Changed Features of the Material Flow Objects

• We changed how the function Fast Forward Simulation of the Eventcontroller works. It now automatically deactivates Realtime mode. When you terminate Fast Forward Simulation, Realtime mode will be activated again, provided it was activated before.

  You can now quick and easy switch between Fast Forward Simulation and normal simulation by clicking the respective button while the simulation is running.

• We changed the behavior when querying the contents list of a length-oriented object or of the position list of an MU on a length-oriented object with the methods contentsList and positionList. The values for the positions are not rounded any more.

• We extended the functionality of the method outIn. You can now also specify outIn(-1, true) for fully processed parts.

• We changed the behavior when an object, on which a blocked MU is located, is failed/paused/stopped: Now the MU is no longer removed from the blocking list when the MU you unsuccessfully attempted to move it with one of the methods insert, move, or transfer before an Out event was processed for this MU.

• We changed product statistics of the MUs: MUs, which are located in a blocking list, are now always counted as waiting, no matter which state the material flow resource is in. MUs, which are loaded or unloaded from a resource by a Pick-and-Place Robot, are always counted as working.

• We now enter root.Broker into the text box Broker by default into the sub-tabs of the Tab Importer. For this reason Plant Simulation now does not show an error message any more when you click on Apply. When Plant Simulation detects an invalid Broker during the simulation, it opens the dialog of the object with the respective sub-tab.

• We changed the behavior of Plant Simulation. Now no events are calculated any more when resetting your model. This now happens when initializing the model.

  You can now also initialize attributes, which affect event generation, for example the availability, in the Init Control. For this the init controls are now executed before the events are calculated. The normal init methods, on the other hand, are executed after calculating the initial events.

  Based on this enhancement the Init Control of the Transporter will now also be executed before the events are calculated. In previous version the init control was executed after the events were calculated.

• We changed the behavior of the Exit strategy > Carry part away. It is not allowed any more for objects which are part of a balanced line. For models, which you created in previous versions, Plant Simulation deactivates the object Cycle when you had activated Carry part away for one of the objects it controls.

• We changed the behavior of the AssemblyStation. When it has objects of type Store as predecessors, it requests the required mounting parts from the Store. If the required parts are not available in the Store at the moment, the Store records the request and delivers the parts to the AssemblyStation when they are available again.

  The parts can also be carried from the Store to the AssemblyStation by a Worker. The Store can only provide mounting parts, but no main parts and has to be connected with a Connector, even when the Worker carries the part away.

• We changed the behavior of the method mu of the Container, the Transporter with a loading space, and of the Store. You can now call it with the parameter -1. Then the method returns the last MU on the object or VOID when the object is empty. You can, for example, use the method to unload a Container in reverse order.

• We changed the behavior of Plant Simulation. The method finishedTime of the MUs is now observable.

• We changed the behavior Plant Simulation. The attribute RemainingSetupTime is now observable.

• We do not support the method createObject any more. Use the methods derive or duplicate instead. To create the object at a certain position in the Frame, use the attribute Coordinate3D.

• We do not support the method ShowStandardMenus any more.

Back to What’s New in Tecnomatix Plant Simulation 14