Programmable FMS Operations Control Based on Independent Control Agents

Weck, M. and Possel-Doelken, F. (2004) Programmable FMS Operations Control Based on Independent Control Agents. Production Engineering - Research and Development in Germany (Annals of the German Academic Society for Production Engineeering), 11 (2). pp. 199-202.

Abstract

Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) often do not live up to promised benefits. The required effort to set up fully automated but still flexible manufacturing processes impedes the use of FMS in small- and medium-sized enterprises. The operations control systems applied for control of material flows and manufacturing operations in FMS significantly contribute to the set-up, ramp-up, adaptation and reconfiguration efforts of the manufacturing system. This paper presents a new approach for FMS control that is based on autonomously acting, programmable control agents. The agent architecture and behavior programming techniques that enable a continuous improvement of the FMS control system are outlined.

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