Title: An implementation of resource-negotiating agents in telemanufacturing

Authors: Terence L. Van Zyl, Elizabeth M. Ehlers, Emil Marais

Addresses: Academy for Information Technology, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Road, Auckland Park, South Africa. ' Academy for Information Technology, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Road, Auckland Park, South Africa. ' Academy for Information Technology, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Road, Auckland Park, South Africa

Abstract: The paper reports on the original concept of introducing Resource-Negotiating (RN) agents into telemanufacturing. Human users submit a design file that they want manufactured. The machine that will be selected to manufacture the design file has to fall within the user|s constraints. An agent visits several processing facilities called Distributed Manufacturing Resources (DMRs) and negotiates with an agent at each location for the most suitable machine. The agents use a plan to find resources and use negotiation skills to acquire the most suitable manufacturing resource. The entire process is done in a secure environment as the design files could contain valuable information such as early prototypes of products. Experience gained from the negotiations should be stored to allow future agents to benefit from previous negotiations. The components that are needed to implement the above and the results of the implementation are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: telemanufacturing; resource negotiation; negotiating agents; secure resource negotiations; layered manufacturing; rapid prototyping; mobile agents; agent-based systems; multi-agent systems; MAS; distributed manufacturing; manufacturing resources.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2010.032992

International Journal of Product Development, 2010 Vol.11 No.1/2, pp.115 - 135

Published online: 06 May 2010 *

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