Article Abstract

	Title:	Communication and coordination in multi-agent manufacturing systems
	Author:	M. Mahesh, S.K. Ong, A.Y.C. Nee
	Address:	Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, 117576, Singapore. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, 117576, Singapore. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, 117576, Singapore
	Journal:	International Journal of Manufacturing Research 2006 - Vol. 1, No.1  pp. 59 - 82
	Abstract:	Communication and coordination are indispensable for achieving common goals in multi-agent manufacturing systems. Without a coordinator, manager or a facilitator, potential conflicts may become obstacles during runtime. In addition, a lack of an efficiently coordinated communication would result in the duplication of efforts. Without a well-coordination mechanism, it will be chaotic to involve different functional agents in a Multi-Agent Manufacturing System (MAMS). The operations of multiple agents need to be coordinated because of the inter-dependency that exists between the actions of these agents and the need to resolve run-time conflicts that may occur during evaluation or negotiation. Hence, an efficient coordination mechanism is crucial for a distributed manufacturing system for performing activities in a shared environment. In this paper, a centralised coordination method for manufacturing services based on priorities and conflict resolution is presented, and a coordinated system to resolve conflicts during runtime has also been developed.
	Keywords:	centralised coordination; conflict resolution; functional agents; multi-agent manufacturing systems; multi-agent systems; agent-based systems; communication; multiple agents; distributed manufacturing; manufacturing services.
	DOI:	10.1504/IJMR.2006.010704
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