Title: Cooperative multi-agent reconfigurable manufacturing environments

Authors: Shichun C. Zho, Alejandro Ramirez-Serrano, Robert W. Brennan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada

Abstract: This paper discusses the use of resource-bounded intelligent agents acting in (complex) manufacturing environments. Agents operate for the coordination of multitasks performed within the plant. In particular, we discuss the agents| operation selection problem. The agent|s required capabilities requires effective design and implementation approaches able to cope with the high-level demands. In this paper, we provide a cooperative control scheme for a team of Flexible Manufacturing Workcells. This paper provides a modelling framework that eases the design of autonomous agents for complex large-scale multi-agent production systems. Agents| behaviours are simple, allowing to be easily implemented, scalable and practical. The proposed approach creates effective coordinated and self-organised agents capable of accomplishing their goals.

Keywords: agent-based systems; cooperative control; distributed control; reconfigurable manufacturing; intelligent agents; multi-agent systems; flexible manufacturing; manufacturing cells; FMC; coordination; self-organising agents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2006.008799

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.8 No.1/2/3, pp.283 - 303

Published online: 25 Jan 2006 *

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