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.     

A novel approach for multi-agent-based Intelligent Manufacturing System

In the recent years, the competition of shortening the development cycle of new products is more and more fierce. Given the shortcomings of traditional scheduling algorithm in Intelligent Manufacturing, the architecture of multi-agent-based Intelligent Manufacturing System is put forward, which represents the basic processing entity. The architecture is based on the methodology of multi-agent systems (MAS) in distributed artificial intelligence (DAI). The multi-agent system has some common characteristics, such as distribution, autonomy, interaction and openness, which are helpful to transform the traditional architecture into a distributed and cooperative architecture in an Intelligent Manufacturing System. 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. 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.     

Development of a multi-agent-based distributed simulation platform for semiconductor manufacturing

Since the semiconductor manufacturing system is a large-scale complex system, it is difficult to solve complex problems in semiconductor manufacturing by the mathematical modeling method. This paper presents a multi-agent-based distributed simulation platform to support the extremely complex semiconductor manufacturing analysis. A multi-agent-based distributed simulation platform framework and a multi-agent collaborative control model are proposed to provide a flexible infrastructure and a multi-agent coordination mechanism in distributed environment for semiconductor manufacturing simulation. A multi-agent time synchronization model for distributed simulation is designed to keep events in the correct logical time order in simulation and steps of time synchronization are given. An interaction model and message formats are presented to describe how agents communicate with each other in simulation. The platform development and the design of graphical user interface are also exploited in this paper. Finally, evaluation of this multi-agent-based platform was illustrated with a case study. It indicates that the platform is effective in modeling and simulating the complex semiconductor manufacturing and provides the insights about how to improve the semiconductor manufacturing process with well targeted measures.     

基于FIPA-Agent的混合式制造单元控制系统研究

为了使制造单元控制系统具有自治性、合作性、可重构性及易维护性等特性,文章在FIPA-Agent技术规范的基础上,提出了制造单元混合式控制系统结构体系;同时对控制系统中通用Agent功能结构进行了较详细的设计,建立了基于JADE的控制系统软件结构。在此基础上,进行了控制系统中各个功能实体的FIPA-Agent设计;最后,在MSWinProfessional2000、JADE和JAVA环境下,进行原型系统的开发、评价,并得到初步的结果。     

A Reusable Multi-Agent Architecture for Active Intelligent Websites

In this paper a reusable multi-agent architecture for intelligent Websites is presented and illustrated for an electronic department store. The architecture has been designed and implemented using the compositional design method for multi-agent systems DESIRE. The agents within this architecture are based on a generic information broker agent model. It is shown how the architecture can be exploited to design an intelligent Website for insurance, developed in co-operation with the software company Ordina Utopics and an insurance company.     

A sales agent for part manufacturers: VMSA

The sales activity of most parts manufacturing companies is based on orders of buyers. The process of promotion, receipt and selection of orders of the parts manufacturers is closely coupled with the load status of the production lines. On deciding whether to accept an order or not, as well as negotiating with buyers, sales persons need information such as load and schedule of production lines, and manufacturability of the order. Manufacturability analysis, process planning, and scheduling are therefore key features in developing an agent of sales activity for the parts manufacturing business. In this paper, an intelligent agent, a virtual manufacturing-based sales agent (VMSA) with multi-agent architecture is proposed to support the sales activity for the parts manufacturers in the Internet environment. A VMSA has an integrated architecture of agent and virtual manufacturing. The prototype of VMSA has been developed for a machine parts manufacturing company that has lathe machines, drilling machines, cutting machines, and milling machines.     

基于Multi-Agent网络化虚拟制造的开放式体系结构研究

结合Agent技术的优点,本文提出了一种基于Multi-Agent网络化虚拟制造体系开放式结构。定义了各Agent的功能,阐述Multi-Agent的属性,讨论利用Multi-Agent技术解决的关键问题,研究系统运行机制,描述了体系结构的特征。     

多Agent系统的技术研究

多Agent系统是由多个智能Agent组成的有机系统,这使得它具有比单个Agent更强大的处理能力。它表出自组织性、鲁棒性、分布性以及很强的复杂行为。文中论述了Agent和多Agent系统的有关理论、方法和技术。主要包括智能Agent的特性、结构和推理;介绍多Agent系统的体系结构分类和常见的几种通信机制;以及面向Agent的程序设计的现状和发展。     

MVC模式在JADE系统开发中的应用

针对由于JADE(Java Agent Development Environment)对带图形界面的代理的支持程度不够,从而造成开发出来的系统结构混乱,维护困难等问题,采用MVC(Model-View-Control)设计模式进行开发,提出了一种新的图形界面Agent开发架构,即采用模型、界面和控制等功能模块相分离的方式来构造系统,以实现对多代理系统开发和维护的简化。该架构除了加强JADE系统对图形界面代理的支持外,新增了对多种消息并行处理的支持;并且结构灵活,易于扩展,可对现有的多代理系统进行少量改造来实现结构调整。     

Roboskeleton: An architecture for coordinating robot soccer agents

SkeletonAgent is an agent framework whose main feature is to integrate different artificial intelligent skills, like planning or learning, to obtain new behaviours in a multi-agent environment. This framework has been previously instantiated in a deliberative domain (electronic tourism), where planning was used to integrate Web information in a tourist plan. RoboSkeleton results from the instantiation of the same framework, SkeletonAgent, in a very different domain, the robot soccer. This paper shows how this architecture is used to obtain collaborative behaviours in a reactive domain. The paper describes how the different modules of the architecture for the robot soccer agents are designed, directly showing the flexibility of our framework.     

一个基于多代理的并行工程设计系统模型研究

并行工程设计方法试图在产品的早期设计时期就考虑产品生命周期中的各方面因素,但是要真正实现却是很困难的,该文给出了一个基于多代理的并行工程设计系统框架,来解决“考虑制造的设计（ＤＦＭ）”这一总理２,同样地,并行工程的其它考虑,如可装配性,可维护性与可服务性都能以同样的方式集成到这个框架中来。     

多Agent系统在遥感图像目标识别中的一种应用

遥感图像处理技术的发展无论对民用还是军用都有重要的意义。多Agent系统因其智能性和并行计算能力在各种领域都有了广泛的应用。针对遥感图像处理中对于自适应、快速识别目标的需要,提出将多Agent系统应用于遥感图像目标识别,设计并开发了一个分布式目标识别系统。它利用多个边缘检测算子Agent检测边缘,将检测结果序列送人神经网络Agent进行分类,并与纹理统计Agent的结果相融合,判决目标类别。实验结果表明,该系统对不同种类、不同分辨率的图像有一定的普适性,有较高的实用价值。对今后多Agent系统在图像处理中的研究和应用有很大的意义。     

一种等级式的多主体仿真框架

基于多主体的建模和仿真已经被广泛地应用到了复杂系统所涉及到的各个领域，系统中智能主体的实现直接影响系统的性能和仿真结果的有效性。本文通过分析反应主体和慎思主体，指出其各自的优点和缺陷，结合复杂系统仿真的实际情况，提出融合两种主体的多主体系统框架，并对实现中的关键问题给出了详细说明。     

Reflections on the Nature of Multi-Agent Coordination and Its Implications for an Agent Architecture

The development of enabling infrastructure for the next generation of multi-agent systems consisting of large numbers of agents and operating in open environments is one of the key challenges for the multi-agent community.Current infrastructure support does not materially assist in the development of sophisticated agent coordination strategies. It is the need for and the development of such a high-level support structure that will be the focus of this paper. A domain-independent (generic) agent architecture is proposed that wraps around an agent's problem-solving component in order to make problem solving responsive to real-time constraints, available network resources, and the need to coordinate—both in the large and small—with problem-solving activities of other agents. This architecture contains five components, local agent scheduling, multi-agent coordination, organizational design, detection and diagnosis, and on-line learning, that are designed to interact so that a range of different situation-specific coordination strategies can be implemented and adapted as the situation evolves. The presentation of this architecture is followed by a more detailed discussion on the interaction among these components and the research questions that need to be answered to understand the appropriateness of this architecture for the next generation of multi-agent systems.     

Agent-Based Simulation of Animal Behaviour

In the biological literature on animal behaviour, in addition to real experiments and field studies, also simulation experiments are a useful source of progress. Often specific mathematical modelling techniques are adopted and directly implemented in a programming language. Modelling more complex agent behaviours is less adequate using the usually adopted mathematical modelling techniques. The literature on AI and Agent Technology offers more specific methods to design and implement (also more complex) intelligent agents and agent societies on a conceptual level. One of these methods is the compositional multi-agent system design method DESIRE. In this paper it is shown how (depending on the complexity of the required behaviour) a simulation model for animal behaviour can be designed at a conceptual level in an agent-based manner. Different models are shown for different types of behaviour, varying from purely reactive behaviour to pro-active, social and adaptive behaviour. The compositional design method for multi-agent systems DESIRE and its software environment supports the conceptual and detailed design, and execution of these models. A number of experiments reported in the literature on animal behaviour have been simulated for different agent models.     

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.     

Manufacturing planning and predictive process model integration using software agents

Intelligent agents provide a means to integrate various manufacturing software applications. The agents are typically executed in a computer-based collaborative environment, referred to as a multi-agent system. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a prototype multi-agent system supporting the integration of manufacturing planning, predictive machining models, and manufacturing control. The agents within this platform have access to a knowledge base, a manufacturing resource database, a numerical control programming system, a mathematical equation solving system, and a computer-aided design system. Intelligence has been implemented within the agents in rules that are used for process planning, service selection, and job execution. The primary purposes for developing such a platform are to support the integration of predictive models, process planning, and shop floor machining activities and to demonstrate an integration framework to enable the use of machining process knowledge with higher-level manufacturing applications.     

基于MAS的产品设计制造应用服务提供系统

提出了一个基于多Agent系统的产品设计制造应用服务提供系统,通过将分布的制造资源和应用系统封装为网络上的自主Agent为连入网络的用户提供应用服务．从而实现资源共享和生产能力的快速扩散。Agent之间的协作和协调为实现集成应用服务环境提供了有效机制。讨论了系统的主要组成、面临的问题和使能技术,并通过一个仿真应用系统进行验证。     

基于流动代理的网络管理原型系统的设计

基于流动代理的网络管理体系结构能够弥补传统网络管理体系结构中存在的许多缺陷。文章首先对面向网络管理领域的流动代理进行了研究,然后对原型结构进行了设计,并对实例应用进行了描述。     

基于政策自组织系统的软件agent体系结构及其实现

当前自组织系统软件工程面临的一个重要挑战,就是如何设计适宜的个体交互行为来满足自组织系统的宏观涌现需求。针对此问题,提出了一种基于政策的自组织多agent系统的开发方法,此方法通过政策调节引导agent的行为,以期在系统层面得到用户所需求的宏观涌现结果。开发这类系统的核心问题是如何构造系统中的软件agent,使得agent能够感知、理解系统政策,并在遵循政策的前提下实现行为的自主决策。提出了一种基于政策自组织多agent系统的软件agent体系结构,并基于该体系结构设计了运行机制及行为决策算法。通过软件方式实现了一个基于政策的自组织多agent系统开发平台原型,并通过案例实现说明了体系结构、运行机制的有效性。