New Concept of Multi-Agent CAPP System in Inteligent Manufacturing Systems

Abstract

Modern computer technology has been widely applied in the field of production engineering, design and construction, engineering calculations and analysis, generating NC code, while application of CAPP systems (computeraided process planning) is still at initial development phase in the area of production processes design in manufacturing systems. The biggest problem in development of CAPP systems for industrial applications is modeling knowledge in the field of metal-cutting processes. This paper explores the modeling of technical expertise in metal-cutting processes in a form suitable for the development of CAPP system in intelligent manufacturing systems using agent-oriented software technologies. Focusing on the selection of tools and cutting parameters in the design of machining operations, we first introduce the ontology for the knowledge domain, and then in that context identify and analyze some of the challenges that CAPP presents to the multiagent system architect. In particular, we investigate interactions between operation design and setup design, examine issues arising from global impacts of local decisions in plan construction, and discuss differences between software agents and humans in comparable planning roles. The analysis leads to several multiagent design patterns that help capture domain-specific know-how and integrate it into efficient team behavior.