Hardware in the loop module to calculate production indicators

Currently Hardware in the Loop (HIL) is a powerful tool in manufacturing planning. A HIL module for manufacturing must include the dynamics of a critical machine, the logical control signals and the production sequence information. By this way Hardware in the Loop can provide a complete set of possible cycletimes, due the module capability to change delays times, sizes of the workpieces and problems in the parts or in the logic states. All this information could be re-used for manufacturers to improve factory designs or by other management modules to improve production indicators under the Virtual Factory Framework European project framework. Due to the level of detailed dynamics required in Hardware in the Loop simulations, it is suggested to integrate information from the multibody dynamic simulations programmed at the design level.