Agent-Based Distributed Resource Allocation in Technical Dynamic Systems

Abstract

Distributed resource allocation is a promising field for the application of multi-agent systems also in technical or industrial environments. The design of the multi-agent system then mainly comprises the definition of the agents' local knowledge and behavior as well as the definition of an interaction protocol for overall coordination. Most solutions of agent-based resource allocation however exist in static or discrete-event systems while the allocation of resources to continuous dynamic systems is hardly addressed. In order to derive the local and the interaction behavior of the agents, we refer to a mathematical formulation of the resource allocation problem as an optimization problem. Based on a market-like coordination scheme, a new agent-based solution for the allocation of resources to dynamic systems is developed and applied to an example