| Intelligent
Control Systems: Example Case
Empowering Customers Through Intelligent Control
The Problem
Xerox Corporation wanted to offer customers a way to customize their printing systems and flexibly add capabilities as their businesses grow.
However, customers have varying budgets, needs, and job configurations (for example, over 40 different paper sizes, multiple
finishing options, and so on) — so hard-coding all possible system behaviors would be tremendously difficult and impractical.
The Solution
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| PARC researchers designed control software that uses a generic reasoning engine and modular architecture to let the printing system intelligently: |
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coordinate complex, distributed, and often networked components; |
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adapt to new components or customer plug-ins without having to manually retool the software; |
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ensure maximum productivity, reliability, and performance with minimal disruption. |
How it works: PARC's novel approach uses explicit system knowledge, in the form of constraint-based models of the components. The "generic" control software provides techniques for representing the capabilities of system components, and for inferring from those the capabilities of the overall system. Descriptions of the system configuration – for example, a multi-function device with multiple finishing options – are provided, along with a series of goals (i.e., print jobs) to be achieved. Given the configuration descriptions, embedded real-time planning and scheduling algorithms automatically select the capabilities that will correctly and optimally achieve the goals. The component models are reusable for different machine configurations and for different tasks such as fault recovery.
The Outcomes
PARC’s "universal" approach not only met Xerox customers’ needs, but it enabled Xerox to unify its software base. The resulting software now drives multiple Xerox product families including the flagship iGen3™ digital production printing system, which has won several awards and been cited for its technological innovation.
PARC researchers continue to enhance this technology for Xerox printing systems. Enhancements include control software for recovering from faults, dynamically rerouting jobs, and clearing the system if a jam occurs. The software also enables the system controller to adapt dynamically to equipment being taken off-line in the field, maximizing throughput with the current configuration.
The Vision
Helping Xerox maintain a competitive edge, PARC researchers are
collaborating with other Xerox research centers and using similar technology as the foundation for a revolutionary new approach to designing printing systems.
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