Agent-based architecture for manufacturing system control

Abstract

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a complex manufacturing system and it demands a robust control software for its scheduling, planning and control functions. This paper describes the development of an agent-based infrastructure for the control of a cellular FMS. The FMS in this project is a flexible assembly cell (FAC), comprising two assembly robots and a conveyor system. The aim is to establish a multi-agent control system with good expandability and to be able to cope with dynamic changes in the FAC. The proposed agent-based FAC control system comprises a collection of agents implemented in a distributed control network. The approach of the agent design is based on the object-oriented modelling technique. According to the proposed control architecture, a standard agent template has been designed for the establishment of individual agents in the agent-based system.