Public defence in Automation and Control Engineering, M.Sc. Pranay Jhunjhunwala

The title of the thesis: Methods improving software design efficiency for flexible industrial automation

Thesis defender: Pranay Jhunjhunwala
Opponent: Prof. Bilal Ahmad, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Custos: Prof. Valeriy Vyatkin, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering

In today's world, we increasingly expect products tailored just for us, moving away from mass-produced items towards mass customisation. To meet this growing demand quickly, factories need to become incredibly flexible and efficient, which relies heavily on the software that controls them – a concept known as software-defined automation (SDA). 

This doctoral thesis introduces improved methods aimed at making the software design for flexible industrial automation much more efficient. The research uses the IEC 61499 standard as its foundation, which is well-suited for flexible and distributed automation systems. 

The work proposes various software design patterns and ways to structure software that allow components to be easily reused, making systems more flexible and modular, and improving how errors are handled and debugged. A key focus is also placed on interoperability, ensuring that systems or components from different manufacturers can work together seamlessly. 

The thesis also investigates enabling dynamic manufacturing systems – production lines that can quickly adapt to make different products. This involves ideas like skill-based engineering, where machines announce what tasks they can perform, and developing algorithms for real-time reconfiguration, allowing factory setups to change with minimal stopping time. 

The results of this research demonstrate that these proposed methods and tools significantly improve software design efficiency, enhance the ability of different systems to interoperate smoothly, and make factory reconfigurations faster and less prone to errors, leading to a significant reduction in downtime. This work contributes to building the more agile, adaptable factories needed to thrive in the era of mass customisation.

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at Aaltodoc. 

Contact:

pranay.jhunjhunwala@aalto.fi 
+358504648911