Distributed intelligence for plant automation based on multi-agent systems: the PABADIS approach

Abstract

To manage the emerging problems of companies in today's economical surroundings a new thinking in control is required. On the level of field control a step to distributed systems based on distributed intelligence is the state of the art. But on the above levels of control, central and therefore inflexible systems are predominant. This leads to rigid control structures unable to react on system changes with respect to machinery and product programme in a fast and cost-saving way. The PABADIS approach aims in solving the mentioned problems by introduction of horizontal as well as vertical flexibility into the control structure. This flexibility is reached by using mobile and residential agents to establish distributed intelligence on the level of manufacturing execution systems and integration of distributed intelligence on the field control level.

Keywords:

• manufacturing
• distributed intelligence
• control
• agent technology
• mobile code
• JAVA-based JINI

Acknowledgments

Arndt Lüder holds a doctorate degree from the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg as well as degrees in Mathematics and Business from the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg. After finishing his studies he worked for Four years at that university as a PhD student, moved to the Department of Process and Material Modelling at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, where he finished PhD. Since 2001 Arndt Lüder has been a project leader at the centre of Distributed Systems at the Institute of Ergonomics, Manufacturing Systems and Automation at the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg.

Jörn Peschke holds degrees in Electrotechnics and Computer Science from the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg. After finishing his studies he worked from 1998 until 2000 at the Institute for Automation at that university, and throughout 2000 he was a research assistant at the Department of Process and Material modelling at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Writtenberg. In 2001 he returned to the Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg, where he is now_.at the Centre of Distributed Systems at the Institute of Ergonomics, Manufacturing Systems and Automation.

Thilo Sauter received his Dipl.-Ing. and doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Vienna University of Technology in 1992 and 1999, respectively. From 1992 to 1996 he was a research assistant at the Institute of General Electrical Engineering, working in the area of programmable logic and analogue ASIC design. Since 1996, he has been with the Institute of Computer Technology, where he is head of the centre of excellence for fieldbus systems and leading the factory communications group. He is member of the Austrian technical committee ÖVE MR65SC and delegate in the CENELEC committee TC65SC, both concerned with fieldbus standardization. His current research interests are integrated sensor systems and communication networks in automation, with a focus on interconnection issues of fieldbus systems and IP-based networks. Present teaching activities include fieldbus systems, fault tolerant systems and the design of analogue integrated circuits.

Steffen Deter holds a degree in computer science from the University of Marburg, where he currently is a PhD student. His fields of interest are plug-and-play systems, especially for limited devices, the use of XML as matching basis for service discovery in PnP systems, and software agents for limited devices and the determination of relationships between them and plug-and-participate systems.

Daniel Diep received an engineer degree in Electrical Engineering in Toulouse in 1976 and a doctor degree in Nantes in 1978. He worked in Automatic Control and Transportation Science, and he joined the Ecole des Mines d’Ales as a teacher-researcher in 1986. His interests concern modelling and control of complex systems, and he has been involved in applications from different fields, such as instrumentation and manufacturing systems.