Sunderesh Heragu, Robert Graves, and Byung-In KimDecision Sciences and Engineering Systems

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Art St. OngeSt. Onge Company

Intelligent Agent Based Framework for Integrating Planning and Design

in Material Handling Systems

Deliverables and impact

• Holonic modeling framework development

• Prototype simulation model development

• Benefits to the material handling industry- designers, manufacturers and users

Existing frameworks

• Hierarchical framework

• Heterarchical framework

• Cooperative systems framework

• Distributed systems framework

• Opportunistic systems framework

Basis for new framework

Individual

System

Cell

Various levels of interactions

• Between individual agents

• Between agent and cell controller

• Between agent and system controller

• Between cell controllers

• Between cell and system controller

Basis for new framework

System

Cell

Individual M H

P

Modeling framework

• ‘Holonic’ modeling framework– Holons make autonomous decisions– Higher level controllers– Guidelines and system wide constraints

• Material handling systems control

Hybrid Control Strategy

Intelligent Agents

• Intelligent agents representing– Entities and resources– Functioning cooperatively– Accomplishing individual, cell-wide and

system-wide goals

Highlights of new framework

• Considers interactions among entities operating at various levels

• Explicitly captures interactions of MHS with manufacturing system

• Uses optimization, learning & knowledge based approaches in problem solving

• Has built-in features for optimal system performance, stability and convergence

Industry Collaboration

• Efforts underway to:– apply modeling framework to industrial

problem– compare performance of the new methodology

to existing ones– develop novel control system for MHSs