A distributed knowledge-based approach to flexible automation: The contract net framework

Michael J. Shaw, Andrew B. Whinston

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article applied distributed artificial intelligence to the real-time planning and control of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) consisting of asynchronous manufacturing cells. A knowledge-based approach is used to determine the course of action, resource sharing, and processor assignments. Within each cell there is an embedded automatic planning system that executes dynamic scheduling and supervises manufacturing operations. Because of the decentralized control, real-time task assignments are carried out by a negotiation process among cell hosts. The negotiation process is modeled by augmented Petri nets -the combination of production rules and Petri nets-and is excuted by a distributed, rule-based algorithm.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)85-104
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Journal of Flexible Manufacturing Systems
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Science and Operations Research
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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