System controlling exclusive access by control programs to system resources

A system for controlling use of at least one resource, wherein the at least one resource is one of a physical workspace that is in part shared by at least two machines, control of an industrial process and a data object, the system comprising:

• a plurality of addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• controllers operably connected to respective ones of a plurality of machines or processes, the controllers being located with at least one of the addressable locations;
• a plurality of control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the at least one resource, at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• and
• a plurality of resource managers being located at different ones of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, and the plurality of resource managers working together over the communication system to arbitrate which one control program of the plurality of control programs is given exclusive use of the at least one resource during execution of the one control program, the one control program being given use of the at least one resource by a resource manager at a different addressable location as the one control program.

A system for controlling use of at least one resource, wherein the at least one resource is one of a physical workspace that is in part shared by at least two machines, control of an industrial process and a data object, the system comprising:

• a plurality of addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• controllers operably connected to respective ones of a plurality of machines or processes, the controllers being located with at least one of the addressable locations;
• a plurality of control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the at least one resource, at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• a plurality of resource managers being located at different ones of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, and the plurality of resource managers working together over the communication system to arbitrate which one control program of the plurality of control programs is given exclusive use of the at least one resource during execution of the one control program;
• each resource manager arbitrates access to a plurality of resources with access to the plurality of resources being in a set order;
• each resource manager tracks each control program requesting control of the resources and in what order;
• and
• if a control program requests access to at least two resources out of the set order, a warning is issued that a deadlock between the control program requesting access to the at least two resources and another control program is possible.

A system for controlling use of at least one resource, wherein the at least one resource is one of a physical workspace that is in part shared by at least two machines, a control of an industrial process and a data object, or the system comprising:

• a plurality of addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• controllers operably connected to respective ones of a plurality of machines or processes, the controllers being located with at least one of the addressable locations;
• a plurality of control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the at least one resource, at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• and
• a plurality of resource managers being located at different ones of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, and the plurality of resource managers working together over the communication system to arbitrate which one control program of the plurality of control programs is given exclusive use of the at least one resource during execution of the one control program, the plurality of resource managers collaborate to determine if a set of machine control programs requesting access to a set of resources is found to form a deadlock and then the deadlock state is communicated to the user.

A system for controlling use of at least one resource, wherein the at least one resource is one of a physical workspace that is in part shared by at least two machines, a control of an industrial process and a data object, the system comprising:

• a plurality of addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• controllers operably connected to respective ones of a plurality of robots which use a plurality of workspaces which at least in part are located within a mutual workspace, the controllers being located with at least one of the addressable locations;
• a plurality of control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the at least one resource, at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• and
• a plurality of resource managers being located at different ones of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, and the plurality of resource managers working together over the communication system to arbitrate which one control program of the plurality of control programs is given exclusive use of the at least one resource during execution of the one control program.

A system for controlling use of at least one resource, wherein the at least one resource is one of a physical workspace that is in part shared by at least two machines, control of an industrial process and a data object, the system comprising:

• a plurality of addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• controllers operatively connected to respective ones of a plurality of machines or processes, the controllers being located with at least one of the addressable locations;
• a group of control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the at least one resource and at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• and
• a plurality of resource managers being located at different ones of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, such that the resource managers implement at least one interlock on behalf of the at least one resource, each interlock providing mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource by one of the control programs, each interlock being controlled by programmable instructions from within the one of the control programs.

A system for controlling use of a shared workspace comprising:

• addressable locations in the system;
• a communication system connecting the addressable locations and transmitting communications between the addressable locations, the communication system having no inherent capability to provide mutually exclusive use of the at least one resource;
• at least two machines and associated controllers located with at least one of the addressable locations, the at least two machines sharing the workspace;
• control programs operable at different addressable locations to request use of the shared workspace and at least one of the control programs operable to command one of the controllers;
• and
• resource managers located with different ones of the plurality of the addressable locations, each resource manager communicating over the communication system with at least one other resource manager, and the resource managers working together over the communication system to arbitrate which one control program is given exclusive use of the shared workspace during execution of the one control program, the one control program being given use of the at least one resource by a resource manager at one of a common and a different addressable location as the one control program.