHOUT EXTENSIVE EXPERTISE IN CONTROL SCIENCES TO DEVELOP ADVANCED CONTROL SYSTEMS. IT WILL ALLOW THEM TO EASILY INTEGRATE EXISTING SIMULATION CODES, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING AND ADVANCES IN COMPUTER INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY. THE TOOLS WILL SUPPORT THE ENTIRE CONTROL ENGINEERING CYCLE, INCLUDING CONTROL CONFIGURATION, TESTING, DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION NOT JUST AS SEPARATE TOOL BOXES BUT AS A WELL-PLANNED ACTIVITY. RELIABILITY AND EASE-OF-USE WILL BE ENHANCED BY EXPLOITING THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE DESIGN CYCLE, ON-LINE PLANNING AND USE OF MULTIPLE ALTERNATE ALGORITHMS. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL ADDRESS THERMAL CONTROL OF OXIDATION PROCESSES IN MANUFACTURE OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AS AN APPLICATION DOMAIN. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY PERMITS ADVANCED CONTROL OF COMPLICATED MANUFACTURING PROCESSES REQUIRING COMPUTATION INTENSIVE MODELING CODES AND LEARNING FROM TEST DATA.