Effective RFID-based object tracking for manufacturing

International audienceAbstract Automated Identification and in particular, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) promises to assist with the automation of mass customised production processes by simplifying the retrieval, tracking and usage of highly specialised components. RFID has long been used to gather a history or trace of object movements, but its use as an integral part of the automated control process is yet to be fully exploited. Such (automated) use places stringent demands on the quality of the sensor data collected and the method used to interpret that data. In particular, this paper focuses on the issue of correctly identifying, tracking and dealing with aggregated objects in customised production with the use of RFID. In particular, this work presents approaches for making best use of RFID data in this context. The presented approach is evaluated in the context of a laboratory manufacturing system that produces customised gift boxes

Ready configuration of machines into an existing manufacturing system

This paper focuses on simplifying and easing the integration of a new machine into an existing conventional hierarchical manufacturing system. Based on a distributed manufacturing paradigm, it proposes the functions and interfaces that a new machine and an existing manufacturing system should possess so that ready and simple configuration of additional machines can be achieved. The configuration process is intended to include, not only mechanical and electrical interfaces, but also decision system interfaces (such as planning, scheduling, and shop-floor control). Preliminary laboratory experiments to compare the reconfigurability resulting from a conventional integration method and the proposed distributed method are presented and discussed. © 2007 ISAM

Integrating a voting protocol within an argumentation-based BDI System

BDI models are powerful tools that can play a fundamental role in implementing intelligent systems for complex business and industrial problems. Besides, it has also been recognized the benefits achieved when integrating BDI models with different reasoning formalisms, like for instance argumentation or case-based reasoning. Several multi-agent systems have been proposed where voting-based protocols have proven to be efficient mechanisms to lead to a coordinated social result. Likewise, there are several works where these protocols have also been applied as internal processes that arise in one agent’s mind. Following these trends, the main contribution of this work it to integrate voting jointly with argumentation into a BDI system to implement the agent’s deliberative aptitudes. All the concepts involved in this proposal are exemplified by working with a travel assistant agent developed with freely available technologies.Presentado en XI Workshop Agentes y Sistemas Inteligentes (WASI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

A framework for multi-criteria argumentation-based decision making within a BDI agent

The BDI model, as a practical reasoning architecture aims at making decisions about what to do based on cognitives notions as beliefs, desires and intentions. However, during the decision making process, BDI agents also have to make background decisions like choosing what intention to achieve next from a set of possibly conflicting desires; which plan to execute from among the plans that satisfy a given intention; and whether is necessary or not to reconsider current intentions. With this aim, in this work, we present an abstract framework which integrates a Possibilistic Defeasible Logic Programming approach to decision making in the inner decision processes within BDI agents.Facultad de Informátic

Revisão Bibliográfica e Modelo Conceitual de Execução de Agentes BDI para Análise de Complexidade Computacional no Paradigma de Agentes

Analisar um algoritmo envolve pensar quais e quanto dos recursos computacionais serão necessários para a sua execução (ex: a quantidade de tempo (CPU) e espaço (memória)), os quais variam de acordo com o tamanho e dados da entrada. Com a introdução de arquiteturas de hardware, como arquiteturas multi-core, e o advento de redes e sistemas distribuídos, avaliar a eficiência de aplicações baseadas no paradigma de agentes torna-se ainda mais importante. Estabelecer métricas de eficiência em agentes é um tema de crescente preocupação uma vez que o uso de agentes vem tornando-se cada vez mais comum, porém, frequentemente, as métricas que são utilizadas para avaliar um agente são baseadas em características temporais (ex: tempo de execução) ou em relação à troca de mensagens. Além de não serem suficientes para avaliar a complexidade computacional de um programa de agente, elas dependem da plataforma de execução e da infraestrutura de hardware onde o agente é executado e avaliado. Também não é possível estimar o tempo de execução sem que o sistema seja efetivamente executado, o que pode ser problemático quando pensa-se na realização de experimentos. O objetivo desta pesquisa é realizar um estudo e propor um modelo e técnica para cálculo da complexidade computacional de um programa de agente, considerando sempre as características e conceitos inerentes ao paradigma de agentes

A software framework for simulation studies of interaction models in agent teamwork.

This thesis proposes a new software framework that facilitates the study of agent interaction models in early development stages from a designer's perspective. Its purpose is to help reduced the design decision space through simulation experiments that provide early feedback on comparative performance of alternative solutions. This is achieved through interactive concurrent simulation of multiple teams in a representative microworld context. The generic simulator's architecture accommodates an open class of different microworlds and permits multiple communication mechanisms. It also supports interoperability with other software tools, distributed simulation, and various extensions. The framework was validated in the context of two different research projects on helpful behavior in agent teams: the Mutual Assistance Protocol, based on rational criteria for help, and the Empathic Help Model, based on a concept of empathy for artificial agents. The results show that the framework meets its design objectives and provides the flexibility needed for research experimentation. --Leaf i.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b184472

Application of lean scheduling and production control in non-repetitive manufacturing systems using intelligent agent decision support

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Lean Manufacturing (LM) is widely accepted as a world-class manufacturing paradigm, its currency and superiority are manifested in numerous recent success stories. Most lean tools including Just-in-Time (JIT) were designed for repetitive serial production systems. This resulted in a substantial stream of research which dismissed a priori the suitability of LM for non-repetitive non-serial job-shops. The extension of LM into non-repetitive production systems is opposed on the basis of the sheer complexity of applying JIT pull production control in non-repetitive systems fabricating a high variety of products. However, the application of LM in job-shops is not unexplored. Studies proposing the extension of leanness into non-repetitive production systems have promoted the modification of pull control mechanisms or reconfiguration of job-shops into cellular manufacturing systems. This thesis sought to address the shortcomings of the aforementioned approaches. The contribution of this thesis to knowledge in the field of production and operations management is threefold: Firstly, a Multi-Agent System (MAS) is designed to directly apply pull production control to a good approximation of a real-life job-shop. The scale and complexity of the developed MAS prove that the application of pull production control in non-repetitive manufacturing systems is challenging, perplex and laborious. Secondly, the thesis examines three pull production control mechanisms namely, Kanban, Base Stock and Constant Work-in-Process (CONWIP) which it enhances so as to prevent system deadlocks, an issue largely unaddressed in the relevant literature. Having successfully tested the transferability of pull production control to non-repetitive manufacturing, the third contribution of this thesis is that it uses experimental and empirical data to examine the impact of pull production control on job-shop performance. The thesis identifies issues resulting from the application of pull control in job-shops which have implications for industry practice and concludes by outlining further research that can be undertaken in this direction

Étude et conception d'un système de personnalisation et d'aide fonctionnelle multi-agents permettant d'assister simultanément de manière transparente les activités de vie quotidienne de multiples personnes dans un Habitat Intelligent pour la Santé

The application domains of this thesis are Health Smart Homes, and the research is more precisely centered on the improvement of daily-living for cognitively impaired persons and theirs caregivers.The proposed system can observe the context of each person, personalize the environment and assist the tasks detected if they need to be. Every action of the system is as unobtrusive as possible and takes into consideration the presence of more than one person. To personalize and assist the daily-living activities of a lone person, we need to know his personal context. This context is the conjunction of the preferences and habits, the illness or impairment, the movements in the smart home and the state of the various sensor and electrical devices, and the current activities that are detected for one person. To be able to assist many persons simultaneously, we need to compute the overall conjunction of each and every person's context since every presence can influence the global context and every personal one. This complexity brings a lot of problems like the multiple person localization and identification, or the personalization and assistance of multiple persons in the same space with various activities. Those problems are even more interesting since, following an ethical choice to ensure inhabitant's privacy, this project avoid the use of some intrusive technologies