Manufacturing Process Monitoring and Control Using Wireless Sensor Networks

This project will develop models and performance metrics to understand and predict sensor response, establish standards for a new generation of advanced sensors and sensor networks for the manufacturing environment, and create innovative methods for sensor fusion and intelligent data processing for the robust filtering and parameter estimation needed to effectively measure and control the manufacturing process. Advancements in wireless sensors and sensor networks will be incorporated into project results to meet the growing demand by U.S. manufacturers for secure, wireless connections between system components

A key advancement needed to minimize and ultimately eliminate off-line part inspection is the ability to cost-effectively monitor and control the manufacturing process so that its outcome is indirectly and reliably determined. Manufacturing is a complex process with many potential sources of variation. Sensors generate the primary data needed for process control and quality control. However, current limitations in sensor technology and sensor integration result in missing or incomplete data, with a low signal-to-noise ratio – making it difficult to identify and diagnose process conditions in "noisy" environments, often leading to expensive false alarms. Data obtained from multiple sensors that monitor different aspects of the system or operation must be integrated and continually correlated with the expected signatures from the properly functioning system. In addition, optical measurement techniques, such as 3D imaging, generate huge amounts of data related to the measured objects, causing challenges for processing, interpreting, and using this measurement data. Presently industry is unable to integrate these new measurement capabilities into a seamless, quality control system, losing valuable information in the data reduction process.

In comparison to traditional wired networks, wireless sensor systems provide advantages in the manufacturing environment, such as increased flexibility for locating and reconfiguring sensors, elimination of wires in potentially hazardous locations, and ease of network maintenance. However, for wireless sensor networks to become widely used in manufacturing systems, the sensor interoperability standards and performance metrics developed by this project must help U.S. manufacturers overcome several challenges, including reliable receipt of sensor signals, sufficient power for the sensor to provide the desired signal strength, useful life, and continuous communications, and interoperable sensor data and systems.