Design and implementation of an intelligent product agent architecture in manufacturing systems

Abstract

Present-day manufacturing companies encounter a variety of challenges due to the dynamically changing industrial environment. Current control frameworks lack the adaptability and flexibility to effectively deal with challenges such as broken-down machines or altered customer orders. Multi-agent control has been proposed to improve the performance of manufacturing systems in uncertain or dynamic environments. Some multiagent architectures have been introduced with promising results. A key component of these architectures is the product agent, which is responsible for guiding a physical part through the manufacturing system based on the production requirements of the part. Even though the product agent has been previously used in multi-agent frameworks, a well-defined internal architecture for this agent has yet to be proposed. This work specifies a product agent architecture that can be utilized in multi-agent systems. The proposed architecture is tested using a manufacturing system simulation. The simulation results showcase the reactivity, proactiveness, and autonomy of the proposed product agent.