基于多Agent柔性制造单元的生产调度研究

针对基于制造单元的作业车间的生产调度问题进行了研究,结合多代理的智能性、灵活性和遗传算法的智能优化能力,建立基于多智能体的柔性制造单元的作业车间的调度系统模型.然后,提出了集成多智能体和遗传算法的动态调度策略和调度协商机制;最后,应用此方法完成了常规调度和异常调度的仿真算例.结果表明所开发系统可以解决基于加工单元的制造...     

基于多智能体的动态车间调度系统

在分析车间生产调度特点的基础上,提出了基于多智能体的动态车间生产调度模型。把车间生产调度系统分为调度代理、任务代理和资源代理等。代理之间采用了基于改进的合同网的关系网模型,为解决车间加工动态调度问题提供了一种新的方法。     

基于DCOM的动态运输调度多智能体系统研究*

针对物流运输调度中的客户需求动态性和随机性问题的解决,设计了一种基于DCOM的动态运输调度多智能体系统。在多智能体系统中,设计了包括预规划智能体、实时监控智能体、决策智能体和车辆智能体四类智能体。智能体以DCOM式组件形式实现,智能体之间的通信和协调由决策智能体集中执行。通过一个实例验证了系统算法的有效性,同时也为动态运输调度问题的解决提供了一个可参考的思路。     

基于多智能体的流程工业动态调度研究

根据流程工业某车间的生产过程,建立基于多智能体的生产调度系统模型,分析各智能体之间的关系,利用多智能体之间基于博弈论的协商机制,提出一个双边单议题多阶段的谈判模型,解决以工序流量或产品产量为目标的调度问题。对某隔膜烧碱生产线调度实例进行仿真,结果验证了该系统的可行性和有效性。     

多智能体协作方法及其应用研究

将复杂系统分解成由多个智能体构成的合作多智能体系统，建立了多智能体系统的决策模型，能动态实时地计算每一时刻智能体的决策局势，适应环境的动态变化．采用多智能体方法对半导体生产进行调度，提高了半导体生产线设备的利用率，缩短了单位工件的加工时间．     

基于MAS的生产车间动态调度系统的研究

简要介绍了车间调度的基本问题,发展现状以及多智能体技术.在分析车间生产调度特点的基础上,提出了基于MAS的动态车间生产调度模型.该模型把车间生产调度系统分为调度代理、任务代理和资源代理等.代理之间采用了基于改进的合同网的关系网模型,并引入了基于混合遗传算法的调度模块,为解决车间加工动态调度问题提供了一种新的方法.仿真实验结果表明,该系统更好满足了车间调度的动态化、高效化、智能化、实用化的要求.     

FMS多智能体调度系统的角色建模

为了实现FMS多智能体调度系统,提出一种基于角色的系统体系结构。根据该结构的逻辑过程设计出调度系统的招标委员会流程角色模型,并对每个智能体进行角色分配,定义其工作方式与数据访问方式。通过角色的泛化和聚合,使得系统中的智能体协同能力和适应能力更强。     

面向智能体的信息系统开发方法研究

智能体技术是近几年来发展起来的一种新的软件技术方法，将多Agent技术引入信息系统（Information System，IS）能使信息系统在新的管理模式中承担感知、协调、决策和指导的作用。文中介绍了智能体概况以及多智能体的几个关键性定义及发展状况，从特性角度、信息角度分析，信息系统适合用Agent技术来描述，从而着重介绍了智能体在两种信息系统中应用，通过分析可以看出多智能体引入信息系统是一种更为有效也是最有发展前途的一种方法。最后构想了未来面向智能体的信息系统开发方法。     

基于Agent的核心计算机操作机制研究

无人作战平台（UCAV）核心计算机（Core Computer）是一个并行多处理系统，由多个处理器和功能单元组成，负责平台的智能思维、推理和决策。文中基于智能体（Agent）的理论与方法建立了核心计算机智能体模型和控制结构；定义了不同智能俸的功能和操作；对智能体间数据交换、通讯等操作机制进行了探讨。     

基于Multi-agent技术的露天矿山生产调度系统的优化实现

针对动态变化、复杂非线性的露天矿山生产调度系统引入多智能体技术进行建模优化,将系统分为任务Agent、生产调度Agent、爆破Agent、运输Agent以及破碎Agent五个单智能体。在任务Agent中给出矿山的矿石需求量,运用自适应神经模糊推理系统（ANFIS）和遗传算法（GA）对爆破Agent进行建模优化;破碎Agent根据破碎能力以及破碎需求量对运输Agent进行约束,引入自适应变异程序改进粒子群算法(PSO)对运输Agent进行优化;生产调度Agent协调处理矿石需求量与各生产工艺Agent生产能力之间的矛盾,运用MATLAB软件对模型进行模拟实现。以某露天矿山为例构建露天矿山生产调度系统,建模优化结果表明该方法可行。     

An agent-oriented approach to resolve scheduling optimization in intelligent manufacturing

Agent technology is considered as a promising approach for developing optimizing process plans in intelligent manufacturing. As a bridge between computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM), the computer aided scheduling optimization (CASO) plays an important role in the computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) environment. In order to develop a multi-agent-based scheduling system for intelligent manufacturing, it is necessary to build various functional agents for all the resources and an agent manager to improve the scheduling agility. Identifying the shortcomings of traditional scheduling algorithm in intelligent manufacturing, the architecture of intelligent manufacturing system based on multi-agent is put forward, among which agent represents the basic processing entity. Multi-agent-based scheduling is a new intelligent scheduling method based on the theories of multi-agent system (MAS) and distributed artificial intelligence (DAI). It views intelligent manufacturing as composed of a set of intelligent agents, who are responsible for one or more activities and interacting with other related agents in planning and executing their responsibilities. In this paper, the proposed architecture consists of various autonomous agents that are capable of communicating with each other and making decisions based on their knowledge. The architecture of intelligent manufacturing, the scheduling optimization algorithm, the negotiation processes and protocols among the agents are described in detail. A prototype system is built and validated in an illustrative example, which demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach. The experiments prove that the implementation of multi-agent technology in intelligent manufacturing system makes the operations much more flexible, economical and energy efficient.     

Distributed joint dynamic maintenance and production scheduling in manufacturing systems: Framework based on model predictive control and Benders decomposition

Scheduling the maintenance based on the condition, respectively the degradation level of the system leads to improved system's reliability while minimizing the maintenance cost. Since the degradation level changes dynamically during the system's operation, we face a dynamic maintenance scheduling problem. In this paper, we address the dynamic maintenance scheduling of manufacturing systems based on their degradation level. The manufacturing system consists of several units with a defined capacity and an individual dynamic degradation model, seeking to optimize their reward. The units sell their production capacity, while maintaining the systems based on the degradation state to prevent failures. The manufacturing units are jointly responsible for fulfilling the demand of the system. This induces a coupling constraint among the agents. Hence, we face a large-scale mixed-integer dynamic maintenance scheduling problem. In order to handle the dynamic model of the system and large-scale optimization, we propose a distributed algorithm using model predictive control (MPC) and Benders decomposition method. In the proposed algorithm, first, the master problem obtains the maintenance scheduling for all the agents, and then based on this data, the agents obtain their optimal production using the distributed MPC method which employs the dual decomposition approach to tackle the coupling constraints among the agents. The effectiveness of the proposed method is investigated on two case studies.     

Towards a generic distributed and collaborative digital manufacturing

A framework for distributed manufacturing is proposed to facilitate collaborative product development and production among geographically distributed functional agents using digitalized information. Considering the complexity of products created in a distributed manufacturing scenario, it often requires close collaborations among a number of facilities. In this research work, various functional agents, such as the manufacturability evaluation agent (MEA), manufacturing resource agent (MRA), process-planning agent (PPA), manufacturing scheduling agent (MSA), shop floor agent (SFA), fault diagnosis agent (FDA), etc., can interact coherently for distributed manufacturing. With specific agents having unique functionalities, a manufacturing managing agent (MMA) acts as the centre of this distributed manufacturing system. The MMA agent assists the specific agents’ to work seamlessly and also to collaborate closely with the participating agents. In this way, the production cycle of a part can be optimized from product design to final manufacturing since all the production procedures are considered logically and every procedure is correlated. The agent language based on the knowledge query manipulation language (KQML) includes many pre-defined performatives that ease the participating agents to carry out their tasks intelligently by interpreting commands from one another. Additionally, to ensure the adaptiveness and upgradeability of the system, the internal structure of each functional agent that is based on JATLite is modularized into several components, including a communication interface, central work engine, knowledge base pool, and input/output modifier for possible future methodology enhancements.     

Agent-Based Systems for Intelligent Manufacturing: A State-of-the-Art Survey

Agent technology has been considered as an important approach for developing distributed intelligent manufacturing systems. A number of researchers have attempted to apply agent technology to manufacturing enterprise integration, supply chain management, manufacturing planning, scheduling and control, materials handling, and holonic manufacturing systems. This paper gives a brief survey of some related projects in this area, and discusses some key issues in developing agent-based manufacturing systems such as agent technology for enterprise integration and supply chain management, agent encapsulation, system architectures, dynamic system reconfiguration, learning, design and manufacturability assessments, distributed dynamic scheduling, integration of planning and scheduling, concurrent scheduling and execution, factory control structures, potential tools and standards for developing agent-based manufacturing systems. An extensive annotated bibliography is provided.     

Multi-agent Mediator architecture for distributed manufacturing

A generic Mediator architecture for distributed task planning and coordination has been developed using multi-agent paradigms. In this approach, agents function autonomously as independent computing processes, and dynamic virtual clusters coordinate the agent's activities and decision making. This coordination involves dynamically created coordination agents and resource agents concurrently. The Mediator architecture contains three levels of these coordination agents: the template mediator, the data-agent manager, and the active mediator. The template mediator is the top-level global coordinator. This agent contains both the templates and the cloning mechanism to create the successively lower-level agents. Task plans are decomposed successively into subtasks, which are allocated to dynamically created agent clusters coordinated through data-agent managers and active mediators. Coordination of agent activity takes place both among the clusters and within each cluster. The system dynamically adapts to evolving manufacturing tasks, with virtual agent clusters being created as needed, and destroyed when their tasks are completed. The mediator architecture and related mechanisms are demonstrated using an intelligent manufacturing scheduling application. Both the machines and the parts involved in this production system are considered as intelligent agents. These agents use a common language protocol based on the Knowledge Query Manipulation Language (KQML). The generic Mediator approach can be used for other distributed organizational systems beyond the intelligent manufacturing application it was originally developed for.     

一类基于多Agent和分布式规则的敏捷生产调度

Agent范例为解决制造系统的敏捷生产调度问题提供了一条新途径,如何构建敏捷生产调度多Agent系统结构和Agent间的协调与生产调度机制,成为一个亟待解决的课题.本文阐述了一类基于多Agent和分布式规则构建敏捷生产调度的方法.首先通过基于功能分解的方法,给出了管理、资源和工件等三类Agent基本组件组成的分布式多Agent调度系统结构、Agent组件基本结构及定义.其次,利用基于分布式规则的方法,建立了Agent间的协调策略和调度机制,实现了敏捷生产调度.最后给出了应用此方法的调度仿真实验结果.     

A multi-agent based approach to dynamic scheduling with flexible processing capabilities

A multi-agent based system is proposed to simultaneous scheduling of flexible machine groups and material handling system working under a manufacturing dynamic environment. The proposed model is designed by means of \(\hbox {Prometheus}^{\mathrm{TM}}\) methodology and programmed in \(\hbox {JACK}^{\mathrm{TM}}\) agent based systems development environment. Each agent in the model is autonomous and has an ability to cooperate and negotiate with the other agents in the system. Due to these abilities of agents, the structure of the system is more suitable to handle dynamic events. The proposed dynamic scheduling system is tested on several test problems the literature and the results are quite satisfactory because it generates effective schedules for both dynamic cases in the real time and static problem sets. Although the model is designed as an online method and has a dynamic structure, obtained schedule performance parameters are very close to those obtained from offline optimization based algorithms.     

Using multi-agent architecture in FMS for dynamic scheduling

The proposed scheduling strategy is based on a multi-agent architecture. Each agent of this architecture is dedicated to a work centre (i.e. a set of resources of the manufacturing system); it selects locally and dynamically the most suitable dispatching rules. Depending on local and global considerations, a new selection is carried out each time a predefined event occurs (for example, a machine becomes available, or a machine breaks down). The selection depends on: (1) primary and secondary performance objectives, (2) the operating conditions, and (3) an analysis of the system state, which aims to detect particular symptoms from the values of certain system variables. We explain how the scheduling strategy is shared out between agents, how each agent performs a local dynamic scheduling by selecting an adequate dispatching rule, and how agents can coordinate their actions to perform a global dynamic scheduling of the manufacturing system. Each agent can be implemented through object-oriented formalisms. The selection method is improved through the optimization of the numerical thresholds used in the detection of symptoms. This approach is compared with the use of SPT, SIX, MOD, CEXSPT and CR/SPT on a jobshop problem, already used in other research works. The results indicate significant improvements.     

An agent-based service-oriented integration architecture for collaborative intelligent manufacturing

The rapidly changing needs and opportunities of today's global market require unprecedented levels of interoperability to integrate diverse information systems to share knowledge and collaborate among organizations. The combination of Web services and software agents provides a promising computing paradigm for efficient service selection and integration of inter-organizational business processes. This paper proposes an agent-based service-oriented integration architecture to leverage manufacturing scheduling services on a network of virtual enterprises. A unique property of this approach is that the scheduling process of an order is orchestrated on the Internet through the negotiation among agent-based Web services. A software prototype system has been implemented for inter-enterprise manufacturing resource sharing. It demonstrates how the proposed service-oriented integration architecture can be used to establish a collaborative environment that provides dynamic resource scheduling services.     

An Agent-Based Approach for Scheduling Multiple Machines

We present a new agent-based solution approach for the problem of scheduling multiple non-identical machines in the face of sequence dependent setups, job machine restrictions, batch size preferences, fixed costs of assigning jobs to machines and downstream considerations. We consider multiple objectives such as minimizing (weighted) earliness and tardiness, and minimizing job-machine assignment costs. We use an agent-based architecture called Asynchronous Team (A-Team), in which each agent encapsulates a different problem solving strategy and agents cooperate by exchanging results. Computational experiments on large instances of real-world scheduling problems show that the results obtained by this approach are significantly better than any single algorithm or the scheduler alone. This approach has been successfully implemented in an industrial scheduling system.